Like an unexpected break in a Shostakovich symphony, the grinding cacophony of production in the great Curtiss-Wright aircraft plant near the Buffalo airport clattered to a deep, silent stop one day last week. For an hour the production line stood still while Big Bill Knudsen and other national defense bigwigs dedicated a low-lying, businesslike monument to U.S. ingenuity and industrial speed.
The occasion was manufactured to give inspiration to national defense workers, comfort to the U.S.'s allies. But the achievement was real. Nine months previously the first shovelful of dirt had been...
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