Rosie the Riveter — the muscle-flexing icon of women headed off to factories during World War II to support the war effort — isn't just a mythical figure to Frances Mauro Masters of New Baltimore. The 103-year-old lived it.

Mauro Masters was one of the thousands of women who worked during the war at the Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti Township. She helped to assemble B-24 Liberator planes with two rivet guns.

The Rosies were "raising their sleeves up to work," Mauro Masters said. "That’s what it is.”

Now, Mauro Masters, who still isn't afraid to strike the famous "Rosie" pose, is the inspiration for a Rosie the Riveter bronze statue that's being added to the Michigan WWII Legacy Memorial at Memorial Park in Royal Oak. It is scheduled to be unveiled this Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

He

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