CRESSONA, Pa. — In honor of Veterans Day, Hydro Extrusions is honoring its employees who served and the military history of the plant.
The plant in Cressona was created for wartime efforts during World War II. It was originally built by Alcoa Corp. to extrude aluminum shapes for the war. The plant was also used for parts-salvage activity before reverting to extrusion activity again post-war, according to the company website.
Because of its roots in World War II, Hydro takes extra care of its employees who are from military families, especially the ones who served before working there.
"They treat us pretty good," Duaine Zanini said. "My boss gathers us up for Veterans Day breakfast every year and for special holidays like the Marine Corps birthday. he gives us off."
His boss, Ron Jordan, is a Navy veteran and says the military community within Hydro is something he hopes is noticed not just on Veterans Day but all year round.
"A lot of veterans are here talking off camera, and it's great for us to get together, talking about our military service, the things we went through, and get to know each other. I didn't know certain people were in the military until today, and we had great conversations," Jordan said.
He hopes the conversations will strengthen his fellow employees' bond no matter what uniform they're wearing.