“Rosie the Riveter” was the woman on the iconic “We can do it!” posters from WWII. With so many men in the military for the war effort, women at home were called into service to help build everything the troops needed — and Rosie’s job was to encourage women to join the work force.

Here are pictures of a few real life Rosies — women who worked on the A-31 (“Vengeance”) dive bomber aircraft — a single-engine, low-wing plane that could carry a 2-man crew and had six machine guns. They’re painting, bolting and — yes — even riveting these planes to get them ready for service.

These photos were taken by Alfred T Palmer in Nashville, Tennessee in February of 1943, and published by the US Office of War Information.