'Tis the Season to Thank Veterans for the Gift of Pallets

The holiday season is the perfect time of year to reflect on all things we are thankful for in our lives. For me, our freedom and our Veterans' sacrifices are the best gifts. 

Recently, HBO has been replaying The Concert for Valor, which included a star-studded lineup of today’s top performers as well as some incredible stories of our troop’s unrelenting courage and "can do" attitude during times of conflict and unrest. Recorded on the National Mall in Washington DC, it really was a great tribute to all that have and continue to serve.

Veterans’ Day 2014 has come and gone but with the holiday season upon us, it is easy to continue to find reasons to reflect upon our Veterans and their role and influence on so many things.

You’re probably wondering how I am going to tie this into what we do here at the Nelson Company.

Airman 1st Class Fernando Smith maneuvers a pallet of beverages from a food contractor.

Well, it just so happens that we in the pallet industry owe more than you think to our beloved veterans. They championed the beginnings of our modern-day pallet use.

Did you know that the development of the forklift and the needs of World War II logistics operations led to substantial use of wooden pallets? Keeping eight million G.I.s supplied required tens of millions of pallets. Historians credit this era with the rise of the pallet.

World War II required us to limit our use of scarce natural resources and introduced plastics. The resulting surge in plastic production was readily adopted by the military. Plastics helped create parachutes, ropes, aircraft windshields and later led to the first plastic pallet. While it is not clearly documented, many credit retired B-29 captain Leo Nathans with the post-war introduction of using plastic pallets to ship car parts.

Leave it to our soldiers to use their ingenuity and persistence to simplify the loading and unloading of ships, trucks and warehouses by utilizing pallets. A hearty THANK YOU goes out to all of you from all of us here at the Nelson Company.

Please join us in thanking our veterans by adding your own holiday message in the comments below.

Post by: Mike Cunneen, Director of Sales & Marketing
Use of USAF photo by Capt Kelley Thibodeau licensed under information presented on Air Force Services Agency Website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied.