Dedicated:  May 14, 2009
SPONSOR:  C. H. and Jo Wilson and Friends of LeTourneau

R. G. LeTourneau Industries:
Building an Industry and God's Kingdom

In 1942. R. G. LeTourneau, the man largely responsible for the invention and development of earth-moving machines in wide use today, built his fourth manufacturing plant in Vicksburg.  He brought with him a small group of talented men including Clyde Wilson and Eddie Florell.

LeTourneau's factories supplied bomb casings and 70 percent of all heavy earth-moving equipment used by Allied forces during World War II.  

In 1955, he built his first mobile off-shore jack-up drilling rig at the Vicksburg plant for Zapata Drilling.   During the 1970s, as many as 7 rigs were under construction by a workforce exceeding 2000.

To house the increasing population of employees in Vicksburg, he built a village complete with grocery store, post office, beauty shop, credit union, swimming pool, tennis courts, ball fields, airstrip, and concrete houses with heated floors, which were fabricated with a machine of his design.

A devout Christian, "Mr. R. G." termed himself  "in partnership with God."  He tithed 90%, employed full-time chaplains, and offered weekly chapel services in his plants.  He traveled the country in a converted A-26 glass-nosed bomber plan, giving his personal testimony as a Christian.  His philanthropy extended around the world with missionary projects in Liberia and Peru.

 

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