I live in Pennsylvania and traveled to Bethlehem to play a travel hockey team that was there. The hockey rink was right next to the old steel mills. It was stunning how big the mills were. It is so spooky the area around the mill. The steel mills and the warehouses are all empty, but each tell a story full of history. Many people don't appreciate the importance of this company.

I don't live too far away from Bethlehem Steel, and everytime I go by i get the chills. Honestly an amzing place in its time.

greatings from the ruhr valley

I currently sell tools to the Bethlehem sparrows point plant, I have been all over that plant, and its huge!! Its owned by the russians now, and still running. I used to live in allentown. I wish I was around when bethlehem was around. I was a gold caddy at Saucon Valley Country club for 9 years, and remember the executives on the golf course. Bethlehem execs had their own gold carts with stell logos on them, and had very elaborate parties there. The execs would pay like 2x as much as others!

It's a shame the Govt. didn't bail the Steel out when it was failing. Had they exposed managements back practices maybe some of them would still be doing time. I'd rather see the Steel working than a slots casino. Thanks PBS39. I have this on tape and love it. Great work.

I went to mill wright school. Missed the oil fields. Reynolds aluminum pulled out of my hometown, The down sizing or our military .Nucor came in. I built several mills and worked in several more. Very good show. Very good comments. But i am very proud of my work in the mills. I set ,Dialed in to turn key and problem solved all the eqiupment in all these mills. Got offers from all over to work. We gave the industry away. Sorry we did. Very dangerous, Pure adrenaline. May God Bless us

I went to high school with the children and nephews of several of the talking heads in this documentary. I worked for the Steel for 13 months in the 70s. The work was very hard and the pay was not superb. A few coworkers told me that the company was doomed because Japanese steel was steadily improving, and because continuous casting was not possible. The vacation package was too generous. The company was complacent and bureaucratic, but that did not influence day to day work in my shop.

I love being from PA!!!

@IncyIncubator Agreed. I grew up in Ohio in the 1970s and I still have affection for the old industrial towns. Sure the unions became corrupted later like any bureaucracy, but the loss of these heavy industry jobs started this country down the hill. I thank the early unions every day for the fact that I have any benefits at all - now all the wealth is shifting back to a few corrupt people who whine about having to give the peons anything and have no incentive to keep any jobs at home.

I grew up in Easton and It's a shame to know Bethlehem Steel is being torn down :(

YAY! I can use this for my Social Studies essay! I'm sooo happy!!!

Bethlehem Steel should have replaced the blast furnace wt the reduction furnace and electric arc furnace to produce the crude pig iron in less than 1 to 2 or 3 hrs and transform it into refined steels of all kinds in a BOP furnace in 30 to 40 minutes.

Economically, Bethelhem was doomed. An established company with many unionized retirees could not compete with the minimills, who were both nonunion and too new to have any retirees. Foreign steel companies did not have to cover the cost of health and retirement benefits. Such benefits were either provided to all by a foreign government (Europe), or simply did not exist (Third World). The Depression excepted, BS had it easy until the 1970s, and management became very complacent.

my daddy used to work there now he works at leghhigh heavy forge

I injoy it watching this

my dad and my grandfather work for bethlehem steel they also served in the military like me god bless america. I'm i'm ashahmed of the dems and the repu they have no clue whats happen in this country.

Looks like you learned a lot at Liberty... "Bethlahem"

wash my back lol

ironken: The unions got out of hand. There was a time when unions protected abused workers but they got to big, to powerfull and choked off the industrys they worked for.

He's furious that he can't retire at 50? Come on! Common worker in America can retire at 50, so why did he expect it? They all knew that BS was out of money. Too lazy to work until your 62? Get over it!

Enslaved Africans free labor built America!!!!

no wonder the towers fell

@ironken americans built the usa unions destroyed it