The Associated Press

VAN WERT, Ohio - Hanging inside the temporary home of KAM Manufacturing, a tattered American flag is a reminder of the company's resolve to rebuild after a tornado leveled its plant.

The 20-by-30-foot flag was found about 20 miles from the plant in the yard of an employee a few days after the tornado wiped out an industrial park on the edge of town in November.

"There were three stars remaining and most of the stripes," said Ollie Adams, owner of KAM Manufacturing. "I decided to have it displayed in our temporary facilities."

Bob Corson, who services computers for the company, said he stopped in to salvage some programs when he spotted the flag hanging on the wall.

"It about brought a tear to my eye," Mr. Corson said. "To me, it was symbolic of the fact that this company wasn't going to give up.

"To me it was saying, `We lost it, but we're not giving up. We're going to get it back.'"

KAM Manufacturing, which makes handbags, has 120 employees. It brought back 48 workers to its temporary location in Ohio City, but Mr. Adams anticipates having everyone back to work shortly after the first of the year.

"It's taken a lot of scrambling. We had 100 sewing machines in there; of that amount, 60 were unaccounted for. We don't have any idea where they ended up," Mr. Adams said.

It was fortunate, he said, that the tornado hit on a Sunday when the plant was closed. In all, four business were destroyed and five were damaged in the industrial park.

Van Wert was hardest hit in the storm that cut a path of destruction across northwest Ohio on Nov. 10. Two people died in Van Wert County, and the town's movie theater was destroyed.

"Throughout this whole thing, I've never been depressed for myself," Mr. Adams said. "My concern has always been getting as many of these employees back to work as fast as we can."