Today I seen an article on the front page of the newspaper about the Woman Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). After noticing the article I was invigorated to learn more on the subject.
The WASPs were a select group of female pilots. They were the first women in history to learn and fly American military aircraft. The motivation behind the WASPs was to free the male pilots for combat by sending the female pilots on non-combat missions, such as flying the aircraft from factories to military bases. This idea wasn't taken into action until World War II. But these women weren't considered real military pilots, when they died on duty flags weren't draped on their coffins. Yesterday, March 10th, at Capital Hill there was a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor the Woman Airforce Service Pilots.
"This is not a time when women should be patient. We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and every weapon possible. WOMEN PILOTS, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used."
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942
Honor the women of our history. Visit WASP on the WEB.
I saw this PBS special and fell in love with the WASPS. This past February while at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, I purchased a copy for myself. Cornelia Fort, from Nashville, was one and the first to lose her life while in active duty. She was 24. Check out this link for the full post. http://bit.ly/81cbiv
ReplyDeleteSusan at Charm of the Carolines