Remembered Whispers

Remembered Whispers. Memorial Monument Honoring These Heroic Women of the Past. , Led by innovative pilots Nancy Harkness Love and Jacqueline Cochran, 1,102 women served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Desperate for pilots, in September 1942 the U.S. Army Air Forces embarked on what they initially considered a bold experiment. They would recruit and train American women to fly their planes domestically, thus freeing up men pilots for combat in the Pacific and Europe. Twenty-eight highly qualified women went directly into the Ferry Command. Simultaneously, beginning first in Houston before moving to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, 1,830 women went through USAAF flight training with 1,074 graduating from the rigorous program. The women initially worked as ferry pilots, a critical part of the war-time logistics, flying more than 12,000 planes including P-40s, P-51s, and B-17s from factories to points of embarkation. Their success led the USAAF to expand the experiment to include other vital domestic flying. They towed targets behind their planes to train both ground and air-to-air gunners, who fired with live ammunition, to shoot a moving target. They completed engineering test flights of damaged or repaired aircraft. They even demonstrated the safety of planes, including the new B-29 Superfortress bomber, to reluctant men pilots. The WASP also faced prejudice. Some men were initially reluctant to fly with them, and a few air base commanders limited the women's flying., As more men pilots became available, including a group who vocally opposed the women pilots, the USAAF disbanded the WASP on December 20, 1944. Regardless of their success, women pilots could release men for other duty, but not replace them. From September 1942 to December 1944 the WASP flew 77 types of planes over 60 million miles. Thirty-eight of the women died while serving but because they were denied official military status, they were not allowed flags on their coffins. Despite frustrating bureaucratic and sexist opposition, surviving WASP persisted in fighting for official recognition as military veterans, as they had been promised. In November 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law legislation finally giving the WASP of world war two veteran status. In 2009, with President Barack Obama's signature, the women were recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal. The critical and brave service of the WASP not only paved the runway for women pilots in the United States military and present-day commercial aviation but provides an example of service and perseverance for all Americans., Historical information compiled by: Katherine Sharp Landdeck, Ph.D. | Rebecca Howard, Ph.D. | Judge Jimmie Edwards, Chairman