WASP'S

WASP’S
There was an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal. It described the service of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) who served during World War II. The 1302 female civilians flew 78 different types of military planes over 60 million miles. They were not permitted to fly in combat. They ferried the aircraft from factories, where they were built, to various U.S. air bases, (most of the military -male pilots were overseas.) The women were denied military status, and considered civilians.
The WASP survivors will gather, for the last time, at the U.S. Capitol on March 10. There, they will be honored with the recognition that they never received. They will receive Congressional Gold Medals. Their patriotism, and flying skills, make them role models, and they will inspire future generations of women aviators. Having been a military pilot, myself , during both WWII and the Korean wars, I can really relate to their great achievements, and their unselfish contributions to the War effort.
While reading the article, a memory of a few of them, interrupted my concentration. I was stationed at Cut Bank, Montana in 1942. We had received our new B-17, prior to flying it overseas. I was a bombardier in the Second Bomb Group. We were test flying our new plane during our operational training. We were scheduled to fly one day, so I was on the flight line. I noticed a few women coming out of Operations. I particularly noticed one of the pilots because she was even shorter than I was. She was walking toward some Bell P-39’ s (Airacobras).
I greeted her as she walked by. I asked her where they were headed and she said Fairbanks. (They had stopped at our Cut Bank base to refuel and spend the night. Cut Bank is only 70 miles south of Lethbridge, Alberta.) Then, she said that the Russian pilots would meet them in Fairbanks and take delivery of the Lend-Lease planes. Then, the Russians would fly the planes back across the Bering Straight into Russia. I watched her as she walked toward the parked P-39’s. The seat-pack of her parachute was bouncing off her rear end as she walked. I couldn’t believe that she could fly that high performing fighter plane. I watched her do the pre-flight inspection, and then she climbed aboard.
She started the engine and let it warm up and then taxied out to the runway. After running up the engine to check it’s performance, she taxied on to the run way and took off. To my amazement, she did a slow roll shortly after leaving the ground. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! I had never heard of such a stunt, let alone see it. I often wished, afterwards, that I somehow would see her someplace, again, to ask her about her stunt after taking off. But, no such luck. I wish that there was a way that I could e-mail the group in Washington, to see if any of them was familiar with my story.
RCL - 3/7/10.