| Female Pilot Proud of WASP Legacy | |
| By Staff Sgt. Dilia Ayala 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing RSSBALAD — It's been more than 60 years since the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) took the skies by storm as the first women in U.S. history trained to fly American military aircraft, overcoming inequality and changing the face of aviation forever. July 1, these aviation pioneers were recognized by President Barack Obama, who presented the Congressional Gold Medal as long-overdue recognition of the historical "Fly Girls." Here at Joint Base Balad, a 21st-century "Fly Girl," Maj. Gina Sabric, an F-16 fighter pilot, couldn't be more pleased with the recognition. "I think it is amazing that they were presented [with the Congressional Gold Medal]," said Sabric, currently deployed here as the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing flight safety officer from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. "It is definitely well-deserved and probably a little overdue, but it is amazing that they are finally being recognized for their service to our country. "They are definitely pioneers in aviation and an inspiration to those of us that fly now," she continued. "We would not be here if it wasn't for the work that they did before us. They paved the way and opened up doors for the rest of us." The WASP was established during World War II with the primary mission of flying non-combat military missions in the United States, thus freeing their male counterparts for combat missions overseas. They were the first women ever to fly American military aircraft, and they flew almost every type of aircraft operated by the Army Air Force during World War II -- logging more than 60 million miles. Overall, more than 1,000 women joined the WASP and 38 of them were killed during duty. Following World War II, these women were released from duty and returned home. During their time in the WASP, they held civilian status and were not considered members of the military. Their contributions went largely unrecognized and the women weren't afforded veteran status until 1977. Today, female fighter pilots continue adding to the proud WASP legacy -- engaged around the world and writing aviation history of their own. Although they did not have to face the same type of discrimination, even in the early 90s when Congress authorized women to be fighter pilots and when Sabric joined the Air Force, the rift between the female and male fighter pilots was still evident. "When I was a lieutenant, there weren't a lot of females ahead of us," said Sabric. "I was told a few times that I didn't belong and it was a 'boy's club' and girls were not welcome, but you would just shrug it off and go on doing your job. You don't see that anymore; we are all equal. Gender is no longer an issue thanks to these women. "Women in aviation has definitely been a stepping-stone progression, one that the WASP started," said Sabric. "Without them, it would have been a longer, tougher road. They set the stage for the rest of us to be able to continue what they started." The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest and most distinguished award Congress can award a civilian. Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. In 2000 and 2006, Congress awarded the Gold Medal to the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen, respectively. "As a female pilot, the women of the WASP are our heroes," said Sabric, from Tobyhanna, Pa. "They are who we look up to. They are the pioneers. Looking back on what these women have accomplished, it's great to see them recognized. We are forever grateful." | |
Showing posts with label Air Force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air Force. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2009
Female Pilot Proud of WASP Legacy -- Dateline Balad
Friday, March 27, 2009
Congressional Gold Medals are proposed
Congressional Gold Medals are proposed for World War II work by Women Airforce Service Pilots
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, March 27, 2009
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI – Looking out the windows of her 14th-floor apartment at Trinity Towers reminds Maxine Flournoy of her cockpit view from World War II military aircraft.
"I loved flying," Flournoy, 87, said, while fingering a diamond airplane brooch on her collar, "even that twin-engine trainer we called the bamboo bomber because it was fabric covered."
Flournoy is one of 300 surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots who soon may be recognized for their efforts during World War II. In all, 1,102 female pilots served.
"Their service paved the way for all women who serve valiantly in the military today," said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who recently introduced a bill, co-sponsored by all female members of the Senate, to award the women the Congressional Gold Medal, which is awarded for exceptional service to the United States. The U.S. Mint designs and creates each medal to uniquely represent the individuals being honored.
"Each of these women are fascinating," said Deanie Bishop Parrish, one of the female pilots and associate director of Wings Across America, a group that has compiled interviews with about 100 of the women. "They're all different, but each has the can-do, just-get-out-of-my-way-and-let-me-do-it spirit."
Unlike their male counterparts, the women were civilians and had to complete pilot training before being considered for the program. Flournoy completed a pilot training program in early 1941 at a junior college in Joplin, Mo.
Later, while working as a grinder at a defense plant making dies for bullet-shell casings, she learned about the call for female pilots. She quit her job and took a bus to Kansas City to volunteer.
Once accepted into the program, (--added for accuracy--SHE COMPLETED OVER 5 MONTHS OF ARMY AIR FORCE FLIGHT TRAINING) she was taken by train to Hondo, where she lived in a barracks with other female pilots while working the next year and a half flying a variety of aircraft. Sometimes, she did training flights for male navigation cadets. Other times, she flew in short spurts to break in engines, she said.
After the war, the women paid their own way home. Families of 38 of the women who died in the line of duty bore the costs of transporting their bodies home and conducting funerals.
It was 1977 before the women were granted status as veterans.
After her service, Flournoy said she "wrote to every address I could find to continue flying." And that's how she came to Alice, where she lived for nearly 60 years. She landed a part-time commercial pilot job there in early 1945.
"They didn't pay me as much as a they would a man," she said. "But I was happy."
She met Lucien Flournoy there. He was a petroleum engineer in 1945 for an Arkansas company that her boss's drilling company was working with.
"My boss asked if Lucien wanted to meet his pilot," she said. "He was surprised I was a gal, and he didn't waste much time asking me for a date."
They married a year later and during the next 20 years raised three daughters before she flew again.
In the mid-1960s, Lucien, who died in 2003, bought an airplane for a charter service he launched.
"While it was for the business, he told me it was mine," she said. "So I called it mine whether it was or not."
She flew to annual Women Airforce Service Pilots reunions until about 1985, when an oil-field recession required selling the airplane, she said. She hasn't piloted since.
"I was sorry to let it go," she said. "I had to take an airline flight to my next reunion, and it wasn't the same."
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, March 27, 2009
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI – Looking out the windows of her 14th-floor apartment at Trinity Towers reminds Maxine Flournoy of her cockpit view from World War II military aircraft.
"I loved flying," Flournoy, 87, said, while fingering a diamond airplane brooch on her collar, "even that twin-engine trainer we called the bamboo bomber because it was fabric covered."
Flournoy is one of 300 surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots who soon may be recognized for their efforts during World War II. In all, 1,102 female pilots served.
"Their service paved the way for all women who serve valiantly in the military today," said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who recently introduced a bill, co-sponsored by all female members of the Senate, to award the women the Congressional Gold Medal, which is awarded for exceptional service to the United States. The U.S. Mint designs and creates each medal to uniquely represent the individuals being honored.
"Each of these women are fascinating," said Deanie Bishop Parrish, one of the female pilots and associate director of Wings Across America, a group that has compiled interviews with about 100 of the women. "They're all different, but each has the can-do, just-get-out-of-my-way-and-let-me-do-it spirit."
Unlike their male counterparts, the women were civilians and had to complete pilot training before being considered for the program. Flournoy completed a pilot training program in early 1941 at a junior college in Joplin, Mo.
Later, while working as a grinder at a defense plant making dies for bullet-shell casings, she learned about the call for female pilots. She quit her job and took a bus to Kansas City to volunteer.
Once accepted into the program, (--added for accuracy--SHE COMPLETED OVER 5 MONTHS OF ARMY AIR FORCE FLIGHT TRAINING) she was taken by train to Hondo, where she lived in a barracks with other female pilots while working the next year and a half flying a variety of aircraft. Sometimes, she did training flights for male navigation cadets. Other times, she flew in short spurts to break in engines, she said.
After the war, the women paid their own way home. Families of 38 of the women who died in the line of duty bore the costs of transporting their bodies home and conducting funerals.
It was 1977 before the women were granted status as veterans.
After her service, Flournoy said she "wrote to every address I could find to continue flying." And that's how she came to Alice, where she lived for nearly 60 years. She landed a part-time commercial pilot job there in early 1945.
"They didn't pay me as much as a they would a man," she said. "But I was happy."
She met Lucien Flournoy there. He was a petroleum engineer in 1945 for an Arkansas company that her boss's drilling company was working with.
"My boss asked if Lucien wanted to meet his pilot," she said. "He was surprised I was a gal, and he didn't waste much time asking me for a date."
They married a year later and during the next 20 years raised three daughters before she flew again.
In the mid-1960s, Lucien, who died in 2003, bought an airplane for a charter service he launched.
"While it was for the business, he told me it was mine," she said. "So I called it mine whether it was or not."
She flew to annual Women Airforce Service Pilots reunions until about 1985, when an oil-field recession required selling the airplane, she said. She hasn't piloted since.
"I was sorry to let it go," she said. "I had to take an airline flight to my next reunion, and it wasn't the same."
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
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