It's All About a Bear Named Bishop and the WASP!

Bishop the Bear was created to honor and celebrate the WASP of WWII and to captivate kids' imaginations, encouraging them to soar!

As many of you know, I've been sharing the WASP WWII history for almost 20 years, through songs, videos, an afghan, trading cards, interactive displays, kiosks, the first WASP app, an illustrated WASP history book, and interactive web pages.   Anything outside the box that will captivate, engage and educate kids is what excites and propels me.  

Enter Bishop, my next ‘big idea’ to challenge young kids to follow their dreams, work hard, persist, and keep on learning.    Through Bishop, we can reach the next generation--raising awareness and sharing the inspirational WASP history in a completely new way. 

You don’t have to be a WASP to Fly HIGH in what you do.  HOW do you do it?  Will YOU SHARE what you’ve learned so that a child can be inspired to do something they might never have done? 

My prayer is that Bishop will show us all how exciting and fulfilling it is to dream big and someday, FLY—in whatever we choose to do!     Join us!  Change the future by honoring the past and share your own inspiration, honor, courage, and love.

I'd like to invite you to read all about it on our new KICKSTARTER page.

HERE IS THE LINK! Then, please, join us, and let me know what you think!

God bless you all!

Nancy Parrish

#mustardseedfaith #wasp-wwii

WASP TORCH LIT -- PASS IT ON

“Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.” 


President Abraham Lincoln.

THE TORCH HAS BEEN LIT

Tuesday, Mar 17, at approximately 2:20 pm Eastern time, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison became a true CHAMPION for the WASP when she introduced a Bill to honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII with the CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest and most distinguished award that Congress can award a civilian.
__________________
Along with Senator Hutchison and original co-sponsor Senator Barbara Mikulski, D, MD, EVERY FEMALE

SENATOR in the UNITED STATES SENATE is now a co-sponor of this bill. Seventeen female Senators said “YES” -- this is important and it is time.

This is a long overdue honor for the WASP. Wings Across America had been working on this project for over a year with two high ranking officials in the Pentagon, but their efforts took on an entirely new engery and focus in November of 2008.

At the opening of the Wings Across America “Fly

Girls of WWII” WASP exhibit, Major Nicole Malachowski, the first female Thunderbird pilot, took the lead. She had the passion, the clout and the connections to get it to the right Senator, and we were more than willing to furnish her the ammunition she needed for the mission.

She submitted a draft bill and convinced our Texas Senator and her staff that it was of the

utmost importance and urgency. As she continued her meetings with staff and Congress people, Senator Hutchison enthusiastically agreed, so from there, with WAA’s additional suggestions and corrections, her staff ran with it.

"I am convinced every opportunity I’ve been afforded, from flying combat patrols in the skies over Iraq, to the honor of being a USAF Thunderbird, to representing the military as a Fellow, is because of these pioneering women. There couldn't be a more principled use of time and effort than seeking the Congressional Gold Medal for my personal heroines, the courageous WASP of WWII."


Major Nicole “Fifi” Malachowski

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? PREPARE TO PICK UP THE TORCH! Email, call or write your SENATORS AND your REPRESENTATIVES. Ask them to CO-SPONSOR S.614 honoring the WASP of WWII with the Congressional Gold Medal. THIS IS IMPORTANT. They pay attention to EVERY phone call and EVERY email. YOU could be the one who makes the difference. Congress has already awarded this prestigious honor to the Tuskeegee Airmen and the Navaho Code Talkers. It is now time for the courageous women pilots--who paid their way to serve their country--and preformed so valiantly in face of enormous challenges--to step into the national spotlight, where they have always belonged.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our entire nation to

say thank you to a group of women who served their country without question and without expectations of honor or glory. Their patriotism, sacrifice, service, faith, courage, integrity and determination in the face of enormous odds are inspirational. This is an honor the WASP did not seek, yet, in awarding this highest civilian honor, the United States Congress has the privilege of coming together in a righteous cause. We owe it to the WASP and to those we hope will follow in their footsteps.” 
Nancy Parrish, Director, Wings Across America

Do you need facts for your email? 
Visit WASP FACTS: http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/facts.htm

Visit our FACE BOOK page--so that we can co-ordinate our efforts and share information. **This is new. Let us know who you call, who you write and any suggestions you might have to encourage the entire Senate to pass this bill.

OTHER INFORMATION:

YOU TUBE VIDEO OF THE SPEECH NOW ONLINE:

YOU TUBE VIDEO OF SENATOR HUTCHISON READING THE BILL

Senator Hutchison’s website: http://hutchison.senate.gov/ (speech and bill information)
Senator Hutchison's Press Release : http://hutchison.senate.gov/releases.html
VIDEO: Senator Hutchison’s youtube site:http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorHutchison (where the complete video will be very soon)

YOU MAY POST ON THIS SITE--OR EMAIL nancy@wingsacrossamerica.org

Meantime, DON'T FORGET TO CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES!

JUST IN: FLORIDA REP ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (RANKING FEMALE REPUBLICAN IN THE HOUSE) JUST SIGNED ON TO CO-SPONSOR THE BILL IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. MORE NEWS TO FOLLOW.

Fly Girls of WWII Landing in Washington, DC.

MEET the Women Airforce Service Pilots and experience their captivating history. Waco, Texas, November 11, 2008: Wings Across America announces the opening of the ’Fly Girls of WWII” traveling WASP exhibit at the Women in Military Service to America Memorial, November 14, 2008, 11 am. at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery.

THIS JUST IN-Featuring guest speakers: Nichole Malachowski, first female Thunderbird pilot and Cokie Roberts and Former Ambassador Lindy Boggs--who co-sponsored the bill giving the WASP Veteran status in 1977.

HISTORY: During World War II, this select group of young women pilots became pio-neers. They were the FIRST women in history to fly America’s military aircraft. The Army Air Force used them during WWII to take over military flying jobs here in the US so that the male pilots could go overseas and fly combat missions. In less than 2 years, they flew over 60 million miles--in every type of aircraft and on every type of mission in the Army Air Force except combat. Wings Across America’s “Fly Girls of WWII” shines a well-deserved spotlight on these overlooked, unsung heroes who paved the way for every female military pilot who is serving our country today.


MEET ORIGINAL WASP: Picture ‘A League Of Their Own’ with goggles and para-chutes, as Women Airforce Service Pilots dressed in their 'santiago blues', all well into their 80’s, walk though “Fly Girls,” sharing the memories, the pride, the courage that it took to do what they did during wartime when they were in their early 20s!


CREATED by Wings Across America’s mother-daughter* team “Fly Girls of WWII” is a colorful, comprehensive and captivating history of the WASP, which includes the “WASP Film Strip”, an “Above & Beyond” tribute, a 26 foot WASP Timeline, 7 foot tall WASP standups, scale replica WWII airplanes, uniformed mannequins, hundreds of photos, a tribute to the 38 WASP who were killed flying for their country, WASP memorabilia, a celebration of their final battle for recognition, and the ‘Tribute,’ a unique mosaic featuring every face of the 1,102 Women Airforce Service Pilots in one amazing photo.


The Fly Girls exhibit and the WASP -- an unbeatable combination for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


*Director, Nancy Parrish, and WASP Deanie Parrish, 44-w-4

For online press kit http://www.wingsacrossamerica.org/PR f you would like more information about the exhibit please call Nancy Parrish at 254-366-1436 or e-mail nancy@wingsacrossamerica.org

For more information on the event, call Marilla Cushman at WIMSA1-800-222-2294 or email pr@womensmemorial.org

BACKGROUND QUTOES:

“These women should be the role models for all of us. Their service, courage, determination, integrity, honor, patriotism and faith are contagious, and we hope Fly Girls will educate and inspire visitors with these larger-than-life heroes of World War II.” Nancy Parrish, Director, Wings Across America

“I am enormously proud to help bring the first major exhibit about the WASP to the Women’s Memorial.” Brig General Wilma L. Vaught, USAF Retired and President of WIMSA