Congressional Gold Medals await two Verde Valley WASP

by Steve Ayers, Staff Reporter

Monday, July 06, 2009

VILLAGE OF OAK CREEK - The list of those who have received the Congressional Gold Medal is a list of America's greats.

Presidents, politicians, poets, military officers, musicians, inventors, doctors, scientists, actors, athletes and activists are among those who have received America's highest civilian honor.

To date Congress has authorized 136 castings of the medal. George Washington received the first one.

And as soon as the current president signs the appropriate papers, the 137th recipient will be the 1,102 members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

They will join the Tuskegee Airmen and the Navajo Code Talkers as the only World War II era veterans groups to be so honored. All three shared the common experience of prejudice, yet rose to serve their country in a way that took generations to appreciate.

During the WASP's brief service from 1942 to 1944, 25,000 women applied, 1,830 were accepted, and 1,102 graduated and were assigned flight duty.

Although stationed stateside, their often-dangerous assignments would take the lives of 38 while on active duty.

Today, 300 are still alive. Two of them live in the Verde Valley, Nell (Stevenson) Bright of Sedona and Beverly (Dietrich) Wilkinson of the Village of Oak Creek.

Like their sister WASPs they have waited all-too-long to be recognized for who they were and what they accomplished.

Nell (Stevenson) Bright

Nell Stevenson was a Texas native, raised in the panhandle country. Her life of flying began in a local farmer's field.

"In those days there were a lot of WWI veteran pilots making a living barnstorming the countryside. One day one lan

ded in a nearby field and offered rides for $2. I took a ride and was hooked," Bright says.

After graduating from West Texas University at 19 years old, she took a job as a journalist in Amarillo. She also took flying lessons.

One day in 1942, while hanging around the hangar, she read a magazine article about a group of women pilots being trained by the military. She wrote to the group's founder, pioneer female aviator Jacqueline Cochran. A bus ride to Fort Worth and an interview with Cochran shortly thereafter, and she was in.

Bright began her training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, home of the WASP, in May 1943. After graduating in November, then attending B-25 flight school, she was assigned to the Sixth Tow Target Squadron at Biggs Field, Texas.

The WASPs of her squadron were assigned to two target gliders across the sky, connected to their aircraft by a 3,000-5,000-foot steel cable. Anti-aircraft gun crews would practice by taking aim and attempting to shoot down the gliders.

In spite of the use of live ammunition, it was a low-risk mission -- most of the time.

"Most of our target-towing missions were at night," Bright says. "The gun crews had searchlights to illuminate the gliders. One night the searchlights found my plane instead.

"Soon anti-aircraft shells were bursting in front of my plane. Fortunately for me, they were bad shots. I radioed in and the explosions soon stopped. When we got back to the base we told them we had had enough and that we would come back another day."

During her year of active service, Bright flew a variety of missions.

"There were window missions where ground crews would practice tracking planes with radar, gas mission where we wou

ld lay down tear gas on troops and strafing missions where we got a chance to legally buzz ground troops," Bright says.

On one of her strafing mission, she says she buzzed a convoy twice before one soldier driving a jeep was finally forced to bail out.

"When we came around the third time he was standing along the side of the road, bare-chested, waiving his T-shirt. His jeep was wrecked and apparently he'd had enough," Bright says.

Beverly (Dietrich) Wilkinson

Wisconsin native Beverly Wilkinson joined the WASPs in January 1944 after taking a "crash" course pilot's school in Nevada.

"I was at Luke Air Force Base and had met a young pilot cadet. Shortly thereafter I took my first ride in an airplane. When I decided I wanted to be a WASP I needed 35 hours of flight time to qualify, so I took a 30-day course and sent in my application."

Wilkinson graduated from Avenger Field in October 1944.

She was assigned to Shaw Air Field outside Sumter, S.C., where her job was to test aircraft after they had been repaired and before they were turned over to the male pilots.

"The day I arrived they were shipping off the body of the girl I was replacing," Wilkinson says. "She had crashed on her approach. Apparently the repair hadn't worked. It didn't affect me a bit though. I was 19 years old. I knew it wasn't going to happen to me."

The WASPs had no official military status. They operated as a civil service branch of the government. As a result, the body of the pilot Wilkinson replaced had to be shipped home at the family's expense.

"Sometimes, when the family couldn't afford to, we'd take up a collection or Jacqueline Cochran would pay to have the body shipped home at her expense," Wilkinson says.

Less than three months after she arrived in South Carolina, the WASPs disbanded.

Wilkinson, just like Bright, took a job ferrying aircraft between Arizona, Texas and Nevada as the government began mothballing and liquidating its surplus inventory.

Among the aircraft Bright and Wilkinson flew while WASPs and thereafter were B-25 and B-26 bombers, AT-7 and AT-11 twin engine transports, P-47 "Thunderbolt," A-24 "Dauntless" and A-25 "Hell Cat" fighters.

Sometimes flight school for a particular aircraft was minimal at best.

"There were times we were simply sat in the cockpit, and were told, 'Here's the book, read it and let us know when you are ready to be checked out,'" Wilkinson says.

Wilkinson eventually joined the reserves and rose to the rank of captain. And she ended up marrying the young cadet pilot she met at Luke, Jimmy Wilkinson, shortly after they met again in Germany in 1949.

Life after WASP

Wilkinson eventually moved to Sedona where, at the age of 85 (she is the youngest living WASP) she recently retired as a real estate agent.

Bright eventually became one of the first female stockbrokers in Phoenix and at 88 years old, only recently retired.

"We had to be in great physical condition when we were pilots. I'm sure it's part of the reason so many of us are still around," Bright says.

Their service as WASPs, they agree, was the greatest experience of their lives and made them who they are today.

"Truth be known, we had quite a lot of fun. People ask us today -- weren't you scared? Hell no. We weren't scared of anything," Bright says.

Except maybe heights.

"If we were to go to the Grand Canyon, there is no way you would get us close to the edge," Wilkinson says. "We're both afraid of heights. It gives us the willies."

Female pilot during WWII receives 'long overdue' award in Hillsborough ceremony

by Tiffani N. Garlic/For The Star-Ledger

Monday July 06, 2009, 6:53 PM

David Gard/For The Star-LedgerU.S. Rep. Leonard Lance shares a laugh with Genevieve Rausch, 93, last week at the Emeritus Assisted Living Center In Hillsborough. Rausch, 93, was honored for her time with the Women Air Service Pilots of World War II. Looking on are Hillsborough Mayor Frank Delcore and Somerset County Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli, right.

HILLSBOROUGH -- The wind rushed into her face as she flew high over the Army base. She navigated the cockpit controls with the same skill of male pilots, while sitting in a uniform that carried none of the prestige.

She, like many other female aviators had given up lives as teachers, homemakers and nurses to make history as the first women to fly with the U.S. Army.

As the machinery rumbled around her the only thing louder than the engine was the heavy artillery screaming toward the target she was towing just 25 feet behind her. But for Genevieve Landman, it was just another day of target practice.

Now Genevieve Rausch, the 93-year-old sat tall last week in her navy blue uniform with several wings adorning her lapels. She clasped her petite hands in her lap and waited patiently for the recognition that had been more than 60 years in the making.

Rausch was honored for her service in the Women Air Force Service Pilots of World War II by local and state officials at the Emeritus Senior Living Center in Hillsborough.

Though she has changed quite a bit from the black-and-white photos of her 28-year-old self circulating around the room, it was clear two things had not changed - her smile and her passion for flying.

When she graduated high school Rausch, originally from Danville, Ill, became a civil service secretary and stenographer for the Air Training Command Head Quarters at Chanute Army Air Base. After hearing famed aviator Amelia Earhart speak, she was inspired to earn her private pilot's license in 1944 and applied to the WASP program.

"I was very surprised to find that I could become a pilot," she said. "I decided to let them have me for a student and when they said a certain number of us weren't going to make it, I thought I might as well be one of those ... But I made it. "

Of the 25,000 women who initially applied, 1,830 were accepted. Of that group 1,074 graduated from the grueling 200-hour training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas.

From 1942 to 1944, the women took over non-combat military missions across the U.S. - test-flying planes, teaching male pilots, and towing targets for artillery practice - so that male pilots could be deployed for combat. The pilots were skilled in the areas of navigation, meteorology, Morse code, and firearms.

The WASP was disbanded in 1944. However, Rausch continued making history as one of the first female aviation writers for "Skyways" magazine in New York. "That was a wonderful experience because I still got to fly and then write about it. What more could I ask for?" she said.

On a visit to Danville in the early 1950s, she met and married John Rausch, president of the WASH Company, a manufacturer of specialty nails. From Danville, the couple moved to Florida, where she lived for over 30 years improving her golf game and becoming active with the Sarasota County area Meals on Wheels. In 2007, she moved to Hillsborough to be near her nephew, Robert Ellwood.

Though the WASP program lasted just 16 months, U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7th Dist.) said their service was invaluable to the war effort, noting that the pilots flew every kind of military aircraft and logged 60 million miles on missions across the U.S. Though they were never awarded full military status and were not eligible for officer status, the WASP were finally granted veterans' status in 1977.

Today, only 300 WASP members have lived to see President Barack Obama sign legislation acknowledging and awarding them the Congressional Gold Medal - Congress' highest honor.

David Gard/ForPilot Lynn O'Donnell of Hillsborough talks about being inspired by the WASP.

"It is long overdue for Genevieve Rausch of Hillsborough to receive this distinguished award," Lance said at Thursday's ceremony. "... It is fitting that we honor Genevieve Rausch as a brave American. Her hard work, dedication and selfless sacrifice is deeply appreciated by all Americans. I have great respect and admiration for her and she makes all the residents of Hillsborough proud."

One such resident, Lynn O'Donnell, learned to fly 35 years ago and said her time in the sky was particularly inspired by pilots like Rausch. "I became a pilot because these rabble-rousers had the foresight to demand recognition," she said. "They made it known that women were capable and competent and had served their country. I owe these ladies my career."

O'Donnell has piloted planes for Eastern, Pan American World Airways as well as United Airways. A member of the Ninety-Nines, a female pilot association founded by Earhart, O'Donnell recently finished working on a display at the Aviation Hall of Fame in Teterboro, dedicated to the WASP. "These women deserve every bit of kudos they get," she said.

"We are so proud to have Hillsborough represented in such a way, being a female pioneer in the country at that time is a tremendous accomplishment," said Hillsborough Mayor Frank DelCore. DelCore said plans to honor Rausch at an upcoming township committee meeting.

Rausch was humbled by the honor. "I always wondered what I would do, because I would watch other people receive an afternoon like this and I tell you, my heart is in my feet," she said.

Somerset County Freeholder Jack Ciattarelli, joined several others who had no knowledge of the WASP. "As a student of history it embarrasses me that I never knew of the WASP, but I am not embarrassed to learn so on my next trip to the library I intend to," he said. He presented Rausch with a citation from the county for her service and called her a "National Treasure."

After the ceremony Rausch's nephew helped her show off all of the documents she'd saved from her military service. Yellowed and slightly tattered, the pages told the story of her countless flights around the country.

Looking at the old letters Ellwood felt the day was bittersweet. "This is long overdue, but I've met so many men and women who will never get recognized for things like this," he said.

A little uncomfortable to be in the spotlight on her own, Rausch made sure include her fellow aviators. "We all came from little towns and little places, my story is all of our stories," she said. "I'm just glad it's being shared."

Recognition at last for female WWII Pilots

Texas' Hutchison among lawmakers pushing for Congressional Gold Medal for WASP.

By Juana Summers
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, June 22, 2009

Susie Bain found her place in the sky when she was 21.

The Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, and Bain had left college because it was too expensive. She enrolled in clerical school, but when a friend told her about a chance to fly as one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, she signed up.

She'd ridden in a plane only once before.

"It was just absolutely gorgeous just being up there," Bain, 86, said. "We had what we thought was so much power behind us."

Bain, who lives in North Austin, is one of 300 living WASP members soon to be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal.

The bill to recognize the women was introduced by U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and the Senate passed it in May. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, brought it up in the House, which approved the honor Tuesday. It now awaits the president's signature.

If the measure is approved, the U.S. Mint will design and create individual gold medals to honor the accomplishments of the WASP. The medals will be given to all the pilots and to the families of those who have died.

"I think it's about time people learned about us," said 86-year-old Dorothy Lucas of San Antonio, a former WASP. Of more than 1,000 women in the group, which started in Houston in 1942, more than three-quarters have died.

The women held stateside flying assignments left vacant by men who were on combat duty, according to Air Force records. The WASP towed targets for Air Force pilots' shooting practice, transported cargo and flew planes from hangar to hangar for the Air Force. They also trained men who would later fly combat missions.

Deanie Parish, a Waco resident originally from Avon Park, Fla., said she became a WASP because she wanted to feel like she was contributing to the war effort.

"Everybody was doing something. I knew girls who were driving firetrucks and working in factories because the men were going off to war. At that point, I felt that (flying) was what I could do best."

About 25,000 women applied for the program, and 1,830 were accepted. Women were required to be at least 21 years old and 5 feet 1 inch tall.

Lucas said she planned to become a WASP with a close friend. But at the last minute, her friend backed out, and Lucas ended up traveling alone from her hometown of Washington to the West Texas town of Sweetwater, where the training was held.

While she was training for her wings, Lucas said, her brother died in a plane crash.

"My mother thought I should come home because she was afraid for me. I said, 'Mama, I just can't,' " Lucas said.

Lucas remembers flying a pilot from Randolph Field in Universal City, outside San Antonio, to Moore Field in the South Texas town of Mission, where he was stationed. She said he was scared to fly with a woman pilot, but they made the commute without incident.

Though the WASP were not in combat roles, they often faced danger: 38 women died while serving.

Bain, originally from Markham, about 90 miles southeast of Houston, said the WASP lost some of its best pilots — and others, herself included, had close calls.

She made an emergency landing in a Shreveport, La., rice field while flying from Texas to New York in a storm that she said "just came blistering through."

The program was disbanded in December 1944 as men returned from the war and the need for female pilots decreased.

"When they disbanded, it was all of a sudden because the guys started coming home from Europe," Bain said. "We didn't think it was fair at the time because we even had to pay our way back home."

When they returned home, they worked to re-establish their lives. But the reality they faced on the ground was much different than the life they knew in the skies. Few could get pilot jobs.

"Back then, women were supposed to only change diapers and cook for the men and not think about flying airplanes," Bain said. "I never thought about it even being that unusual a situation. I had always done what I thought I could do."

In 1977, Congress passed a bill that made the women pilots eligible for veterans benefits.

Waco resident Nancy Parrish started Wings Across America — an interactive project that preserves the stories of the WASP through video, pictures and other records — based on mother Deanie Parrish's experience.

Nancy Parrish helped create the National WASP World War II Museum in Sweetwater. Parrish said she lobbied for years for a bill to recognize WASP contributions but had little success until this year.

When she made calls to congressional offices, few people knew who the WASP were or what they'd accomplished, Parrish said.

"The fact that people don't know means we're doing the right thing," she said.

Some of the other women said that while the recognition is nice, their concern isn't the medal. It's promoting the WASP story, which had gone unnoticed.

"Americans will hear about this and they will be curious enough to try and find out who those women were," Deanie Parrish said. "Don't go to the history books, because it wasn't there."

jsummers@statesman.com; 445-3851

Memorial Day Prayer for the WASP

On this Memorial Day, 2009, I post no news, no fireworks and no 21 gun salute--only a prayer. It is a recycled prayer that I prayed 3 years ago. God doesn't ask that we invent new things to say, just that we are sincere in our asking. So, please know that the feelings behind these words and the sincerity of the requests remain the same.

With your kind permission, I offer a prayer for Memorial Day.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Gracious Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this day of remembering. Bless every soul who has gone before who sacrificed everything so that we might be free, and bless all of those who continue to serve.

Thank you most especially for the brave young women pilots who took to the skies over 65 years ago, flying for their country without question or expectation of reward. Thank you for watching over them as they flew during some of the darkest days our country has ever known. Thank you for their honorable service, their fearless determination and their unquestioning patriotism, which has inspired us all to dream dreams we could never have imagined.

**Thank you for the lives and the sacrifice of the 38 women pilots who paid the ultimate price while flying for their country.**

Continue to watch over the wonderful WASP, and surround them with your love. May their laudable history and their exemplary lives continue to inspire generations to come, and may we never forget.

In Jesus name…

amen

++++++++++++++++++++

**click link--and when page opens, click 'options' and choose: SINGLE PAGE MODE

Nancy Parrish

Daughter of 2 WWII Army Air Force Pilots

WWII pilot may soon be honored

WWII pilot may soon be honored

By Mark Hofmann

DAILY COURIER

Saturday, May 23, 2009

In her back yard in Connellsville nearly 70 years ago, a little girl looked up to the sky and dreamed of flying.

She spent her spare time assembling model airplanes, one after another, imagining what it would be like in the pilot's seat. "I think you're born with certain dreams," said Florence Shutsy-Reynolds. "I didn't know it would involve military aircraft."

Born in 1923, Reynolds graduated from high school and a scholarship led her

to enter the government's Civilian Pilot Training Program at Connellsville Airport, where she flew for the first time in 1941 at the age of 18.

The United States was on the cusp of war, and during the next few years, 25,000 women applied for training for the newly formed Women Airforce Service Pilots, called WASP. Of those, only 1,830 were accepted and 1,074 graduated. One of them was Reynolds.

Now 86, the retired pilot has one more goal to reach.

A bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WASPs has passed the Senate. Its sponsors, including Rep. John Murtha, still need the support of 38 House members before the surviving WASP veterans -- nearly 300 -- receive their medals.

"I've waited 65 years to be recognized. I don't have another 65 years to wait," Reynolds said.

Reynolds can still recite the opening lines of John Gillespie Magee Jr.'s poem "High Flight" that she memorized decades ago: "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, and danced the skies on laughter’s silvered wings. ..."

"Those two lines are what flying is like for me," Reynolds said. At the time she started to pilot a plane in 1941, the demand for male combat pilots and warplanes left a lack of state-side pilots to ferry planes from the factory to distribution points.

A proposal to the government from pilots Jacqueline Cochran and Nancy

Harkness had brought two women pilot programs in the Army Air Force in

1942. The programs were combined to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots

a year later.

The government had closed the Civilian Pilot Training Program to women in 1941 to train more men for flight. But Reynolds still wanted to fly. When she learned about the WASP program in a newspaper, she wrote to Cochran, asking to be admitted to the program.

Though she was only 19 and candidates needed to be 21 to join WASP, she continued to mail letters until she was sure Cochran had a stack of them. When the age limit was lowered, Reynolds was admitted to the program and graduated in June 1944.

Reynolds' assignments included flight testing repaired training aircraft, slowtime flights to check engine maintenance, ferrying damaged aircraft to and from repair depots and transporting personnel and material, often making more than one flight every day.

WASP members were not in combat, though their flights could be dangerous. Thirty-eight of the pilots died while flying for the Army Air Force, and they're represented by 38 stars on the WASP flag that Reynolds designed in 1986. "It was great," said Reynolds, who was known as "Shutsy." "But it was hard work. You never knew if you were going to return alive."

During one take-off, Reynolds' plane lost power at a point that could have caused her to crash. She managed to get the plane under control, completed her assignment and reported the problem to her superiors. The next day, another WASP took up the same plane. The hydraulic line broke and the plane crashed, killing the pilot.

The incident left her wondering about the danger, but it never stopped her from flying, even when the military disbanded the WASP program in December 1944 and then seemingly forgot about the pilots.

In the early 1970s, the Air Force announced it would allow women to fly their aircraft for the first time. The news angered WASPs across the country who felt their World War II service had not been recognized. It wasn't until 1977 that the veteran pilots were recognized as an important part of the Army Air Force. After that, they received veteran's status as well as the American Campaign Medal and the Victory Medal.

Reynolds remained in the military until she retired 40 years ago at the rank of captain.

Though her sight has dimmed, she still has a clear vision of what needs to be done to receive the recognition she feels is deserves.

The former WASP has kept true to the program's motto: "We live in the wind and sand and our eyes are on the stars."

Mark Hofmann can be reached at mhofmann@tribweb.com or 724-626-3539.

Images and

ALASKAN WASP in Line for Congressional GOLD

MURKOWSKI: THREE ALASKANS IN LINE TO BE HONORED WITH THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

Thursday, May 21, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate has passed legislation honoring the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, including three living Alaskans, with the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian award, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced today.

Passed Wednesday night by unanimous consent, the legislation seeks to recognize and honor the 1,074 women who received their WASP wings during World War II. Some 300 still survive and are living throughout America.

The three Alaskans are Nancy Lee Baker of Fairbanks, Ellen M. Campbell of Juneau and Virginia Wood of Fairbanks.

“These brave women faced cultural and gender bias, received unequal pay and didn’t have full military status during the war,” said Murkowski, an original co-sponsor of the legislation. “They even had to pay their own way home after the war. They have never received formal or public recognition for their wartime service to our nation. As we prepare to observe Memorial Day, it’s only appropriate for Congress to recognize and honor their service and award them the highest and most distinguished honor a civilian may receive.”

Between 1942 and 1944, young American women volunteered for flight training and service. By the war’s end, 1,074 female pilots had received their wings, making them America’s first women to fly military aircraft. They flew non-combat missions, so male pilots could be deployed in combat.

The bill must still pass the House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Obama before the medal can be awarded.

OLA REXROAT, WASP WWII TO BE AWARDED CONGRESSIONAL GOLD.

reposted from the RAPID CITY JOURNAL ONLINE

Edgemont woman among those to be awarded Congressional Gold Medals

Ola Mildred Rexroat served as a WASP in World War II.

By Journal staff | Thursday, May 21, 2009

Ola Mildred "Rexy" Rexroat admires an AT-6 owned by Harry Thompson of Brookings. She flew that type of World War II-era plane while in the Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) program. She went on to serve as an Air Force reserve officer and air traffic controller. (Photo courtesy Karen Yekel)

An Edgemont resident who served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II is one of more than 1,000 women who will receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Ola Mildred Rexroat of Edgemont, the last surviving South Dakota WASP, was one of six South Dakotans to serve in the WASPs and, as an Oglala Lakota, is believed to be the only female Native American to have served in the WASPs.

WASPs flew essential non-combat missions so that their male counterparts could be deployed in combat situations. WASPs were required to complete the same primary, basic and advanced training courses as male Army Air Corps pilots, and many went on to specialized flight training. By the conclusion of the war, WASPs logged 60 million miles of flying. During her service, Rexroat towed targets for gunnery students at Eagle Pass Army Air Base in Texas. After the war, she continued her service in the Air Force reserve for nearly 10 years. In a resolution passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, Rexroat will receive the Congressional Gold Medal, given "in honor of outstanding service to the United States." The medal is one of the nation's highest civilian award. "The WASPs served our country with extraordinary bravery, even in the face of discrimination," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said in a news release. "Their service was essential to the war effort, and this recognition of their heroics is long overdue." The service of the WASPs did not receive adequate recognition in the years after the war. WASPs were not granted veterans' status until 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation making the WASPs part of the Air Force. They received no back pay or death insurance, but they finally won recognition. Thune, who co-sponsored the Senate resolution, said that the recognition is much deserved. "Because WASPs' records were classified and archived for over 30 years, they have been left out of much of the documented history of World War II," Thune said in the news release. "This Congressional Gold Medal finally gives these women the honor they deserve."

S.614 Unanimously Passes in U.S.Senate

For Immediate Release: Media Contact: HUTCHISON/ Courtney Sanders (202) 224-9767

May 20, 2009 MIKULSKI/ Cassie Harvey (202) 224-0574

Bill to Award WWII Women Airforce Pilots Congressional Gold Medal Unanimously Passes in U.S. Senate

Sen. Hutchison and Sen. Mikulski Joined to Introduce Bill in March

--All 17 Women in the Senate Cosponsored--

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, legislation honoring the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II with the Congressional Gold Medal passed unanimously through the U.S. Senate. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior Senator, joined with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in March to introduce the legislation to honor these women pilots, who have never received formal or public recognition for their wartime service to the United States. The bill was cosponsored by 75 Senators, including all 17 women in the U.S. Senate.

Upon passage of the companion bill, H.R. 2014, in the U.S. House of Representatives, the bill will then go to the President for final approval.

“More than fifty years have passed since the intrepid Women Airforce Service Pilots bravely served in World War II. The passage of this bill is an important step toward formally acknowledging the important contributions these women made to the American war effort. Their service paved the way for all women who serve valiantly in the military today,” said Sen. Hutchison. “We will work to bring the award process to completion so that this is the last Memorial Day that the extraordinary service of the Women Airforce Service Pilots goes without formal recognition.”

“The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II are trailblazers and true patriots. They risked their lives in service to our nation, but for too long their contribution to the war effort has been undervalued or under recognized,”Senator Mikulski said. “That’s why I was proud to fight for this bill to right this wrong and to finally honor these women not just with words, but with deeds. Tonight we’ve moved one step closer to giving these courageous women the top Congressional award they deserve.”

"Thank you to the U.S. Senate for giving our entire nation an extraordinary opportunity to say 'thank you' to a group of trailblazing, courageous women pilots, who served our country without question and with no expectations of honor or glory. WASP I know are absolutely humbled by this incredible honor, and are grateful to the Congress for remembering General Hap Arnold's promise: to ‘never forget.’ Thank you on their behalf and on behalf of those of us who have been inspired and challenged by the remarkable WASP,” said Nancy Parrish, Director, Wings Across America.

Between 1942 and 1944, the 1,102 women of WASP were trained in Texas, then went on to fly non-combat military missions so that all their male counterparts could be deployed to combat. These women piloted every kind of military aircraft, and logged 60 million miles flying missions across the United States. They were never awarded full military status and were ineligible for officer status. Following the war, the women pilots paid their own way home. And for the 38 women who died in the line of duty, their families were saddled with the costs to transport their bodies and arrange burials. It was not until 1977 that the WASP participants were granted veterans’ status.

The example set by the Women Airforce Service Pilots paved the way for the armed forces to lift the ban on women attending military flight training in the 1970s, and eventually led to women being fully integrated as pilots in the U.S. military. Today, women fly every type of aircraft and mission, from fighter jets in combat to the shuttle in space flight.

Of the 1,102 women who received their wings as Women Airforce Service Pilots, approximately 300 are living today. The Congressional Gold Medals will be awarded to all 1,102 pilots and/or their surviving family members.

The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded by Congress and, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is the highest and most distinguished honor a civilian may receive. The award is bestowed for exceptional acts of service to the United States or for lifetime achievement. Once approved by Congress, the U.S. Mint designs and creates each gold medal so that it uniquely represents the individual or event being honored. The original medal is then displayed at the Smithsonian Institution.

--END—

RESOURCES

Press Release: Sens. Hutchison, Mikulski Introduce Bill to Award WWII Women Airforce Pilots Congressional Gold Medal

Commentary: Women of The Women Airforce Service Pilots long overdue to receive recognition, benefits (El Paso Times)

Get Fired up for the WASP and HR 2014!

GET FIRED UP!

NOW IS THE TIME we need to be firing on all cylinders and in all directions, reaching out ACROSS AMERICA to REPRESENTATIVES not yet signed on to co-sponsor HR 2014 to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WASP of WWII.

HR 2014 needs our help NOW--before other bills dwarf the request and before the House members begin to make their summer vacation plans.

DO NOT PUT THIS OFF ANOTHER MINUTE.

A FEW IMPORTANT NUMBERS:

74 = Number of Representatives still needed to Co-sponsor HR 2014

63 = Number of Reps with WASP living in their Districts NOT YET SIGNED ON

27 = Women Reps who have NOT YET SIGNED ON

This week, the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues and Women and the Military Task Force of the House of Representatives will be attending a ceremony at the Women's Memorial, where the Fly Girls WASP Exhibit is on display. This is a prime opportunity for them to SEE the WASP history up close -- and to sign on to CO-Sponsor HR 2014. EVERY WOMAN should SIGN ON.

This week, EVERY REPRESENTATIVE NOT YET SIGNED ON TO THE BILL NEEDS TO BE CONTACTED. It is simple. The NYY (not yet yes) database is a great resource. Reps in yellow have WASP in their districts. ALL the Reps in yellow and white need to be NUDGED, TWEEETED, VISITED AND INFORMED!

PICK UP THE PHONE OR SEND A TWEET. EVERY VOICE needs to be counted now--and, even if you don't live in the district, make the call on behalf of the WASP. WE are the only lobby the WASP have. WE are their voice. Honestly, all they really care about is that America remembers their service. The Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest civilian award that Congress can bestow, puts the history of these ground-breaking women pilots on a NATIONAL STAGE--where children can be EDUCATED and INSPIRED.

Click here to open the database of Representatives.

SADDLE UP--CHARGE--AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!