BOERNE MIDDLE SCHOOL HISTORY STUDENTS: ABOVE AND BEYOND THE WASP HISTORY!

On Saturday, May 7th, students from Mr. Degner's  8th grade American History class from Boerne Middle School North, Boerne, Texas,  will compete in the 30TH ANNUAL TEXAS HISTORY DAY contest, at the University of Texas in Austin.  The students are hoping to advance to the NATIONAL HISTORY DAY contest at the University of Maryland in June, 2010.

The student's project on the WASP is a wonderful example of the inspirational history of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and what it can mean to this generation and generations to come.

Please read on to find out more about these great kids!

Each year Middle School teacher, Bryan Degner, assigns his 8^th grade American History students a project that must follow the guidelines of the National History Day (NHD) contest.  The students have five categories to choose from and their topic must relate to the theme provided by the NHD.  This year’s theme is “Innovation in History, Impact and Change.”  A group of 8^th graders selected the WASP as their topic because they believed that using  women pilots to ferry planes for the Army during World War II was an innovative idea and the WASP had a tremendous impact on military aviation.

In order to educate people and bring the story of the WASP alive, these five students decided to enter the performance category.  They conducted hours of research reading books, magazines, and newspaper articles but their best source was the WASP themselves.  The students interviewed eight WASP either over the phone, email or by letter.  The information they gathered was used to write a script for a 10 minute performance that depicts the history of the WASP. 

These students won 1^st place at their school history fair and 2^nd at the San Antonio Regional History Fair. On May 7, 2010 they will compete at the Texas History Day contest and hope to advance to the national contest at the University of Maryland in June.

l to r: Heather Schloss, Callen Hamilton, Connor Campbell, Caroline Coale, Emily Bow

The following are comments from each of the five students in the group:

Callen:  I think the history of the WASP is important. These women made a difference when some people weren’t ready for women to serve in the military.  It’s because of the WASP that women have opportunities in military aviation. The thing that impressed me the most about the WASP was how strong and determined they were. They served their country not for recognition but because they loved to fly and wanted to do their part during the war.

Connor:  One of the things I learned about the WASP was how tough these women were and how they were forgotten for so long.  Speaking with the WASP was a great honor and it was a lot of fun listening to their stories.

Caroline:  I think the history of the WASP is important because they showed that women are just as brave and hard working as men.  We didn’t know the WASP were going to receive the Congressional Gold Medal when we started the project.  It has been an honor to share the story of the WASP with many people that had never heard of them.

Emily: I learned from this project that women can be just as strong and determined as any man. Thank you, WASP.

Heather:  One of the fun things about this project was dressing in the zoot suits and performing at competition. One of my favorite memories was hearing Mrs. Rosa Lea Meek tell us that before she left Love Field they were told to “go home, marry your high school sweetheart and have babies.”  It’s hard to believe that was the way women were thought of. 

PERFORMANCE PHOTOS:

Representing 1st female USAF Thunderbird pilot,
Maj (now Lt. Col) Nicole Malachowski

GOOD LUCK TO CALLEN, CONNER, CAROLINE, EMILY AND HEATHER!  LET THE CAN DO ATTITUDE OF THE WASP, THEIR PATRIOTISM AND THEIR SPIRIT BE SHINING BRIGHT IN YOUR PERFORMANCES.  FOR ALL OF US, YOU ARE ALREADY WINNERS!

GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

NANCY PARRISH, DIRECTOR  & WASP DEANIE PARRISH, ASSO. DIRECTOR

WINGS ACROSS AMERICA

DOOLITTLE RAIDERS AND B-25's THUNDER OVER OHIO

Part of the joy of posting information is sharing what other people have written about their experiences.  I just received an email from Ken Kula, who wrote the following eyewitness account of the last reunion of the Doolittle Raiders-- and the flyin of the B-25's, along with some of the photos he took.

There were more than a few WASP who flew the B-25, so this is completely relevant to our mission.  God bless you all!

ENJOY-- and THANKS, KEN!
Nancy

_______RESPECTFULLY POSTED FROM KEN KULA'S ORIGINAL EMAIL

Hi All!
Shirl and I drove out to Dayton Ohio (13.5 hours!) last weekend to attend the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association Reunion, held at the US Air Force Museum abeam Wright Patterson AFB.  There are 8 surviving crew members of the 80 that flew on the mission; four attended the Reunion.  A historian of the group travelled with them too.  Seven of the eight survivors are 90+ years old.  Eighty eight - year old MSgt David Thatcher (engineer/gunner -  aircraft #7), 90 year old Lt Col Robert Hite (co-pilot of aircraft #16 - the last one off the USS Hornet), 92 year old Maj Thomas Griffin ( navigator and mission planner  - aircraft #9), and 94 year old Lt Col Richard Cole (co-pilot of aircraft #1 - Jimmy Doolittle's plane) were the 4 members in attendance. 

All four men had numerous public autograph sessions to attend throughout the Friday/Saturday/Sunday weekend event.  There were hundreds of people in line waiting for every 2-hour long session - snaking through the huge museum.  We attended a  45 minute media conference to ask questions and hear their stories on Friday afternoon.  Their age showed a bit - memories faded - but they were still spry.  A few items of note:  one member said it was common to for B-25 pilots to be deaf in their left ear because their engines were notoriously loud...  co-pilot on #16 - Lt Col Hite - said that he had no doubt that he'd make it off the Hornet OK because the other 15 had already done it...  and co-pilot in #1 - Lt Col Cole -  said he wasn't afraid being first to takeoff because he was along side of the best pilot in the group.  Navigator Maj Griffin noted that he (and the other mission planners) travelled to Washington DC to plot out their attack; they had actually made up 20 sets of flight plans and charts, although only 16 aircraft flew the mission.  Great stuff hearing it from the men that actually flew the operation.  Friday night, the Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley spoke at the big formal dinner for them at the museum, and was present Saturday morning at the static display of B-25s, alongside the four Tokyo Raiders.   What we didn't get to see was the private ceremony where the surviving members toasted their departed comrades with the legendary set of 80 engraved silver goblets - face down for those deceased.

The other half of the weekend's festivities centered around the gathering of 17 B-25s, the largest gathering of the North American - built bombers since the making of the film "Catch-22" decades ago.  Staging out of nearby Urbana Ohio, the planes thundered onto the Museum grounds Saturday morning, landing on a private runway behind it.  They were presented on static display Saturday for the public, and departed Sunday around noontime to perform a 17-ship fly past to open a commemorative service for the Doolittle Raiders at the Museum. 

The gathering included one of each version: B-25A, B-25D, B-25H,  PBJ (Navy/Marine version), plus 13 B-25Js.  The fly past on Sunday was spread out (as most pilots weren't B-25 formation rated I assume) in three columns filling the sky for some 30 seconds.  The rumble of 34 Wright Cyclones engines overhead was chilling and thrilling at the same time; I'd hate to have been underneath the bombers as they delivered their payloads in wartime, but then I marveled at the resourcefulness and dedication it took to put these aircraft all overhead at once for the Reunion.


More than one unofficial report states that this is probably the final Reunion for the Tokyo Raiders Association.  We were honored to be able to watch and listen to the men, who volunteered for their mission.  At the time, I don't think they knew of the raid's importance... only historians have brought out the two main impacts of the 16-ship raid... that America's morale soared, for it was a much needed early victory in the war, and Japan was immediately put on the defensive because they now needed to protect their homeland, slowing down their offensive plans that, up until that point, had resulted in a string of victories.

Hope all is well,
Ken Kula

WASP & FLYGIRLS--What's NEXT!

To the WASP and supporters online, a little news from Wings Across America.

"FLY GIRLS TRAVELING WASP EXHIBIT"

NEXT STOP on the national tour of the The "Fly Girls of WWII" traveling WASP exhibit will be  the Kalamazoo AIR ZOO in Kalamazoo, Michigan opening May 31, 2010!

Mom & I are DELIGHTED to make this announcement, so that YOU, the WASP, would be the FIRST TO KNOW!.  All the other details  we will leave up to the Air Zoo’s  Public Relations Department.   They will soon be releasing more information about the opening of the exhibit and events surrounding the opening.

Those of you who heard my speech at the Women's Memorial on March 9  know that I offered the entire Fly Girls exhibit to the US Air Force.  General Schwartz, who spoke at the event,  was very kind. He nodded, smiled, applauded, and immediately assigned a very nice young woman in his office to head up the project.   We have been working with her to find the best way to showcase your history, but we discovered that ‘making this happen’ will take much more time than we expected.   

Fly Girls of WWII  had been extended twice at the Women’s Memorial--held over for 17 months.   The time had come  for us to remove the exhibit in order for the Women's Memorial  to have room for another traveling exhibit that had been scheduled months before.  We were grateful for the opportunity to have the exhibit on display during the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, but it was time to take Fly Girls down and move on.   We were fortunate to find an exciting and special  temporary home for the exhibit  --KALAMAZOO  AIR ZOO,  while we continue to work with the Air Force.

During the events in Washington, WASP Sue Parish and her friend, Norm Carver, visited the  Fly Girls exhibit and expressed their  desire for a chance to display the exhibit at the AIR ZOO, which Sue helped found back in 1977.   (It houses her pink P-40!)  They were so enthusiastic until they sent the Kalamazoo Air Zoo Director, Bob Ellis,  to DC to see the Fly Girls exhibit a few days after they returned to Michigan.  Bob's enthusiasm for showcasing the Fly Girls exhibit in their beautiful facility was perfect timing! 

The Air Zoo is an EXTRAORDINARY,  "outside the box, state of the art" inspirational, entertaining and educational experience of EVERYTHING AVIATION!

Watch for upcoming information on their  ‘GRAND OPENING OF THE WASP ‘FLY GIRLS’ EXHIBIT’

"WASP IN THEIR OWN WORDS--AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY"

The WASP Commemorative Edition of my new book, "WASP In Their Own Words," was given as a gift from Wings Across America to the WASP who attended the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in DC. This limited first printing was only for the WASP.  

For those of you who sent checks to order additional copies,  I’m having a second printing so the SECOND EDITION should be printed very soon.   Meantime, thank you for your patience!  (YOUR check will not be cashed until your book is shipped.)

Additional opportunities to order more books will be announced on-line shortly, along with more specific information on the book.

UPDATE on Lt. Col. Nicole Malachowski & family

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU for your prayers, cards and emails for Paul & Nicole Malachowski and their expected TWINS!  My last email from Nicole was from her hospital bed-- where she will be until the twins are born.  She is ‘hanging tough’, doing everything to ensure those little babies stay right where they are for as long as possible.  

I received this message 2 days ago:

 "Thanks for passing on all the kind emails from the WASP network...they make me smile. Also, I got 20+ cards in the mail today from WASP and families. Really made my day! --Nicole"

For those of you who might want to send her a card:

Lt. Col. Nicole Malachowski 

MICC, 6TH FLOOR, Bldg. 10 

National Naval Medical Center 

8901 Rockville Pike 

Bethesda, MD 20889-5600

_____________
THE WASP HISTORY 'COMES TO LIFE!'


On Saturday, May 7th, students from Mr. Degner's  8th grade American History class from Boerne Middle School North, Boerne, Texas,  will compete in the 30TH ANNUAL TEXAS HISTORY DAY contest, at the University of Texas in Austin.  The students are hoping to advance to the NATIONAL HISTORY DAY contest at the University of Maryland in June, 2010.

The student's project on the WASP is a wonderful example of how the history of the Women Airforce Service Pilots has inspired these students and can inspire generations to come.

Please read on to find out more about these great kids!

Each year Middle School teacher, Bryan Degner, assigns his 8^th grade American History students a project that must follow the guidelines of the National History Day (NHD) contest.  The students have five categories to choose from and their topic must relate to the theme provided by the NHD.  This year’s theme is “Innovation in History, Impact and Change.”  A group of 8^th graders selected the WASP as their topic because they believed that using  women pilots to fly military aircraft for the Army during World War II was an innovative idea and the WASP had a tremendous impact on military aviation.

In order to educate people and bring the story of the WASP alive, these five students decided to enter the performance category.  They conducted hours of research reading books, magazines, and newspaper articles but their best source was the WASP themselves.  The students interviewed eight WASP either over the phone, email or by letter.  The information they gathered was used to write a script for a 10 minute performance that depicts the history of the WASP. 

These students won 1^st place at their school history fair and 2^nd at the San Antonio Regional History Fair. On May 7, 2010 they will compete at the Texas History Day contest and hope to advance to the national contest at the University of Maryland in June.

l to r: Heather Schloss, Callen Hamilton, Connor Campbell, Caroline Coale, Emily Bow

The following are comments from each of the five students in the group:

Callen:  I think the history of the WASP is important. These women made a difference when some people weren’t ready for women to serve in the military.  It’s because of the WASP that women have opportunities in military aviation. The thing that impressed me the most about the WASP was how strong and determined they were. They served their country not for recognition but because they loved to fly and wanted to do their part during the war.

Connor:  One of the things I learned about the WASP was how tough these women were and how they were forgotten for so long.  Speaking with the WASP was a great honor and it was a lot of fun listening to their stories.

Caroline:  I think the history of the WASP is important because they showed that women are just as brave and hard working as men.  We didn’t know the WASP were going to receive the Congressional Gold Medal when we started the project.  It has been an honor to share the story of the WASP with many people that had never heard of them.

Emily: I learned from this project that women can be just as strong and determined as any man. Thank you, WASP.

Heather:  One of the fun things about this project was dressing in the zoot suits and performing at competition. One of my favorite memories was hearing Mrs. Rosa Lea Meek tell us that before she left Love Field they were told to “go home, marry your high school sweetheart and have babies.”  It’s hard to believe that was the way women were thought of. 

PERFORMANCE PHOTOS:

Representing 1st female USAF Thunderbird pilot,

Maj (now Lt. Col) Nicole Malachowski

GOOD LUCK TO CALLEN, CONNER, CAROLINE, EMILY AND HEATHER!  LET THE CAN DO ATTITUDE OF THE WASP, THEIR PATRIOTISM AND THEIR SPIRIT BE SHINING BRIGHT IN YOUR PERFORMANCES.  FOR ALL OF US, YOU ARE ALREADY WINNERS!

GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

That's the news for now-- God continue to bless you all, everyone!


nancy

TEX MEACHEM FLIES AGAIN!

WWII woman, 92, pilot fulfills dream to pilot plane again

A World War II flier's wish came true after she was offered a chance to roll and solo in her favorite two-seater over the skies of South Florida

Tex Meachem, 92, went up flying again for the first time in decades in Fort Lauderdale Friday, April 23, 2010. A former Women Airforce Service Pilot from World War II, Tex (her given name) went up in an AT6 trainer aircraft like she flew in the 1940's. History Flight provided the plane and will be giving flights this weekend at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER

EBRECHER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Two months into her 93rd year, Tex Amanda Brown Meachem ditched her four-wheeled walker, settled into the cockpit of a restored World War II training plane and flew into her past.

``I hope we do some aerobatics,'' she confided.

Meachem, a wartime pilot who lives at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, wasn't disappointed. During a 30-minute joy ride with History Flight pilot John Makinson on Friday, she said she did ``two rolls -- one right and one left -- and a chandelle,'' a climbing/banking/direction-reversing maneuver.

``Super!'' she declared on landing. ``He let me solo.''

As a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots -- WASP -- Meachem flew dozens of AT-6 Texans, camo-striped two-seaters with a red nose and tail.

Friday's adventure fulfilled a wish that she expressed after the 300 surviving WASP veterans received a Congressional Gold Medal in March.

She wanted to skipper once more her ``favorite plane'' -- the AT-6 Texan.

Marathon-based History Flight, a nonprofit foundation, happens to own one, and brought it to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport so Meachem could fulfill her wish.

As she was boosted into the cockpit, the John Knox Village's 48-voice men's choir gave Meachem a rousing send-off.

``Off she goes, into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high, into the sun.

That's our Tex, making our hearts grow fonder,

Let her fly, this should be fun!''

Which it was, especially for Meachem, who founded John Knox Village's chapter of the Red Hat Society: a nationwide social network for women 50 and older who vow to live with gusto.

Garbed in the society's signature purple outfits and scarlet headgear -- baseball caps to flower-bedecked sun hats -- two dozen Red Hats cheered on their ``Queen Bee.''

With her ``spirit and determination . . . Tex is a guiding light,'' said Red Hatter Martha Johnson.

When she learned to fly with the Civil Air Patrol after graduating from the old Florida State College for Women -- now Florida State University -- in 1938, the Tallahassee-born Meachem had nothing in mind but fun.

``Our idea was to fly to Daytona, which was the beach, instead of taking the bus,'' she said.

Although she held an economics degree, Meachem was working as a secretary at her alma mater when she heard the Sarasota Civil Air Patrol needed a bookkeeper.

With the war on, the air patrol ``was busy looking for [German] submarines in the Gulf,'' Meachem recalled. ``There were a lot on the East Coast, and we expected them to go around.''

She took the job on condition that she could fly.

In 1942, the WASP was created. Meachem recalls thinking: ``Oh my Lord -- that's for me!'' She joined immediately.

She met her future husband, navigation instructor John Meachem, at an air base in Hondo, Texas, where she was flying training missions for navigation students in a stripped-down commercial airliner.

During her two-year stint with the WASP, she picked up new planes at aircraft plants and delivered them to military bases, flew old clunkers to the salvage yard, chauffeured military personnel, towed targets for live-fire drills and once made an unscheduled landing in a North Carolina potato field.

The WASP disbanded in late 1944.

After the war, Tex Brown married John Meachem. They spent 33 years in Syracuse, N.Y., had three daughters and took up square dancing.

Tex joined the Junior League, and earned a master's degree in library science in her late 30s, said daughter Lucinda.

After they retired to South Florida, Tex told daughter Lucinda: ``I know I'm going to heaven because I did all those years in hell in the snow.''

Although 38 WASPs died in the line of duty, they weren't recognized as veterans until 1977. The 300 surviving WASPs were honored by Congress, on behalf of all the women who served, for their contribution to the war effort while ``the boys'' fought overseas.

John Knox choir member Ben McKinney was a Navy fighter pilot during the war, and said he could well have flown planes that Tex Meachem tested.

``I tease her about her [walker],'' said McKinney, 86. ```Hey Tex, you got your wheels and flaps down?' She's a good sport.''

Meachem was also an inspiration to a younger woman watching the festivities on Friday.

Chris Ponticelli flies helicopters for the Broward Sheriff's Office, and just happened to be at the airport. At 45, she's less than half Tex Meachem's age.

Said Ponticelli: ``You encouraged me and other women to fly.''

reposted from the Miami Herald online

ViDEO included in original post.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/23/1595641/surviving-wasp-93-fulfills-dream.html#ixzz0m4POXyAy

Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Florida female WWII pilot

Virginia Wise will be honored in Washington, D.C. as one
of the surviving members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Tallahassee, Florida - They had to pay their own way to Texas to take training. They received no military benefits and were trained with secondhand equipment. Thirty-eight of them lost their lives - and their fellow pilots had to take up collections to ship their bodies home. It took 35 years for the U.S. government to officially recognize their service to the nation.

PHOTO GALLERY: Pictures of Virginia Wise, WWII woman pilot

But none of that bothered Tallahassee resident Virginia Wise. She loved being a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a civilian women's pilot organization that ferried planes to military bases, test-flew repaired planes and trained male aviation combat troops during World War II.

Wise is one of 150 surviving WASPs who will receive the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

"I was grateful for every minute," said Wise, 88. "I very much was interested in helping during the war."

The WASPs were the first U.S. females to fly military planes - though their service was initiated grudgingly in late 1942 to free up more male pilots for combat duty. In 1979, U.S. Senator and former World War II pilot Barry Goldwater pushed through legislation that granted WASPs military veteran status. In 1984, WASPs received the World War II Victory Medal.

More than 25,000 women applied to be WASPs, which was founded and directed by famed female aviator Jackie Cochran. A total of 1,803 women were accepted with 1,074 graduating. Assigned to 134 bases in the U.S., they served until the program was discontinued Dec. 20, 1944.

Wise was one of three eventual Tallahassee residents to become WASPs. The other two, Connie Reynolds and Liz Bane, are deceased. Only an estimated 300 WASPs are still alive.

"I don't think they've gotten the credit they deserve," said Joan Denman, archivist with Florida State University's Institute on World War II and the Human Experience. "They had a very low accident rate and very low death rate, proportionately lower than the male pilots. They were just outstanding women who wanted to fly and wanted to help.

Wise took up flying as a teenager growing up in West Virginia, where her father was an airport manager. A nurse the first two years of the war, she joined the WASPs in March, 1944, in Sweetwater, Texas. On the crowded train to Texas, she met a young male pilot from Ohio also heading to military flight training, Warren Wise. The two soon became engaged and were married in 1946.

Graduating in October 1944, Wise spent the last three months of the WASP program at what is now Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. She flew B-17 bombers to train male military gunners, who shot at targets dragged by female pilots in accompanying planes. She had several "adventures, landing once when a landing gear malfunctioned and narrowly avoiding a train station during another landing.

But she adored flying: She and Warren Wise spent their honeymoon ferrying private planes to California. After the war, her application to be a commercial airline pilot was turned down, but she flew private planes into the 1950s.

"There is nothing like the experience of flying," she said. "Especially when you're up there alone."

Wise and her husband moved to Tallahassee in 1955 and in 1960 founded Wise Realty. Virginia Wise started the state's first multiple listing service and won numerous awards before retiring from real estate in 1977. Driven by the same energy that led her to the WASPs - "I'm not a stay-at-home person" - Wise was an avid traveler, who traveled all over Asia, Africa, South America and twice visited Antarctica.

Her husband died in 1989. Their son, John Wise, operates the family real estate company - and followed in his parents flying footsteps. He took up flying at age 14 and flew his own plane for more than 30 years.

"I've always been very proud of her," said John Wise, who will accompany his mother to Washington. "They were all amazing women."

Grand Junction honored for service as World War II pilot

During World War II, Annabelle Moss was a Women Airforce Service Pilot. She and other WASPs were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in March.


By Melinda Mawdsley
Saturday, April 17, 2010

During her lifetime, Annabelle Moss has fulfilled both her biggest dream and experienced her worst nightmare.

Not surprisingly, Moss, 88, prefers to talk more about fulfilling her dream of becoming a pilot in 1944 during World War II.

The Grand Junction woman spent nearly one year as a Women Airforce Service Pilot, or WASP. During that time, Moss was one of 1,200 American women who successfully passed an aptitude test to be a domestic pilot, freeing male pilots to fly abroad in combat.

As a WASP, Moss flew officers from the U.S. Army from base to base in a single engine AT-6 trainer plane. She was among the first women in history to fly American military aircraft.

“It taught me I could do anything,” Moss said.

Well, almost anything.

Moss spent the better part of her life loving the skies, particularly flying and traveling. However, within the past year, Moss has begun to lose one thing she treasured as a pilot: her eyesight.

“I had perfect eyesight,” Moss said of what she feels is a nightmare. “The one thing I didn’t want was to be blind.”

She needs help cooking and reading, and she definitely doesn’t drive. She has friends and family to support her. She is thankful for that.

But failing eyesight can’t erase the fond memories Moss has of her time as a WASP. In fact, all Moss’ memories flooded back in early March when she went to Washington, D.C., to be honored along with other women who graduated from WASP training in the early 1940s.

An estimated 300 women who were part of WASP were still alive at the time of the March 10 ceremony, Moss said.

Ann Craft (Moss), 44-W-2

Nearly 200 of those women, including Moss, attended a ceremony to accept the Congressional Gold Medal. It is one of the highest honors civilians can receive for courage, service and dedication.

“There were a lot of wheelchairs,” Moss joked.

About 2,000 family members and friends of surviving and deceased WASPs also were in attendance. Moss had 15 family members from all over the country who were there, including her daughter, Marcia Sadler of Grand Junction.

Sadler accompanied her mother to the nation’s capital, a visit that included a stop at the World War II Memorial. There, the magnitude of Moss’ service “really hit me,” Sadler said.

Growing up, Sadler heard her mother share stories about being a WASP. Moss went to WASP reunions in California and displayed pictures and books about the WASPs.

“I grew up thinking that’s just what mothers do,” Sadler said.

It wasn’t until March that Sadler finally understood that what her mother did was unheard of at that time. Women weren’t called on to fly planes because men did it. But women were needed during World War II, and her mother wanted to help in the best way she knew how.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said in 1942: “This is not a time when women should be patient. We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and every weapon possible. Women pilots, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used.”

After Moss graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1943, she began training to become a WASP, saying the country was so patriotic at the time it never occurred to her to do anything else.

She was 22 at the time, and she had an edge. She had earned her pilot’s license in the summer of 1942 while on break from college. In the summer of 1942, the U.S. government was offering to teach boys how to fly. One girl out of every 15 boys was extended the same courtesy.

“I didn’t have anything to do that summer and got my license,” Moss said.

It came in handy in 1943 when she decided to become a WASP. She needed to have a pilot’s license and then train for six months in the same way men had to train.

“We flew all kinds of planes in all kinds of conditions, including target practice planes so men could practice shooting planes down out of the sky,” Moss said.

The WASP program only lasted from 1943 until 1944 when it was disbanded toward the end of World War II.

After the war, Moss moved to Michigan to teach kindergarten for one year and then began to have her own children. She had three daughters and never returned to teaching.

She and her husband moved to Grand Junction in 1955. Pictures, books and even a quilt recognizing the WASPs are in her Grand Junction home.

The March ceremony in Washington, D.C., was a validation for her service, but the medals and compensation were never necessary, Moss said.

She would have flown for free.

“I loved to fly,” she said. “I needed to fly ... It was a wonderful experience and an adventure.”

(class photo added by Wings Across America)


Reprinted from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Janet Simpson, Ponte Vedra WASP

Janet Simpson
from the Ponte Vedra Recorder

Jesse S. Jones  |  April 9, 2010  |   0 Comments

Sixty-six years after World War II, this Ponte Vedra resident was among those honored for their service to the country as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

How did you become involved in aviation?

My father was a pilot. We were the "Flying Hutchinsons, America’s Flying Family," we flew to all 48 states in 1931 as an effort to encourage air travel. We also attempted to become the first family to fly across the Atlantic but we were forced to make an emergency landing due to rough weather. We were in a Sikorsky Amphibian and we were washed ashore on a rocky deserted island near Greenland. We were rescued by a passing trawler and the photo of my mother, sister and me was Life magazine’s photo of the year in 1932.

How old were you when you became a WASP?

I was 18 years old. I was one of the youngest to become a WASP. I read about the program in the newspaper and I immediately wanted to join. My father knew Jacqueline Cochran [Cochran is credited with the creation of the WASPs] so we drove to Washington, D.C. and I was interviewed by Jacqueline Cochran. After the interview I went home, then shortly after I went to Sweetwater, Texas to begin training. The training lasted seven months, after the training I was assigned to Gunter Field in Montgomery, Ala.

WASP Janet Lee Hutchinson, 44-6 graduation photo

What were your duties as a WASP and what was it like to be a WASP?

I was a test pilot, a ferry pilot and trainer. It was an adventure. I did get picked on for being young. Once the other WASPs tied me to a chair and gave me a crew cut. It was also a time that I had my first experience with death. My best friend during training, Elizabeth Erickson, was killed in training in a mid-air collision with another pilot.

What was it like to finally receive recognition from our government and to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal?

It was one of the happiest days of my life. There were around 1100 WASPs; we flew more than 60 million miles during our service. There are only about 300 of us left. I was among the 174 that were able to travel to the ceremony.

When you were a WASP did you think of yourself as a pioneer or role model?

I never thought of myself as a pioneer or role model. I just loved what I was doing. Several years ago I was on a commercial flight going to a reunion of the WASPs and one of the stewardesses heard me talking about it. As we were getting off the plane the pilot, who was a woman, stopped me and said "Thank you for paving the way for me." I will always remember that.

With all of your flying experience, what is your most memorable flight?

After the war was over I was flying for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation [an independent agency of the US government] and we would fly these big shot businessmen all over the country from meeting to meeting. One flight we flew into some bad weather and the pilot I was flying with had me go back to check on the passengers and some of them were crying and clutching their seats in fear.

What did you do after you left the WASPs?

I opened a nursery school and we ran that for 39 years. At the same time I was also teaching at a flight school. When we built the nursery school up to 20 students my father came on and we then expanded and eventually had more than 100 students. Later I trained racehorses; I had a stable of 10 horses. My favorite was named Brasher Falls. He was not high strung like most racehorses.

How did you end up here in Ponte Vedra?

Janet Lee Hutchinson Simpson--Wings Across America Interview

I came down to visit my sister for Christmas. She has lived here for quite a while and I really loved the area. So I had a house built next door to hers and moved here in 1991.

(photos added by Wings Across America)