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It is time to honor the historically forgotten veterans known as the Women Air Force Service Pilots, otherwise known as the WASPs. The WASPs served during World War II as pilots alongside their male counterparts. There were over 1,000 trained women pilots during the war but the media represented them as women who took men’s jobs, not as fully serving members of the US Air Force.
The result of that media representation? The army and the government have refused to recognize or honor these female soldiers. Thirty-eight of those women were killed during the war, but their deaths were neither recognized nor honored. Those who survived came home to no medical care or insurance benefits.
In an effort to remember and honor these women pilots, here are a few things you need to know about the WASPs thanks to Wings Across America:
1. The WASPs were the first women in history to pilot U.S. military aircrafts.
2. The WASP organization was created when they merged the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) and the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) in 1943.
3. The WASPs were stationed at 120 Army Air Bases across America.
4. These women pilots flew over 60 million miles during the war in every type of aircraft the Army Air Force provided at the time.
5. Eleanor Roosevelt was a fan of the female pilots, having said, “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.”
6. Twenty-five thousand women applied to become a part of the WASP organization. They accepted only 1,830 women, and 1,074 of those accepted women went on to receive their silver wings.
7. The women pilots had to pay their way through training. If they did not survive the war, their friends had to pool money together to pay for their burial with no monetary support from the Air Force.
8. The women pilots were denied Veteran status for 35 years.
9. In 1944, the WASPs were deactivated and were not given benefits or notoriety for their achievements.
10. Once deactivated, their files were sealed as classified, leaving WASPs out of World War II history.
For more information about the Women Air Force Service Pilots, and to honor these brave, female pioneers, visit Wings Across America.
