World War II Museum Seeking More Women Airforce Service Pilots Artifacts

National World War II Museum seeks help filling holes in artifact collections
The Associated Press
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY
Published: January 1, 2014

Even with enough artifacts to fill a growing number of buildings, the National World War II Museum's collections have some gaping holes. Those include items from the Holocaust, the first U.S. engagement with German troops, and the women who flew military airplanes to the front, freeing male pilots to fight.

Although the museum's 100,000-plus artifacts include belongings from about 900 women in other services and the home front, its only illustration of the Women Airforce Service Pilots is a single shoulder patch embroidered with a winged Disney character. It came from a patch collector, without information about the pilot who wore it, said Toni M. Kiser, assistant director of collections and exhibits.

What she'd like is a uniform, a log book, a flight jacket or other artifact with information about its owner. "We like to collect the personal story that goes along with any gear, any uniform, any helmet," she said.

The WASP trained more than 1,000 pilots starting in November 1942; the last graduation was in December 1944.

"There just weren't nearly as many WASP as there were women in other service branches. They also weren't recognized as a service branch for a long time. They had to really fight to be recognized for their work," Kizer said.
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Women's Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II

Women's Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II
WASP Marjory Munn, an aviation pioneer, dies at 88.

By Nancy Bartley

Seattle Times staff reporter


Marjory Munn received a three-year appointment in 1983 to the Defense Advisory Committee On Women in the Services, the equivalent of being a lieutenant general when visiting bases for inspections.

Marjory Munn was a West Virginia-born beautician when she won a contest that would change her life. The prize was flying lessons, and they opened a world Mrs. Munn had never experienced and for the first time made her feel totally free, she said in 1993.

Mrs. Munn, who in 1943 became a Women's Air Force Service Pilot, or WASP, continued flying and became one of a group of women who flew noncombat missions in the U.S. during World War II. She died July 25 of cancer. She was 88.

In early July, President Obama signed an order giving the more than 1,000 WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. Mrs. Munn will receive hers posthumously in January.

"She was a very remarkable woman and a great lady," said Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, chief executive officer of the Museum of Flight, in which Mrs. Munn was deeply involved for years. "If you look back in history, women started flying not long after the Wright Brothers but never flew in combat. The WASPs were put together to train other pilots and test airplanes, and they did it before the era of good navigation. Their performance opened the door to many ... in aviation and space."
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Women Air Force Service pilot flew in World War II