Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery

Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery 
Associated Press
By Matthew Barakat
Published: December 31, 2015

But in March, the Secretary of the Army ruled that WASPs never should have been allowed in and revoked their eligibility.

U.S. Air Force Col. David Kirkendall, 647th Air Base Group Commander and Deputy Commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam tours the Arizona Memorial with Kathryn L. Miles, World War II Women's Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), and her daughters Beth Tillinghast and Anne Miles, June 6, 2014, at JBPHH, Hawaii. WASPs performed non-combat missions to enable male pilots to fill combat roles in the war effort. Members of the 747th Communications Squadron Spouses Group hosted the tour.
CHRISTOPHER HUBENTHAL/U.S. AIR FORCE
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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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One of the first female pilots talks about WWII

Winter Parker one of first female military pilots
By Brittni Johnson
October 31, 2012

Photo by Isaac Babcock Patricia Erickson shows her Congressional Gold Medal, awarded to her for contributing to the Women Airforce Service Pilots program, volunteering her flying skills to help the World War II efforts.

Being at the controls of a plane thousands of feet above the ground felt as safe as home for Patricia Chadwick Erickson.

For the men who were part of her crew, the experience wasn’t the same. She said they white-knuckled it all the way as she “rocked” her B-25 bomber from take-off to the landing. They weren’t ever sure a woman could do it safely — flying a plane was surely a man’s job.

“A lot of the men didn’t trust us,” Erickson said.

But they learned. Eventually they’d admit, surprised, that she was a good pilot after all. It was 1943, and Erickson was part of the second class of women to learn to fly military aircraft and be a part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. All the children in her family — two brothers and a sister — volunteered along with her.

Erickson, now a 92-year-old Winter Park resident, was one of 25,000 women to apply to be a WASP and one of the 1,074 to successfully complete the grueling program out of 1,879 candidates who were accepted. The WASP members were considered civilians then, and their role was to free up Air Force men for combat military roles. They’d ferry soldiers from military base to military base, test out new planes and engines, fly planes to get repairs and make sure previously broken planes were safe to fly again.
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Female WWII pilots receive Congressional Gold medals

Female WWII pilots receive medals

By Oren Dorell and Malia Rulon - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Mar 10, 2010 12:06:34 EST

Jean Springer was 22 when she joined a new corps of female pilots needed to help the country in World War II.

Now 89, the Cincinnati woman is in Washington today with about 180 other former fliers finally to receive the nation's thanks.

Congress is awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor, to members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a civilian branch of the Army Air Force. Fewer than 300 of the 1,100 survive. Relatives of those who have died or could not attend will also get medals.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_female_pilots_wwii_031010/