LibGuides: Maggie Gee and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP): WASP

Maggie Gee at LPC!

Maggie Gee was a guest speaker at LPC

Date: Thur, November 10, 2011

Time: 10:30 - 11:30

Place: Mertes Center for the Arts

About the WASP

When the U.S. Air Force started recruiting female pilots, more than 25,000 women applied. Only 1,830 were accepted into flight school; of these, 1,037 graduated. The women who earned their wings proved themselves to be strong, competent pilots and worked hard in similiar conditions as men did. Though not allowed in combat, they flew a combined sixty million miles of missions, and 38 of these pilots died in the line of duty.

While the government needed the extra fighters at the height of the war, it disbanded the WASP in 1944, after just two years, shortly before the end of WWII. It would be another thirty years before women were allowed in the cockpit of a U.S. military plane again.

Of the original thousand who earned their wings, only a couple hundred are still alive, but their story lives on.

Excerpted from Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss

WASP Awarded Congressional Gold Medal

On July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WASP to recognize their invaluable service to the nation more than 60 years ago. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest and most distinguished award Congress can award to a civilian.

"The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since," President Obama said. "Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve."

The WASP was established during World War II with the primary mission of flying noncombat military missions in the United States, thus freeing their male counterparts for combat missions overseas. They were the first women ever to fly American military aircraft and they flew almost every type of aircraft operated by the Army Air Force during World War II.

During their time in the WASP, the more than 1,000 women held civilian status and were not members of the military. Their contributions went largely unrecognized and the women weren't afforded veteran status until 1977.

The groundbreaking steps taken by the WASP paved the way for today's generation of military female aircrew currently engaged in conflicts around the world.

Excerpted from The U.S. Airforce Website