Female Pilots of WWII to be honored

Mar.8th, 2010

In 1942, with a shortage of male pilots and a desperate need to muscle up for war, the military needed new recruitment material. Famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran had been lobbying First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a corps of female pilots. Eventually, Gen. H.H. "Hap" Arnold agreed. The Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, program was born, training the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft.

Recruited by newspaper ads and public service announcements, about 25,000 women answered the call. Of the more than 1,800 selected for training, 1,102 graduated.
During the war, they flew 60 million miles in every aircraft available -- Piper Cubs to B-29 bombers. Prohibited from flying in combat, they transported military personnel, towed targets for gunnery practice and tested planes newly repaired or overhauled.

By the time the program was disbanded in December 1944, 38 women pilots had lost their lives. But there were no flags or military honors at their funerals. Their bodies were sent home and buried at their families' expense. The surviving WASP veterans paid their own way home and melted from history's pages.

The military decreed that their existence had never been cleared by Congress, and denied them benefits. Arnold's son Bruce lobbied for their recognition as veterans, a status Congress finally conferred in 1977.

This week, with fewer than 300 WASP members still alive, Congress is bestowing Congressional Gold Medals on all the trailblazing pilots.