Female WWII Aviators Honored With Gold Medal
March 15, 2010
by Kitt
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Last week, Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony on Capital Hill, a long-overdue recognition for these heroic women. They were considered civilians and were not entitled to pay and benefits given to men, nor military honors though some died in service.
Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., along with Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Susan Davis, D-Calif., led the push in Congress to get the women recognized.
Hutchison noted at the ceremony that when the unit was disbanded in 1944, many of the women had to pay from their own bus fare home from an airfield in Sweetwater, Texas. When some died on duty, it was fellow female aviators who helped pay their funeral expenses, she said.
After a long fight, the WASPs achieved veteran status in 1977, however, only about 300 are still living. About 200 of them were able to attend the ceremony to receive their award.
In accepting the award, WASP pilot Deanie Parrish, 88, of Waco, Texas, said the women had volunteered without expectation of thanks. Their mission was to fly noncombat missions to free up male pilots to fly overseas.
”We did it because our country needed us,” Parrish said.
Let these amazing women be an inspiration to us all!
At the ceremony, the first woman to serve as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said it perfectly:
‘Women Airforce Service Pilots, we are all your daughters; you taught us how to fly.”
Gosh, their story always gives me chills! I love that top photo. I live with a (male) WWII vet, and I hear the stories all the time. It was a fascinating and difficult time for our country.
What a story. This is the first I have heard of this. And seeing the two pictures above… wow. It gives me chills, too. How wonderful that these women are finally being recognized!
I love the photo and story too. It made me teary eyed when I read it. That’s why I put up a quickie post about it. To share the love!
have to write a thank you to my senator Mikulski. and thanks for writing this. finally. now we need to get recognition for the women who got us the vote. Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony. Every elementary student needs to know that WASP existed and how exactly we got the vote just as pointed out in a previous blog post.
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