“This is not a time when women should be patient.  We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and ever weapon possible.  WOMEN PILOTS, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942

Yesterday this story aired on NPR.  It was a story perfect for celebrating International Women’s Day, except it came out a day late.  It was a story that covered women pilots during WWII, women who were born into the Depression mentality, women who were looking for a little excitement, perhaps, while their men were away fighting the Nazis.  They were all women with some flight experience, as the Airforce was not accepting women they needed to train.  And the Airforce was insistent on recognizing these women as civilians as opposed to military, so as the funerals of these amazing women were carried out, these women who died for their America, there were no flags, no condolence letters from the president, no horns blown.  After the war, men took the pilot positions back, these brave women returned home, tended to their families, had their children, and didn’t talk about their war experiences much.  At least according to pilot Lillian Yonally, who you can read more about by clicking here.

I am not a hawk.  I hate war.  But I must admit that listening to this story on the radio while sitting alone in my car was. . . well. . . moving.  It was empowering to hear that women contributed to the war effort on the front lines and that Rosie the Riveter wasn’t the only avenue women had available to them.  But, it was devastating to me that, like so many other significant people throughout history, this small group of feminist envelope-pushers were ignored, then forgotten.  And how shocking it was to these women, when in 1976, 34 years later, the Air Force was so pleased to announce they would be admitting women to their pilot’s program for the first time ever.

The WASP banded together, enraged that their service had been so completely overlooked.  Eventually, they were awarded military service status and recently, the Obama administration announced that all of the women involved with the program will be receiving Congressional Medals of Honor.

I’m simultaneously filled with pride with the role women have played and completely disgusted with the degree to which women have been taken for granted as this country was built and then later defended.  But I’m grateful for the surfacing of this story and the fact that there are still a handful of these fly girls around to enjoy the accolades, even so long after the fact.

Please go directly to NPR’s site to read more about this, see color photos, and figure out a way to weave this into your upcoming lessons!  Links are below:

Female WWII Pilots: The Original Fly Girls