WASP: Nice article...

[ButteMT61]

"About 1,100 young women flew military aircraft stateside during World War II as part of a program called Women Airforce Service Pilots — WASP for short. These civilian volunteers ferried and tested planes so male pilots could head to combat duty. The groundbreaking program lasted only two years and nearly fell through the cracks of history..."

See this page.
Lots I didn't know about. Women sure had to fight to get recognized.

 

[fortworthgal]

Thanks for posting this!

The WASP haven't had an easy row to hoe, that's for sure. As a collector of WWII women's uniforms and militaria, I've worked with some of the veterans and with the WASP Museum in Sweetwater on a few different projects. They are a really neat bunch of ladies, and their story was pretty much kept quiet up until the 1970s. Even now if I go to a museum display or event, I'm surprised at how many people have no clue how women actually participated in the war. It saddens me.

In 2010 the WASP received the Congressional Gold Medal. I loaned my uniform to one of the ladies to wear for the ceremony.

 

[ButteMT61]

Very cool! Yeah, sad to see such oversight or intentional slighting of this effort. But not surprising. Look at the Tuskegee airmen. We're slow, but we usually get things right, albeit late.