A Different Kind of WASP

To the Editor: 
Perhaps one of the least remembered acronyms that came out of the World War II era was the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). No, it was not a flying insect or a person of English heritage but a branch of our military where more than 1,100 women helped the war effort by flying airplanes from factories to bases (stateside and abroad), flew targets for anti-aircraft training, some became test pilots and even trained male pilots.
They performed all of the above duties to free up the manpower stateside during the war. Later, an act of Congress in 1944 disbanded the WASP and it soon became known as the “Forgotten Air Force.” Their records were sealed for 35 years because Congress believed it was “unladylike” for women to fly. Wow! That wouldn’t fly today.
Collectively, the ladies logged over 60 million miles of fly time from 1941-1944 and were rarely recognized for their service, never received benefits, nor a proper burial if they died in service to their country (38 did so). For years they were not permitted to join the American Legion. Later, all that changed when Senator Barry Goldwater, a former Ferrier pilot himself, championed benefits for the “Fly Girls” in 1977.
In 2002, 58 years after their disbandment they finally gained the right to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with honors and in 2010 their unit was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. So, this leads me into the greatest untold story to come out of this war.
The largest bomber built during WWII was the B-29 Superfortress. It was rushed off the assembly lines with its four giant Wright engines and quickly became known as the “four wrong engines” because of their propensity to catch fire. It was a “spooked” plane and few pilots wanted to fly it. The Airforce needed this super weapon for long distance bombing missions, but how were they going to find pilots?
Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets, who later would drop the first atomic bomb from his B-29, the “Enola Gay,” thought he had a solution to the problem – teach WASP volunteers how to fly these planes! He asked two “Fly Girls,” Dora Dougherty and Dorothea Moorman if they wanted to train as B-29 pilots.
Within a week and after a very intense training period the two ladies successfully flew the B-29 “Ladybird.” When word spread throughout the barracks hundreds of male pilots stepped forward to fly the B-29s, which fire bombed Tokyo and brought the war to an end by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Military historians estimate the above acts saved over a million Allied casualties and a like number of Japanese military and civilian lives. The two “Fly Girls” never piloted another B-29 after their initial flight but they certainly had a tremendous impact on the male ego to help bring a successful conclusion to WWII.
The moral of the story is: If you want a job done right find the right women! You won’t find this story in your high school or college texts.