{"id":986,"date":"2016-05-30T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/annelitwin.com\/?p=986"},"modified":"2016-05-30T08:00:05","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T12:00:05","slug":"the-female-pilots-of-world-war-ii-forgotten-and-betrayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annelitwin.com\/blog\/blog-posts\/the-female-pilots-of-world-war-ii-forgotten-and-betrayed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Female Pilots of World War II: Forgotten and Betrayed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tWhen Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 and the United States suddenly found itself at war, male pilots were in short supply. Sarah Byrn Rickman<\/a> writes that initially, twenty-eight experienced civilian female pilots stepped in to become the first members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) \u201cwho flew wingtip to wingtip with their male counterparts and were just as vital in the war effort\u201d as they flew everything from small aircraft to fighter planes. While they did not fly combat missions overseas, these WASPs flew almost every aircraft in the army\u2019s arsenal for transport, training, testing, and other purposes. Rickman notes that \u201ceventually 1,074 more women were trained to fly and relieve male pilots who were sent to combat.\u201d\nRickman states that by the end of the war, thirty-eight WASPs had died flying for their country. The military never officially recognized the WASPs\u2019 service during the war and took no responsibility for the transport of their bodies or funeral costs when the WASPs lost their lives while flying. As soon as the war was over, when their champion, Army Air Force Commanding General Henry Arnold, sought to have the WASPs designated as members of the United States military, Congress refused because of complaints from disgruntled male pilots who feared that women would take their jobs. The WASPs were disbanded at the end of 1944 with no recognition. The impact of this shameful decision was that these women did not receive the following:\n\n\n