Williamsburg Regional Library

The women with silver wings, Katherine Sharp Landdeck

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-415) and index

collective biography

portraitsillustrations

index present

non fiction

The women with silver wings

bibliography

1135091150

Katherine Sharp Landdeck

"The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II-only to be forgotten by the country they served. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army's rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. The brainchild of trailblazing pilots Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) gave women like Fort a chance to serve their country-and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad, and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight WASP would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran's social experiment seemed to be a resounding success-until, with the tides of war turning, Congress clipped the women's wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they'd forged never failed, and over the next few decades they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were-and for their place in history"--, Provided by publisher

Teresa -- Wilmington -- Nancy Love -- Jacqueline Cochran -- Teresa -- Jackie and Dedie -- Dora -- The WAFS -- Dora -- The Hopefuls -- Nancy and Jackie -- Hazel and Dedie -- Women Airforce Service Pilots -- The WASP -- Teresa and Helen -- Jackie and Nancy -- Dora -- Marty -- Teresa -- Jackie and Nancy -- Disbandment -- The End of the Experiment -- Dora -- Finding Their Way -- Reunited -- The Fight for Recognition Begins -- The Year of the WASP -- The Final Flight

adult