We Served Too: The Story of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots of WWII

For many years, a group of pilots kept their achievements quite. Their service during World War II would only be known by few. They are not mentioned in our history books, nor is their story taught in schools. Their accomplishment of being the first women pilots to fly in the military would even be forgotten. They were the first women pilots to ever fly for the US military. However, after a nasty and aggressive campaign by male pilots who wanted the WASP jobs, they were the only war time unit that was denied military status by Congress and sent home before the war was over and their job was done because of gender discrimination. The WASP were denied military status, and received no insurance or benefits during or after the war, and if a WASP died during training or while on a mission, their families were not allowed to put a service star in the window, nor could they receive a military burial. It wasn’t until the middle of the 1970‘s that they would be recognized as World War II veterans, and it wasn’t until 2010, that those women who died during their service would be honored by the United States government and their surviving war time sisters would receive the Congressional Gold Medal.