The Women with Silver Wings

Author: Katherine Sharp Landdeck
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
ISBN: 1524762814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
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 Japanese planes executed a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Cornelia 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, Cornelia 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. In The Women with Silver Wings, historian Katherine Sharp Landdeck introduces us to these young women as they meet even-tempered, methodical Nancy Love and demanding visionary Jacqueline Cochran, the trailblazing pilots who first envisioned sending American women into the air, and whose rivalry would define the Women Airforce Service Pilots. For women like Cornelia, it was a chance to serve their country--and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled and able 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 of them 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 and fewer male pilots needed in Europe, 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.

Silver Wings, Santiago Blue

Author: Janet Dailey
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439140049
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 502

Book Description
Travel back in time to the exhilarating story of the first WASPS, the Woman Airforce Service Pilots, who risked their lives, their ambitions, and their dreams to help the war effort during World War II. Determined to earn their wings in a man’s world, four young women are united by their fearless passion for flying. From the rigors of military flight to their turbulent romances with fellow officers, to their own private wars for love and respect, Janet Dailey celebrates the courage of women at war in a world where life, time, and love were never more fleeting...and never more precious.

Women Aviators

Author: Karen Bush Gibson
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613745435
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
Detailing the role of women in aviation, from the very first days of flight to the present, this rich exploration of the subject profiles 26 women pilots who sought out and met challenges both in the sky and on the ground. Divided into six chronologically arranged sections, this book composes a minihistory of aviation. Learn about pioneers such as Katherine Wright, called by many the "Third Wright Brother," and Baroness Raymonde de Laroche of France, the first woman awarded a license to fly. Read about barnstormers like Bessie Coleman and racers like Louise Thaden, who bested Amelia Earhart to win the 1929 Women's Air Derby. Additional short biography sidebars for other key figures and lists of supplemental resources for delving deeper into the history of the subject are also included.

A Wasp Among Eagles

Author: Ann Carl
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588343413
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
Before World War II most Americans did not believe that the average woman could fly professionally, but during the war more than a thousand women pilots proved them wrong. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), who served as military flyers on the home front. In March 1944 one of them, Ann Baumgartner, was assigned to the Fighter Flight Test Branch at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. There she would make history as the only woman to test-fly experimental planes during the war and the first woman to fly a jet. A WASP among Eagles is the first-person story of how Baumgartner learned to fly, trained as a WASP, and became one of the earliest jet-age pioneers. Flying such planes as the Curtiss A-25 Helldiver, the Lockheed P-38, and the B-29 Superfortress, she was the first woman to participate in a host of experiments, including in-air refueling and flying the first fighter equipped with a pressurized cockpit. But in evaluating the long-awaited turbojet-powered Bell YP-59A, she set a “first” record that would remain unchallenged for ten years.

Fly Girls

Author: P. O’Connell Pearson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1534404120
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Book Description
“A truly inspiring read.” —Booklist (starred review) “A solid account of women’s contributions as aviators during World War II.” —Kirkus Reviews In the tradition of Hidden Figures, debut author Patricia Pearson offers a beautifully written account of the remarkable but often forgotten group of female fighter pilots who answered their country’s call in its time of need during World War II. At the height of World War II, the US Army Airforce faced a desperate need for skilled pilots—but only men were allowed in military airplanes, even if the expert pilots who were training them to fly were women. Through grit and pure determination, 1,100 of these female pilots—who had to prove their worth time and time again—were finally allowed to ferry planes from factories to bases, to tow targets for live ammunition artillery training, to test repaired planes and new equipment, and more. Though the Women Airforce Service Pilots lived on military bases, trained as military pilots, wore uniforms, marched in review, and sometimes died violently in the line of duty, they were civilian employees and received less pay than men doing the same jobs and no military benefits, not even for burials. Their story is one of patriotism, the power of positive attitudes, the love of flying, and the willingness to serve others with no concern for personal gain.

Silver Wings

Author: H. P. Munro
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781482023572
Category : Historical fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Winner - 2014 Golden Crown Literary Society - Historical Fiction When in 1942, twenty-five-year-old Lily Rivera is widowed, she finally feels able to step out of the shadows of an unhappy marriage. Her love of flying leads her to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, determined to regain her passion and spread her wings, no suspecting that she would experience more than just flying. Helen Richmond, a Hollywood stunt pilot, has never experienced a love that lifted her as high as the aircraft she flew...until she meets Lily. Both women join the W.A.S.P. program to serve their country and instead find that they are on a collision course towards each other, but can it last?

On Silver Wings

Author: Marianne Verges
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
THEY WERE THE WOMEN WITH THE RIGHT STUFF. They were heroic women who came from every corner of the nation and every walk of life: debutantes, teachers, businesswomen, housewives, daughters of farmers, and factory workers. Almost two thousand of them were accepted into the rigorous Army Air Force flight training program and received their wings--flying with the desert sand in their eyes, with ice on their wings, serving side by side with men flyers. Yet for all their daring and commitment, the WASPs still had to battle red tape, jealous insinuations, and political pressure. Still, they flew on, often outclassing their male counterparts in efficiency, reliability, and physical stamina. Their story rings with all the courage, romance, and adventure of the lives these extraordinary women lived. "Verges brings to life the joy these women found in flying and the dawning realization that women deserved a place in the sky." --The Dallas Morning News "Verges gives us the pride, emotion, and struggle of America's first deployment of women aviators." --Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught USAF (Retired) "Inspiring." --Publishers Weekly "From the Paperback edition.

Clipped Wings

Author: Molly Merryman
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479805785
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
Revives the overlooked stories of pioneering women aviators, who are also featured in the forthcoming documentary film Coming Home: Fight for a Legacy During World War II, all branches of the military had women's auxiliaries. Only the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, however, was made up entirely of women who undertook dangerous missions more commonly associated with and desired by men. Within military hierarchies, the World War II pilot was perceived as the most dashing and desirable of servicemen. "Flyboys" were the daring elite of the United States military. More than the WACs (Army), WAVES (Navy), SPARS (Coast Guard), or Women Marines, the WASPs directly challenged these assumptions of male supremacy in wartime culture. WASPs flew the fastest fighter planes and heaviest bombers; they test-piloted experimental models and worked in the development of weapons systems. Yet the WASPs were the only women's auxiliary within the armed services of World War II that was not militarized. In Clipped Wings, Molly Merryman draws upon military documents—many of which weren’t declassified until the 1990s—congressional records, and interviews with the women who served as WASPs during World War II to trace the history of the over one thousand pilots who served their country as the first women to fly military planes. She examines the social pressures that culminated in their disbandment in 1944—even though a wartime need for their services still existed—and documents their struggles and eventual success, in 1977, to gain military status and receive veterans’ benefits. In the preface to this reissued edition, Merryman reflects on the changes in women’s aviation in the past twenty years, as NASA’s new Artemis program promises to land the first female astronaut on the moon and African American and lesbian women are among the newest pilot recruits. Updating the story of the WASPs, Merryman reveals that even in the past few years there have been more battles for them to fight and more national recognition for them to receive. At its heart, the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots is not about war or planes; it is a story about persistence and extraordinary achievement. These accomplished women pilots did more than break the barriers of flight; they established a model for equality.

The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line

Author: Maj. Gen. Mari K. Eder
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1728230934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII—in and out of uniform—for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come. From daring spies to audacious pilots, from innovative scientists to indomitable resistance fighters, these extraordinary women stepped out of line and into history, forever altering the world's landscape. This page-turning narrative, crafted with meticulous historical accuracy by retired U.S. Army Major General Mari K. Eder, provides a fresh perspective on the integral roles that women played during WWII. Liane B. Russell fled Austria with nothing and later became a renowned U.S. scientist whose research on the effects of radiation on embryos made a difference to thousands of lives. Gena Turgel was a prisoner who worked in the hospital at Bergen-Belsen and cared for the young Anne Frank, who was dying of typhus. Gena survived and went on to write a memoir and spent her life educating children about the Holocaust. Ida and Louise Cook were British sisters who repeatedly smuggled out jewelry and furs and served as sponsors for refugees, and they also established temporary housing for immigrant families in London. Whether you're a history enthusiast, a lover of powerful women's stories, or an avid reader of WWII nonfiction, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line is a must-read and a poignant testament to the forgotten women who stepped up when the world needed them most.

Surgical Wing

Author: Kristin Robertson
Publisher: Alice James Books
ISBN: 1938584449
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Book Description
“In Surgical Wing, you will find yourself in phone booths, county fairs, fishing boats, and among ghosts. Strange birds will enter hospital waiting rooms. You will be seduced by knot-makers. You will witness illness, grief, and healing. Finally, the book itself will become the wings that steer you to a greater understanding of yourself and the world.” —Anna Silver In Surgical Wing, surrealistic poems visit an experimental hospital ward, manifesting visions of winged angels and medical tests, as we bear witness to a doctor’s’ meddling and miracles. Robertson’s poems challenge the internal and external metamorphoses of the human condition and the juxtaposition between death and life by personifying the soul through images of birds. From “You’re About to Fold a Paper Airplane”: Build evidence of air. Pull the results of your blood test from the mailbox. Fold in half: you have wings already. Abnormal? Fold again. You can’t see the inner-workings of an aircraft. And when you’re folding, you can’t study much else. Book your tumor markers a flight to Bora Bora. Vector, Victor. Clearance, Clarence. On any scrap of paper write carry. Write heavenward. Write I choose this over you. Replace this. With flying. With peregrination. Or write I can’t fear you another morning. And fold. Kristin Robertson is a native of East Tennessee, and she graduated with a PhD in creative writing from Georgia State University in Atlanta. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Harvard Review, Indiana Review, TriQuarterly, Third Coast, and Verse Daily, among other journals. Kristin lives outside Los Angeles and teaches at the University of California, Riverside.