Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Women Airforce Service Pilots: Honored

Tomorrow - March 10th, 2010 - the Women Airforce Service Pilots will receive the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, DC.

I had the privilege of knowing one WASP, Jane Cunningham, when she lived in Edmonds, Washington. We learned bookbinding in a class offered through the Continuing Education program at the University of Washington in the late 1970s. We developed a friendship and met for lunch frequently on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Jane talked a little of her service with the WASPs with quiet pride but with some regret that, as a civilian service, their service had not been recognized.


That will be rectified tomorrow. My only regret is that Jane did not live to see it; her medal will be awarded posthumously.


Related posts:

- Natalie Jeanne Stewart-Smith: The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Of World War II: Perspectives On The Work Of America's First Military Women Aviators
- Female WWII Pilots: The Original Fly Girls
- Remember the WASP of WWII
- Pioneering women pilots of WWII get a belated honor

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