With Earning Their Wings Author Sarah Perry Myers Traces The Influence and Origins Of Female Military In The U.S. Military
By Mark Rhodes
Earning Their Wings: The WASPS of World War II and the Fight for Veteran Recognition (University of North Carolina Press) is author Sarah Parry Myers' account of the birth of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program begun in 1943. The WASP program was an attempt by the U.S. Army Air Corp to allow male pilots to be deployed for combat operations overseas and have women pilots handle non-combat, domestic flying. As might be expected, considering the times, female applicants were obliged to pay for their own transportation, training and uniforms. Despite their service, these women were denied military status and benefits until 1977. Author Myers, a Professor in the History Department at Messiah University, crafts a bittersweet and fascinating narrative of a mostly forgotten episode of World War II, shedding light on the dashing women who helped power the U.S. through WWII and also helped provide the inspiration for U.S. Women's Military aviation. Professor Myers was nice enough to participate in an email interview about her work, the challenges faced by these pioneering female aviators and the legacy of the WASP's on U.S. Military History.
In Flight USA: What was the chain of events that led to the formation of the WASPs?
Sarah Parry Myers: “Two experienced and highly skilled women pilots, Jackie Cochran and Nancy Love, approached the Army Air Corps in 1940 about the possibility of the military utilizing women pilots. Their ideas were rejected at that time, although First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt advocated for the U.S. government’s utilization of women pilots in her “My Day” column in newspapers across the country. She called American women pilots a ‘weapon waiting to be used.’ In early 1942, months after Pearl Harbor, General Arnold reconsidered and decided to create two separate women pilot programs led by Cochran and Love. Cochran’s program was for women with fewer flying hours, while Love’s program was for pilots with a wider range of experiences and more flying hours. Those in the latter program flew in the Ferrying Division. Eventually, these two programs merged to form the WASP.”
IF USA: Did the resistance to the WASPS generate from concerns that women were not up to the demands of flying sophisticated military aircraft or from concerns that women could not acclimate to military lifestyle or culture?
SPM: “The concerns of Army Air Force military officials, including General Hap Arnold, were initially about women’s intellectual, physical, and emotional abilities to fly military aircraft. Arnold himself admitted that he did not know ‘whether a slip of a young girl could fight the controls of a B-17 in the heavy weather they would naturally encounter in operational flying.’ Yet ultimately, the AAF deemed the WASP successful and skilled military pilots. Some aspects of the American public, including media coverage and Congressional representatives, were concerned about the WASP disrupting military culture. This concern was not confined to the WASP, but rather was a wartime concern of women’s presence in the military and in jobs previously restricted to men. WASP Director Jackie Cochran worked to restrict the media’s image of the WASP because she wanted to dispel these fears about gender. Publicity was so restricted that many WASP talked about returning home and their own neighbors and community had never heard of the WASP program.”
IF USA: You document many skeptics regarding the WASP program but were there any individuals who championed their cause and helped them get the recognition and support they needed to be successful in their role during World War II?
SPM: “Yes, several high-ranking AAF and government officials, including General Arnold and Secretary of War Henry Stimson felt so strongly about the success and importance of the WASP that they testified in Congress on behalf of the women pilots. Arnold worked directly with WASP Director Jackie Cochran to ensure WASP success in their roles and he approved the continuous expansion of WASP assignments during the course of the war. At the end of the WASP program, heads of different divisions, i.e., the Western Flying Training Command, were required to write assessment reports of the WASP. Overwhelmingly, they all confirmed that the WASP were successful and necessary for the war effort.”
IF USA: Was there an individual in the WASPs who captured the public imagination to alert and educate the public about the necessity of this program to the War Effort?
SPM: “During the war, most of the WASP were professionals in that they focused more on their assignments and performing well, instead of on promoting the WASP program. Even during the 1944 Congressional debate over whether or not to grant the WASP military status, most of the WASP stayed out of the media debates and focused on their work. There was a female pilot, Teresa James, who captured the public imagination, although this was not her original intent. James was in Nancy Love’s original program, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), because she was a highly-skilled pilot with hundreds of flying hours who had been a barnstormer before the war. During the war, she delivered a PT-17 for a Hollywood film, Ladies Courageous. The AAF received a request for the plane’s delivery from the film’s producers. During that trip, James met comedian Bob Hope who introduced her to other celebrities like Marlene Dietrich. This garnered a small amount of media attention to the WASP program. The other memorable WASP in the American public’s mind, if there were any, would have been Shirley Slade who appeared on the cover of Life magazine’s July 19, 1943 issue. Slade was a trainee at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas at the time and this cover story featured photographs and a discussion of WASP training.”
IF USA: What were the reasons for the holdout of granting Military Status to the WASPS until 1977 and what triggered the idea that they should get some recognition finally?
SPM: “This is a complicated question that I answer more thoroughly in my book, but I’ll tackle the overview here. The bottom line was that the WASP were the only women’s unit during World War II that was not performing primarily traditional work. That, coupled with societal fears of women taking jobs from men ultimately led Congress to decline passing the 1944 bill that would have granted military status to the WASP. These fears coincided with the conclusion of the Civilian Pilot Training Program and the release of a Hollywood movie about women pilots. The civilian male instructors of the CPTP feared the draft and the Hollywood movie depicted women pilots as unprofessional. This imagery was powerful in the minds of Congressional representatives. Keep in mind that they listened to these images over the voices of the commanding General of the Army Air Force (Hap Arnold) and Secretary of War Henry Stimson who testified about the importance of the WASP program and its military nature. After 1944, there was not any strong movement among the WASP to fight for military status. It wasn’t until the 1960s when they started to organize themselves through their veteran organization, The Order of Fifinella. With the assistance of Bruce Arnold, General Hap Arnold’s son, and Senator Barry Goldwater, the WASP garnered political connections to show Congress that they were organized as military during the war.”
IF USA: Did this work have any impact on you personally or inspire you in your own life?
SPM: “I found the stories of the WASP inspiring. These were women who were interested in fields – aviation and military – that were not considered mainstream or typical for women at the time. Their professionalism and drive to perform to the best of their ability are qualities that I aspire to personally. I wish that the American public knew some of the WASP by name, or at least the names of leaders Jackie Cochran and Nancy Love. When polled, the American public is typically unable to give the name of even one female veteran in U.S. history. Likewise, Amelia Earhart is the most well-known female pilot in the U.S., despite the fact that she was nowhere near as accomplished as Cochran or Love or most of the WASP in terms of aviation records or military flying. Cochran, for example, held more speed and distance records than any other pilot at the time of her death in 1980.”