And they marched—everywhere.
----
Margaret Ray Ringenberg
was 7 or 8 when her family went for a ride in the car. They stopped when
a plane landed in an adjacent field, and the pilot offered her family a
ride. "I sat on my mother’s lap and, after that, dreamed of
becoming a pilot."
Her dream continued, but
as she grew older, she didn’t think girls could fly; so she did the
next best thing—went to the airport to learn more about planes.
Instead she learned women
could fly, and she started lessons. But after she earned her ticket,
Ringenberg quickly discovered many people didn’t want to ride with a
girl.
"I didn’t know
what I would do with my ticket."
Then she got a Western
Union telegram, stating her country needed her. "One door opened,
and doors have been opening for me since," she said.
-----
Marty Wyall got into the
last class of Women Airforce Service Pilots, but she almost didn’t
make it at all, thanks to a flight surgeon who "didn’t think
women should be in the military."
He didn’t send in her
physical, and when she called, he told her, "It’s still on my
desk."
Although she was hopping
mad, she "convinced" him to send it in immediately. He agreed
to do so, but told her a lady shouldn’t use that tone of voice with a
colonel.
-----
No matter their reason
for getting involved in aviation, the group of women who made up the
Women Airforce Service Pilots played an important role in America’s
history. With limited aviation opportunities for women in the 1940s, the
military program turned out to be a blessing for those females who
wouldn’t accept traditional roles. And those women, in fact, turned
out to be a blessing for the many women who since followed their love
and passion for aviation.
With a severe shortage of
male pilots in 1942, American pilot Jacqueline Cochran convinced
military officials that she could bring together women pilots and train
them to fly the "Army way" and thus free up America’s male
pilots for overseas combat. Nearly 25,000 women volunteered for the job,
yet only 1,830 were accepted, and of that only 1,078 graduated and went
on to become a member of WASP, training at Avenger Field near
Sweetwater, Texas.
WASP flew 44 different
types of airplanes in all types of weather and conditions. They ferried
personnel and hauled cargo, they delivered aircraft from factories to
bases and elsewhere, and they test-flew new, old and rebuilt planes and
even some planes that male pilots refused to fly. They towed targets for
ground-to-air and air-to-air gunnery practice, and they delivered old
planes to America’s junkyards. Simply put, they flew every type of
mission the Air Force had except combat.
They flew more than 60
million miles for their country in less than two years, and then, in
December 1944, the WASP were disbanded; the women were told to pack
their bags and go home.
Almost all of the WASP
applied for airline jobs after they were deactivated. But the world wasn’t
ready for a female in the cockpit for a long time, the women agreed. So
some WASP went back to the regular world of being a wife and mother
after their stint in the service and never flew much again.
However, a number of
those women kept flying. Some went into competitive flying and flew in
air shows; others worked as flight instructors.
Ringenberg is one of
those. In 1994, she had 40,000 hours in the air and said, "I haven’t
been counting since." The 85-year-old also has competed in air
races for 49 years. She missed the Air Race Classic this year because
she was ill, but says she’ll be back next year.
And in 2002, she was able
to meet the astronauts and fly their best flight simulators. She proudly
adds she made two landings without crashing.
Like many of the others,
Ringenberg can’t imagine her life without the WASP in it. "I was
elated with the opportunity to serve my country and fly," she said.
And Ringenberg and the rest of the WASP
are elated to tell their story today.
