Winning My Wings - A Woman Airforce Service Pilot In World War II by Marion Stegeman Hodgson
One
of the first women in the United States to train as a military pilot,
the author was part of a little-known World War II experiment called
the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program, which gave young
women the then unheard-of oppurtunity to fly military aircraft. Marion
Hodgson tells of the time in 1943 when she and other WASP's earned
their hard-won wings. They learned to fly everything from open-cockpit
primary trainers to P-51 Mustangs, B-26 Marauders, and B-29
Superfortresses. An unlikely volunteer, Hodgson was at frist terrified
of flying, but she and other WASPs succeeded not only in winning their
wings but in breaking the barriers against women in military cockpits.
Their
existence was a well-kep secret, their wartime contribution largely
unnoticed for more than 30 years. Though 38 WASPs were killed in
crashes in the line of duty during the war, they had no burial
benefits, no insurance, no G.I. Bill for continuing education, and no
acknowledgement of a job well done.
This is an action-packed
story, often humorous and sometimes harrowing, told mostly through
letters Hodgson wrote to a Marine pilot who later became her husband.
Aviation
buffs of all ages will identify with Hodgson's graphic description of
learning to fly and the thrill and challenge of being in the cockpit.