DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Avenger Field in Sweetwater tells it — and friend, this one deserves to be told right. Let's start with a name you ought to know: Jacqueline Cochran. One of the most famous women pilots of the Twentieth Century.
And she wasn't the kind of person who took no for an answer — not when she believed something needed doing. She lobbied U.S. Army Airforce General Henry 'Hap' Arnold, persistently, to establish a flight training program for women during World War II.
Now, General Arnold may have had his hesitations, but by mid-summer of 1942, the Army was hard-pressed for pilots. So Arnold called Cochran back from England and told her, essentially — put your plan into action. The Women Airforce Service Pilots.
The WASP. A flight school opened at Houston's Municipal Airport in late 1942. It didn't stay small for long.
The program outgrew those facilities and was relocated — here, to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. From February 20, 1943 to December 7, 1944, this field became something the world had never seen before and has never seen since: the first and only all-women military flying school on the face of the earth. Now, think about the numbers for a moment, because the numbers tell the story better than any flourish I could add.
Twenty-five thousand women applied for WASP flight training. Twenty-five thousand. Only 1,830 were accepted.
And of those, 1,074 went on to earn their silver wings. They flew over sixty million miles on operational duty. The program trained these women to fly every kind of aircraft used in overseas duty.
But here's the weight you have to carry alongside the glory: 38 of those women lost their lives serving their country. Thirty-eight. Remember that number.
And then — after all of it, after the sixty million miles and the silver wings and the sacrifice — the government classified these pilots as civilian employees during the war. Not soldiers. Not veterans.
Just civilians. It took special legislation, passed in 1977, before WASP pilots finally received the military benefits they had earned. Decades after those wings were pinned on.
Decades after those 38 names were written into the permanent record. Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. The only place like it in the world.
And the marker standing there today makes sure nobody drives past without knowing it.
What the marker says
Jacqueline Cochran, one to the most famous women pilots of the Twentieth Century, persistently lobbied U.S. Army Airforce General Henry "Hap" Arnold to establish a flight training program for women during World War II. Hard-pressed for pilots by mid-summer of 1942, General Arnold requested that Cochran return from England and put her women airforce pilots (WASP) plan into action. A WASP flight school, opened at Houston's Municipal Airport in late 1942, outgrew its facilities and was relocated to Avenger Field in Sweetwater. The school operated here from February 20, 1943 to December 7, 1944, during which time it became the first and only all-women military flying school in the world. The program successfully trained women to fly every kind of overseas duty. Of the 25,000 women who applied for WASP flight training, only 1,830 were accepted to the program. Of this number 1,074 went on to gain their silver wings and fly over 60 million miles on operational duty; 38 of them lost their lives serving their country. Considered civilian employees during the war, WASP pilots finally gained military benefits after special legislation passed in 1977. (1993)