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By P.C. Staff and Associated Press
Published July 3, 2009
For most of her life, Maggie Gee wanted to fly. The 86-year-old from Berkeley, Calif. remembers taking trips to the local airport to watch airplanes take off. During World War II, when Gee was attending college and working as a welder, she achieved her dream.
She became a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP).
"It's something about being alone," said Gee in an earlier interview with the Pacific Citizen. "It was the feeling of disassociation with the Earth. It felt like up there all your problems were gone."
Now Gee and about 300 living WASP members may soon be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. Both the House and the Senate have passed a bill to recognize the women pilots of WWII. It now awaits the president's signature.
If the measure is approved, the U.S. Mint will design and create individual gold medals to honor the accomplishments of the WASPs. The medals will be given to all the pilots and to the families of those who have died.
Of more than 1,000 women in the group, which started in Houston in 1942, more than three-quarters have died.
The women held stateside flying assignments left vacant by men who were on combat duty, according to Air Force records. The WASP towed targets for Air Force pilots' shooting practice, transported cargo and flew planes from hangar to hangar for the Air Force. They also trained men who would later fly combat missions.
About 25,000 women applied for the program, and 1,830 were accepted.
Though the WASP were not in combat roles, they often faced danger: 38 women died while serving, including Hazel Ying Lee, the first Chinese American woman to fly for the U.S. military.
The program was disbanded in December 1944 as men returned from the war and the need for female pilots decreased. But it wasn't until 1977 that Congress passed a bill that made the women pilots eligible for veterans benefits.
Now, the unsung heroes of WWII may receive the highest civilian award in the United States.
"We women pilots were the forerunners of the great women pilots of today," said Gee.
For a related story on the APA women of WWII:
"APA Women Warriors of World War II"
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