With the tremendous rise of activity in all branches of the U.S. military and the deployment of servicemen across the Atlantic and the Pacific, a great void in manpower grew all along the U.S. home front. As the void intensified, the demand for warplanes and qualified male pilots needed for overseas combat duty left the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) with a predicament; a dire shortage of experienced pilots to ferry military aircraft between U.S. Army airbases, as well as from aircraft production facilities to points of embarkation for shipment overseas.
As the war escalated overseas, millions of Americans galvanized on the U.S. home front in support of the allied war effort and to fill the void in the labor force. And as the shortage of pilots heightened to desperate levels, the USAAF ‘powers that be’ grew convinced, through the persistence of famed pilots Nancy Harkness Love and Jacqueline Cochran, that women pilots could be trained to ‘fly the Army way’ and perform flying duties on the domestic home front, thus releasing male pilots for combat duty.
By September 1942, a plan was developed to create two independent women’s pilot programs; the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), led by Nancy Love, and the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), under the leadership of Jackie Cochran (later merged to be the Women Airforce Service Pilots). That same year a law had been passed by Congress to create a new women’s unit within the Army which listed all the tasks that women could do in the unit; however, the role of ‘pilot’ was not on the list. Hence, women pilots could not legally be part of the Army Air Forces new unit.
Because amending the law could take months during this time of emergency, Army officials could not afford to wade through the red tape and a compromise was reached that the women pilots would be initially be recruited to fly for the AAF as U.S. Federal civil service employees, with the promise that legislation would later be introduced to Congress in order to officially commission them into the. U.S. armed forces.
Hence, as civilian volunteers, the women recruits were not officially a part of the Army and until deemed as such, they would not receive any military benefits whatsoever, including medical insurance, death benefits, military funeral or burial, or equitable pay for flying duties equal to male cadets.
By 1944, as the national emergency continued and the global war waged on, the WASP remained steadfast in performing the critical flying duties that they were trained for and assigned to perform. As they did so, it was expected that the WASP were to be formally militarized and many of them were sent to the officers’ candidate school in Orlando, Florida for that reason.
Introduced on February 17,1944, the bill to militarize the WASP (HR 4219) would have not only given the women full veteran status, but also medical and insurance coverage, hospitalization, and burial benefits.
But the intent to militarize the WASP died on June 21, 1944 when the long-awaited HR 4219 granting the Women Airforce Service Pilots full military status, was defeated by 19 votes in the House of Representatives. In the midst of the global crisis of the Second World War, despite the continuing national emergency of ‘manning’ the flying ranks in the U.S., the entire WASP program was abruptly terminated. And regrettably for the WASP, there were several new factors beyond the women’s control that influenced Congressional decisions.
By 1944 the USAAF’s immense flight training program was reaching its pinnacle, and plans for the forthcoming invasion of Europe now shifted its priorities to ground troops. As a result, there was a sharp decrease in the USAAF training agenda that affected male civilian pilots that were now threatened with induction into the infantry. As a result, a vocal majority of these pilots exerted an intense lobbying campaign upon their Congressional representatives to defeat Bill 4219 and pass legislation that would be favorable to their employment.
Ultimately, discussion within the Commission on Military Affairs centered around the protests of the released men who demanded the positions occupied by the WASP (positions that the civilian male pilots were categorically uninterested in filling prior to the prospect of induction into the infantry).
While a percentage of the male pilots who were qualified were previously assimilated into the USAAF, General Hap Arnold refused to reduce AAF standards in order to accommodate the remaining percentage of men who were not qualified to fly combat and could not pass qualifying tests for overseas duty. In agreement with Gen. Arnold, the Military Affairs Committee, released a report that recommended passage of the bill to commission the WASP.
But…as the men’s lobbying efforts grew stronger, the Civil Service Committee, chaired by Rep. Robert
Ramspeck of Georgia, instituted an investigation of the WASP, who were technically Civil Service employees, to learn how public funds were being spent on the program. The committee also lobbed damaging accusations that the authority of Congress had been bypassed and that Congress had never authorized the WASP program.
Additionally, several editorial writers for major U.S. newspapers, including the prominent columnist Drew Pearson, helped to lead the opposition to continue the WASP programs, publishing unfounded negative and socially-biased articles that were read and recorded in the Congressional Record.
In the end, the debate on Bill 4219 lasted over 40 hours and concluded on June 21, 1944, only days after the D-Day invasion. A roll call was taken and the bill was narrowly defeated with a vote of 188 to 169.
Due to political pressures, the increasing availability of male pilots, and the unjust smear campaign launched against the WASP, the defeat of the bill in Congress to militarize the Women Airforce Service Pilots were disbanded, effective December 20, 1944.
December 7, 1944 -The last class of WASP walked across the stage to receive their diploma. This video shows different clips of the WASP doing activities during training. Near the end of the video, is the final speech of Jacqueline Cochran and General Arnold to the WASP.
We are so thankful for all our supporters and donors. WASP Suzette VanDaell Douglas’ son, Paul, donated this video to us.
Three years to the date of Pearl Harbor, Commanding General of the USAAF, Gen. Hap Arnold addressed the last graduating class of WASP (44-W-10) and concluded his remarks with “The WASP have completed their mission. Their job has been successful. But as is usual in war, the cost has been heavy. Thirty-seven* (sic) WASP have died while helping their country move toward the moment of final victory. The Air Forces will long remember their service and their final sacrifice…So on this last graduation day, I salute you and all WASP. We of the AAF are proud of you; we will never forget our debt to you.”
As history would have it, the WASP (who flew 60 million miles in little over two years) were quietly sent home at their own expense, with no benefits or honors, nor the veteran status they deserved.
Their records were sealed, stamped ‘classified’ and filed away in the Government’s archive. The dedicated service of the WASP of World War II was ignored and forgotten by both the government and the public for 33 years; that is, until a hard fought battle by the WASP was won in 1977 (Part II- continued in next month’s WASP Tales)
Written by: Julia Lauria-Blum
Photos courtesy of: Cradle of Aviation Museum
About Julia Lauria-Blum:
Julia Lauria-Blum earned a degree in the Visual Arts at SUNY New Paltz. An early interest in women aviation pioneers led her to research the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII. In 2001 she curated the permanent WASP exhibit at the American Airpower Museum (AAM) in Farmingdale, NY, and later curated ‘Women Who Brought the War Home, Women War Correspondents, WWII’ at the AAM. She is the former curatorial assistant & collections registrar at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island and is currently editor-in-chief for Metropolitan Airport News.
Julia is the proud mother of two daughters and a rescued Boxer. Her many interests include swimming, painting, traveling, aviation history, cooking, and storytelling.