On Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Homecoming Celebration, the WASP Museum unveiled its new collection of special WASP in the Spotlight exhibits for the 2025-2026 year. Much like a patchwork quilt, the individual stories of the WASP, pieced together, create the beautiful larger narrative of the WASP program.  This quilt represents the most complete account of these mighty pilots and their WASP program.  

Family members of two WASP represented in this exhibit were panelists at our WASP Celebration Brunch where they were able to speak to their mother’s spirits, adventures, and accomplishments, among the crowd of WASP families in attendance. 

To read their stories and experience this exhibit, please come to the Museum to see their collections before April 2025.  

DONATE ARTIFACTS WITH CONFIDENCE

Many of you have inquired about your WASP becoming a Spotlight honoree.  Please know while our aim is to spotlight all the WASP either physically and/or digitally, the archive needs information to tell their stories.  

An archive is the lifeblood of any museum.  It provides primary sources of information through newspapers clippings, official documents, photographs, and textiles that are needed to tell historically accurate, fascinating, and engaging stories.  Families can donate artifacts to the Museum with confidence.  The National WASP WWII Museum Archive, the only organization solely dedicated to the WASP, adheres to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Archival Storage Standards in our vault’s construction and in the archival materials used for preservation.  

Please contact Ann Haub at ann@waspmuseum.org to donate artifacts, request research assistance, or to tour the archive. 

CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY

Ruth Franckling Reynolds Wings

Ruth Franckling Reynolds | 44-W-6 

Ruth Franckling grew up in Woodstock, NY, and in 1935, graduated from Kingston High School in Kingston, NY, at 16. As a young woman, she helped her father on his dairy farm, but that didn’t stop her from taking flying lessons.

She rushed out early each morning when the weather permitted, working as the line chief, getting planes lined up and gassed for the day’s schedule before rushing back to Woodstock to help in her father’s dairy store.

In 1940, she earned her pilot’s license, and in 1941, she became the first woman to earn a commercial rating in Ulster County, New York. In 1942, she earned her instructor’s rating and became a flight instructor. With more than 700 hours of flight time, Ruth was accepted into Class 43-W-2 and trained at Houston Municipal Airport, graduating from Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, on May 28, 1943. She was one of just 143 WASP who qualified to fly pursuit aircraft. Over the next 18 months, she accrued 1,478 hours ferrying aircraft across the country, more than half of which were in pursuit planes.

On two occasions, Ruth’s quick thinking averted disaster. On take-off from Tulsa, the engine of her P-51 quit. She put the plane back on the airstrip and wore the wheels to their hubs, narrowly avoiding other aircraft, a rapidly dispersing crowd of people, and a row of train cars at the end of the runway. The problem was identified as water in the airfield’s underground fuel tanks. The other close call occurred when switching fuel tanks above Minneapolis. The P-63’s engine quit. Ruth quickly switched back to the first tank and put the plane into a nosedive, spinning the propeller fast enough to restart the engine. Upon landing in Fargo, North Dakota, the ground crew discovered that the Niagara Falls factory had neglected to remove a plug from the fuel line to the second tank.

When the WASP program disbanded, Ruth Franckling returned to her life as a flight instructor in Kingston, NY. Where she instructed a recent Army veteran named Ward Reynolds. Within a year, they were married, moved to a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains, and opened a flying service with two Piper Cubs. Ruth continued to instruct until the first of their four children was born: Alan, Warren, Nancy, and Peg.

She embraced farm life and motherhood and, in 1969, became the bookkeeper and membership coordinator for the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Although Ruth never piloted again, she maintained a lifelong friendship with WASP Martha Wagenseil Davis, and together, they attended multiple WASP reunions held at various locations around the country.

Ruth always said that her time as a WASP was the happiest of her life, and the P-51 Mustang was her favorite plane.

Gayle M. Snell | 44-W-9

Gayle M. Snell was born on December 16, 1923, in Pasadena, California, to Loretta Graham and her husband, Frank. Gayle spent her summers in Manitou Springs, Colorado, where her father owned the Cliff House Hotel and ran a limousine touring company. Shortly after her mother died of a heart attack, Gayle’s father discovered she was taking flying lessons. So, she went to her father and said, “Dad, I want to fly, and then join the Women Airforce Service Pilots to fly military planes and help with the war effort.” Her Dad, sure she was too young to do this feat, said, “Yes, dear, now why don’t you go out and ride your horse? I’m sure he could use some exercise.” So, instead, like an obedient daughter, she went out to the airport to find out about learning to fly. With his support, Helen soloed at age 17.

After being accepted into the University of California’s aeronautics program, she quit school to enter WASP training in April 1944. Gayle wrote, “Never having been away from home, except for girl scout camp, living with five other women in a “bay” was certainly a new experience. It seems we all had to fight everything at Avenger except each other. There were windstorms, dust storms, eternal heat, snakes (yikes), trying to live through our instructor’s swearing and yelling, food that was never worth the march to the mess hall (except when VIPs were on the field), and other classes screaming, “You’ll be sorry.”

Her time during training was full of adjustments and her unstoppable determination to fly: “…how I loved those wonderful ships! I seemed to have had an affinity for low-level flight and invariably landed with quite a bit of sagebrush in my undercarriage. Lordy, nobody ever told me you could get washed out for that. Oh well, at least they never caught me looping telephone wires!”

Gayle and her class graduated and earned their WASP silver wings on November 8, 1944. Gayle’s Army orders sent her to Independence Army Air Field, Independence, Kansas, where she flew as an engineering test pilot, flying BT-15s. After the WASP were disbanded, she ferried war surplus planes and started an aerial photography business. She closed her photography business, worked as a crop duster, sold automotive parts, drove a taxi, and played on a women’s semi-professional baseball team. Ultimately, Gayle decided she wanted to return to electronics. She worked for Bendix as an assembler, then in research and development for Lockheed Missiles. Gayle completed her engineering degree by taking classes at night. She worked her way up from draftsman to Electrical Electronic Engineer at Lockheed Missile, Lockheed Aircraft, and Douglas, where she worked for 21 years. After branching out into court reporting school—Gayle became paralyzed and was told she had five crushed discs in her back. She spent seven years in traction and back braces before finding a doctor who could put her back on her feet.

In 1980, Gayle moved from Granada Hills, California, to Colorado Springs, near where she had spent her childhood summers. “Trout Haven” was where Gayle spent her last years surrounded by trout lakes, pines, and aspen trees.

Florence Niemiec Marston | 43-W-6

Born on August 9, 1915, into an impoverished, Depression-era family in Buffalo, New York, Florence “Flo” J. Niemiec dreamed of one day becoming a pilot. Her father worked in a steel mill that often closed due to strikes. Nonetheless, Flo’s parents, who immigrated from Poland, instilled in her and her two brothers a work ethic and a love of the country. Lacking a few hundred dollars to start college, Flo looked for work and personal and professional challenges.

While employed in a secretarial capacity at the Hanover Printing Company in Buffalo, Flo traveled to nearby Lockport evenings for 10 weeks to take a ground school course sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce in which she was one of 100 competitors for 10 flight scholarships. She was among the first to qualify for a flight scholarship in the Civil Aeronautics Authority’s non-college pilot training program at Lockport, receiving her private pilot certificate in 1940 at age 25 after 45 hours of flight instruction.

While working as an accident report analyst and statistician for the War Department during 1942-1943,

Flo was accepted for flight training with the 318th Army Air Forces (AAF) Flying Training Detachment, Avenger Field, Sweetwater, TX, as part of the newly formed Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Flo won her silver wings in October 1943, graduating with class 43-W-6. Flo transitioned to the Lockheed C-60A Loadstar aircraft at South Plains Army Air Field, Lubbock, TX, during October-December 1943. Until February 1944, she towed Waco GG-4 Hardin troop-carrying gliders and performed glider orientation flights. Flo transitioned to the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber – a notoriously difficult plane to fly nicknamed the ‘Widowmaker’ – at Dodge City, KS, from February to April 1944. She would fondly refer to the B-26 as her very favorite of the 10 military planes she had flown.

In May 1944, Flo transferred to the 215th Combat Crew Training School at Pueblo Army Air Base (AAB), CO. She towed aerial targets as a B-26 First Pilot for high-altitude gunnery practice by Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Flo was offered the opportunity to fly the Boeing B-29 Superfortress but declined, concerned that flying opportunities might be limited and restricted to Copilot duties.

After the WASP program ended, Flo returned to the AAF Office of Flying Safety at Langley AFB, VA, as an Aircraft Accident Analyst. She declined an offer by Jacqueline Cochran after the war to work at her ranch in Southern California. Instead, in 1946, Flo volunteered for a position as Administrative Assistant Air Priorities & Traffic (Operations), Military Advisory Group (MAG), Nanking, China. There she met and married her future husband, Col. Morrill “Bud” Marston, Sr, a WWII Curtis P-40 Warhawk pilot assigned to the MAG. Flo gave birth to twin boys in June 1948. The imminent defeat of the Nationalist Forces by the Chinese Communists in late 1948 forced Bud, Flo, and the twins to evacuate from China on short notice. Flo would happily accompany Bud on many Air Force assignments during a 28-year career. In 1949, Flo proudly accepted a commission as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve based on her WASP background. At the time, female officers could serve in the Air Force Reserve regardless of minor dependents. However, in 1953 the Air Force decided to discharge female Air Force Reserve officers who acquired minor dependents after initial acceptance of a commission. Flo gave birth to a third son in 1953, leading to notice of pending dismissal from the Air Force Reserve.

Flo protested vigorously, to no avail. She resigned her commission in late 1954.

On occasion, she would quip to her sons that, “The highlight of my life was flying with the WASP; life afterward has been on a downhill slide.” Flo was thrilled as a WASP to be granted veteran status in 1977, awarded the WWII Victory Medal and the American Campaign Medal, and receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

Morrill “Bud” Marston Jr.

Helen Wyatt Snapp | 43-W-4

Helen Wyatt Snapp was the middle child in a family with five siblings. At age eight on Pennsylvania Avenue, she watched aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh ride by in a ticker-tape parade, who had returned from his record-setting flight across the Atlantic. Her brief glimpse of him remained an inspiration throughout her lifetime.

After high school, Helen attended Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA, planning to become a teacher. However, she saw an ad for flying lessons on summer break in the paper. She convinced her sister to join her, and they signed up without telling the rest of the family. Eventually, they both soloed. Helen then dropped out of college and used her part-time pay (working for the telephone company) to pay for more flying time. She eventually re-enrolled in college to take advantage of the CPT (Civilian Pilot Training) program. The CPT allowed her to build up her flying hours and to attend ground school classes at night.

In early 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Helen married her beau, Ira Benton “Ben” Snapp, and put her flying on hold. Ben graduated from officer training and was shipped overseas with the 3rd infantry. In early 1943, she received a telegram from Jacqueline Cochran inviting her to apply for the newly created Army Air Forces flying training program for women pilots (WASP). She was

interviewed by Ms. Cochran at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, and accepted.

“Before I knew it, I found my way to Texas. I had never been away from home before. It was quite an experience just to take that step, but I was just thrilled to pieces because I just loved to fly. And here I was going to be able to fly all those wonderful military airplanes!” *Out of the Blue and Into History* Betty Turner.

Helen and 151 other young women pilots reported to Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, in February 1943. She completed six months of flight training on August 7, 1943, received her WASP silver wings, and graduated from class 43-W-4. Helen reported to the Pentagon, completed a week’s briefing, and departed for Camp Davis Army Air Field, North Carolina, an anti-aircraft artillery school. She transitioned into A-24s and A-25s to fly tow-target missions over the Atlantic as gunners on the beach fired live ammunition at the cloth-target behind her aircraft. She also flew radar, searchlight, tracking, and strafing missions. She transferred to Liberty Field, near Camp Stewart, Savannah, Georgia, where her superiors selected her for “R-Flight,” a top-secret initiative located on an “off limits” part of the field. There, she learned to “fly” the radio-controlled drone aircraft PQ-8 and PQ-14 from a console inside an AT-11 or UC-78 control ship. This operation was training for combat with radio-controlled planes filled with explosives

directed toward targets behind enemy lines. By the time the WASP were disbanded in Dec. of 1944, Helen had charted over 1000 hours in her logbook, including the PT-19, BT-13, AT-6, UC-78, P-34, -17, PQ-8, PQ-14, and her favorites, the A24 “Douglas Dauntless” and the A25 “Hell Diver.” She had a rare opportunity to pilot the “Memphis Belle” B-17 briefly.

She settled down with her husband on a family farm near Staunton, Virginia, worked for the US Post Office, and raised three sons. During her later years, Helen bred Pekingese dogs and avidly gardened. She served the National WASP organization as National Treasurer from 2002-2004 and was a proud member of the Ninety-Nines, and the Valiant Air Command. She was also a sought-after guest speaker at many events, such as the Wings Gala Over the Rockies Aviation and Space Museum in Denver, sharing stories about her service as a WASP. Helen was a generous and caring lady with an easy laugh and kind, sparkling eyes. She found great joy sharing her love of flying and always spoke straight from her heart.

Dorothy Bancroft Hammett | 44-W-6

Dorothy Bancroft Hammett was the daughter of a Baptist Minister and his wife, who moved around the Midwest every 4-5 years as her father changed church assignments. After her father retired from the ministry, the family moved to Lincoln, NE, where Dorothy attended high school. She excelled at swimming and playing the violin. Dorothy majored in English at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. and went on to become editor of the Woman’s Page at Kansas City Kansan newspaper, then a certified lab technician at Lincoln General Hospital. During this time, she earned her private pilot’s license, and as WWII approached, she heard Pearl Harbor reports over the radio; she wanted to enlist in the Army as a certified lab technician but was only offered a place as a buck private as the Army was not giving commissions to lab technicians. A quote from Dorothy, “That hurt my little old pride.”

Dorothy later received a letter from Jacqueline Cochran inviting women with air flight experience to join the WASP. Dorothy Bancroft began training with Class 44-W-2, but due to having an appendectomy toward the end of the primary stage and after surgery, she entered ground school with 44-W-5 and primary flight training with 44-W-6, graduating with Class 44-W-6.

After graduation, she was assigned to Frederick Army Airfield in Oklahoma and started ferrying new planes from the manufacturer to where they were needed. She was later asked to become a flight instructor. She was an instrument flight instructor for men returning from combat who needed to be taught the latest methods. Dorothy also evaluated the flight performances of men returning from combat or grounded men wishing to requalify for flight in the U.S.A. This was sometimes made difficult by men who didn’t enjoy being taught or evaluated by a woman. The WASP borrowed a slogan from the English: “A woman taught you to walk. A woman can teach you to fly.” Dorothy was the only WASP to be awarded the Air Medal during WWII. Following the war, medals were awarded to other members.

After WWII, Dorothy began receiving letters from the CAA offering jobs in air traffic control. Through her work as an air traffic controller in Salt Lake City, she met and married fellow air traffic controller Dave Hammett in 1947. She and Dave raised three daughters in Los Angeles, CA, and Oklahoma City, OK. During her children’s teen years, she worked Saturdays assisting the local veterinarian with surgeries. In retirement in the early 1970s, Dorothy and Dave moved to Sun City, AZ. Where she went on to spend over 20 years as a successful real estate agent, she retired at age 87.

Dorothy once said that real estate was the most thrilling job she’d ever had, even more so than flying, because of the “rush” she got when completing a home sale.

Past WASP in the Spotlight Exhibits