My Mother Had Wings
The daughter of a WASP tells her mother's tale.
- By The Editors
- AirSpaceMag.com, June 16, 2010
“By their second day at Avenger Field, [the WASPs] were climbing in and out of the 175-horsepower Fairchild PT-19s as if their primary phase trainers were Rolls-Royces,” writes Sally Van Wagenen Keil in her WASP history Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines. “As more classes arrived at Avenger Field, there would be as many as fifty planes in the air at one time.”
After picking up a PT-19 (much like the one shown here) from the Fairchild factory in Hagerstown, Maryland, in February 1944, Hardman wrote in a letter home, “They sure picked a swell time of the year to start ferrying open ships again. One thing, I’m going to set down as often as I want to—can’t see any sense in slowly freezing to death as long as there’s an airport handy.”
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Comments (6)
Melissa:
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading about your mother as a WASP. It gave me goosebumps. You have a right to be very proud of her and as an Oregonian, I am too. I enjoy pointing out her graduation announcement at Avenger Field to visitors to the Oregon Aviation History Center as well as the other items your family chose to be archived at our facility.
Posted by Carol Skinner on July 14,2010 | 04:32 PM
Carol, my family and I are thrilled that we could share our mother's legacy with you and your colleagues in Oregon. Your work to honor and preserve Oregon's aviation heritage is remarkable!
Posted by Melissa Jordan on July 19,2010 | 09:24 PM
As a USAF retiree who was an Aviation Cadet during this turbulent period of our nation, I relate closely to the flight training your Mother mastered. You are to be
congratulated for special literary skill in bringing her gallant story to the attention of today's lesser challenged citizens. She would be so proud of your effort to record & thankfully acknowledge her pioneer contribution to WWII war effort during a time of maximum challenge to our nation's freedom. I will share this stirring story of your Mother's WWII service with two persons special to me ... Sister-in-law, Pat Buttery, & granddaughter, Jen Buttery. The former served in WWII service in like capacity to your Mother in land based women's service, the latter who possesses pioneer personality traits during language teaching assignments in Kyrgyzstan. My older brother, Col. Tom Buttery, a USAF pilot retiree, recently passed away. As patriarch of our family & Aviation Cadet during your Mother's WWII service, he married a WWII compatriot of your gallant Mother. He would have enjoyed your literary gem most of all. KUDOS!
Posted by Lt. Col. George D. Buttery on July 21,2010 | 06:59 AM
What an extraordinary life! And how wise of her, and now you, to share this time with a generation who've, thankfully, never experienced the exaggerated division of the sexes and their roles in society. Adversity does indeed make us stronger, and you'll never see a finer proof than the women who endured first the Depression, then the privations of wartime. Bravo to you, and a sharp salute to the memory of your beloved pioneer mother.
Posted by Carol Hiller on August 12,2010 | 07:53 AM
My belated " Thank you " to the Lady for the high standard of propiety she and her generation expressed and gave for America, this needs to be shared so that others remember so as to protect liberty.
Posted by Bob Plemon on January 7,2011 | 11:10 PM
A movie should be made about your mother and Paula Loop. What a story for our vets of both world wars and today, a story for moms to take their daughters to, a story for our nation's leaders, a story for this generation before it is lost!
Posted by Gregory Bastian on April 11,2013 | 03:40 PM