They're in their 80s and 90s. They won't be around much longer. At least they finally got their due.

[Stinky The Clown]

Long before "You Go, Girl!" was popular, these women just went ahead and .... well .... went.

They did it because they felt a call to serve. The did it because they simply loved to fly. They did for reasons obvious and not.

But they did it.

I believe deeply that we owe these women a debt of gratitude and they deserve the honors they've only now gotten. I recall asking my parents, when I was just a kid and first heard of them, why we didn't know more about them. I found out about them when a girl in the neighborhood took some time to find out so she could "play Army" with the rest of us and not have to be a nurse. (yeah, we played "Army" back then .... WWII based)

The WASPs. Women Airforce Service Pilots.

They ferried the heavy duty hardware overseas so the guys could fly them into battle. Crossing the North Atlantic in a single engined fighter with no serious navigational equipment, however, was a pretty heroic act, too.

If you went to flight school late in the war, there's a good chance one of these women was your instructor.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5iMdYRUedjmyrD-nnbULYjPI5ALswD9EC3DNG0?index=0

Please read the full story at the link.

Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal

By KIMBERLY HEFLING (AP) – 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON — They flew planes during World War II but weren't considered real military pilots. No flags were draped over their coffins when they died on duty. And when their service ended, they had to pay their own bus fare home.

These aviators — all women — got long-overdue recognition on Wednesday. They received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by Congress, in a ceremony on Capitol Hill.

About 200 women who served as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, were on hand to receive the award. Now mostly in their late 80s and early 90s, some came in wheelchairs, many sported dark blue uniforms, and one, June Bent of Westboro, Mass., clutched a framed photograph of a comrade who had died.

As a military band played "The Star-Spangled Banner," one of the women who had been sitting in a wheelchair stood up and saluted through the entire song as a relative gently supported her back.

>snip<

[Captain Hilts]

1. What great photographs. And they got totally screwn by the government for being women. nt

[Stinky The Clown]

3. They were considered civillians and never got veterans benefits ..... until 1977 .....

..... and then only after a big, long fight. These awards were given to them, today, to the Navajo code talkers, and the Tuskeegee Airmen. At least the other two groups got vet bennies from the start.

Totally screwn by the government for being women? You betcha!

[Captain Hilts]

6. I remember when they began to get their due in '77. But, again, great photographs. Great women. nt

[Stinky The Clown]

7. A few more for the scrapbook .......

From 1977:

[Love Bug]

2. *Stands and applauds*

It's high time. Woo-hoo!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I salute these heroic women!

And it's about time they were recognized.

:patriot:

[laughingliberal]

5. Finally! nt

[stevedeshazer]

8. Good one on you, Stinky.

These women changed the world. Thanks for posting it.

[eridani]

9. A nice fictional picture of the WASPs appears in the novel

--Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy. It's one of a dozen or so plot threads in this very comprehensive novel about WW II.

[tilsammans]

10. It's about time!

:patriot: I salute them!