WASP Museum At Avenger Field Plans Builds Hangar Reminiscent Of 1943

By Grace Huseth

This year the National WASP WWII Museum joins EAA AirVenture as a first-time exhibitor to raise awareness for their efforts to add to the historic WASP base. The museum is at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, where the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII trained in 1943 and 1944 to ferry aircraft from factories to air bases around the United States.

The National WASP WWII Museum is dedicated to honoring these women who paved the way for female pilots and represents the courage of women to embark in traditionally male fields. One way to celebrate their history is to restore Avengers Field with a new hangar to the way it originally looked during WWII by 2016. However, out of the 1,074 original WASPs only 121 are alive to continue this advocacy and are well in their 90’s.

“If they can’t be here, we will,” National WASP WWII Museum Administrative Director Carol Cain said, “our vision is to get this finished while there are still WASPs to visit the hangar.”

Revisiting Avenger Field is a truly a trip down memory lane for the WASPS and their families. In one touching story, the sole wish of a WASP in ill health was to visit the museum as a way to reminisce on her happiest memories. While in training she had met and fallen in love with a bomber pilot.  Only three days into their marriage he was deployed overseas. Soon after, he perished in his very first bombing mission. Being able to walk next to the hangars where the WASPs built friendships and overcame challenges is the best memorial the aviation community can build.

The expansion “Vision 2016” hangar will contain archival space for museum artifacts, research areas, and will even benefit the community of Sweetwater, TX as an events hall.

FMI: www.waspmuseum.org