Annual Tradition To Recognize Pioneering WWII Female Pilots

Women in Aviation International members and friends will #HonorTheWASP over Memorial Day weekend by visiting their graves and leaving an appropriate decoration in the form of flowers or other remembrances. More than 50 WASP are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and volunteers will place a flower at each grave and post on social media.

 
The Women's Airforce Service Pilots – or WASP - was formed in August of 1943 as an adjunct to the Army Air Forces' war effort. Over the course of World War II, more than 1,000 WASP pilots flew over 70 million miles and delivered 12,650 airplanes across the country.
 
Volunteers will assemble at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 25, 2019, at the Women’s Military Monument in Arlington Cemetery and will be assigned a grave to visit and decorate. Flowers will be provided, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own remembrances as well. The WASP grave decoration should conclude by noon.
 
“For individuals and families – and even companies – looking for a meaningful way to observe Memorial Day, #HonorTheWASP provides a way to do that,” says WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian. “Visiting and decorating a WASP gravesite is a history lesson, a way to honor these pioneering pilots, and, for most, a moving and emotional experience.”
 
If you cannot participate on Saturday, May 25, a database of WASP gravesites, including Google maps to their locations, may be found here  and #HonorTheWasp will continue nationally through Monday, May 27.  

The original database was provided by Texas Woman’s University, the repository of the Women AirforceService Pilots Archive, and augmented through research efforts of WAI staff.

(Source: WAI news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.wai.org