Fly Girls is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 1999.
It is an episode in the long-running program American Experience.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Written, produced and directed by Laurel Ladewich
** Historical consultant: Deborah G. Douglas
** Narrated by Mary McDonnell
** Run time: 52 minutes
This is the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, aka WASP. During World War II, members of this organisation played a vital role in the US arsenal. This film explains who they were and what they did.
The participants
Several persons are interviewed in the film.
Here are the names:
The first category - male persons
** Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager (1923-2020), US Air Force
** Robert Arnold, grandson of Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold (1886-1950)
** Paul Tibbets (1915-2007), US Air Force
The second category - the historical consultant
** Deborah G. Douglas, curator of science and technology at the MIT Museum
The third category – female pilots
** Barbara Erickson London, 1920-2013
** Teresa James, 1914-2008
** Dora Dougherty Strother, 1921-2013
** Ann Baumgartner Carl, 1918-2008
** Madge Rutherford Minton, 1920-2004
** Marty Martin Wyall, 1922-2017
As you can see from the list, the female pilots have passed away since the program was made.
It is fortunate that their statements and memories are preserved in this film.
Women can fly
In 1941, when the US entered World War II, the Air Force needed pilots. Factories could produce airplanes, but they could not fly them to the bases from where they would join the war effort.
Female pilots could do this. They became members of the organisation called Women Airforce Service Pilots, or simply WASP.
More than 25,000 female pilots applied. In the end only 1,074 were accepted. Once training was completed, they would fly all kinds of military aircraft. From 1942 to 1944, they logged more than 60 million miles.
It was an impressive feat and a vital part of the American war effort. The job was not without risks: 38 female pilots lost their lives in the line of duty.
The majority of the pilots were white. But this issue is never mentioned in the film.
There were only two Mexican Americans, two Chinese Americans and one Native American.
Due to the racial segregation which was applied all over the US at that time, the only African American applicant was asked to withdraw her application.
Two female pilots are mentioned several times, because they played a crucial role in the creation of WASP:
** Jackie Cochran (1906-1980)
** Nancy Harkness Love (1914-1976)
They could not be interviewed in the film, because they both had passed away long before it was made.
One woman is quoted several times:
Cornelia Fort (1919-1943)
She was the first member of WASP who lost her life. She was killed in an accident when another aircraft hit her plane.
Excerpts from the letters of Cornelia Fort are read by an actor (Kath Soucie).
Having female pilots flying military aircraft was a big change. At that time, most Americans expected a woman to be a wife and a mother.
If she wanted to work, she should have a job that suited a woman. Perhaps a nurse or a teacher. Being a pilot, in particular a military pilot, was considered a man’s job.
The members of WASP faced resentment from the community, even though they flew these planes in order to help their country.
The US Government backed them up (at least for a while). Several propaganda films were made, explaining why these women deserved respect for what they did.
Excerpts from these propaganda films are included in the program. They are very interesting.
While the US authorities needed the female pilots, they were not prepared to accept them completely. As the film explains, WASP was not a military organisation, and the members of WASP did not have military status.
They were still civilians, even though they had undergone military training and even though they were flying military planes for the Air Force.
In 1942 and 1943 WASP was desperately needed, so the female pilots were tolerated.
By 1944, things began to change: since the US and the allies were close to winning the war, the female pilots were not needed as much as before.
In that year, the leaders of WASP tried to have the organisation recognised as a military unit, but the timing was wrong.
Male pilots were jealous of them. They felt the female pilots were stealing their jobs. They wanted the women to return to the kitchen. The message was something like this:
“Go home; we do not need you anymore; it was always a temporary situation; do not think you can work as pilots once the war is over.”
In 1944, the US Congress rejected a request to recognise WASP as a military unit. By the end of the year, WASP was disbanded. It was as if the whole thing had never happened!
After the war
At the end of the film, we are told what happened later to the six female pilots who are interviewed in the film.
It seems they had good lives. They went on to have careers on their own. Some retained a connection with the world of airplanes.
Perhaps Dora Dougherty Strother is the best example: she earned a PhD in Aviation Education, became a helicopter pilot, and set two world records.
The film is introduced by David McCullough. His introduction ends with the following message:
“In 1977, 33 years after they were disbanded, the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, finally achieved full military recognition, when President Jimmy Carter signed a law making them officially veterans.”
I can add the following update:
(1) In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. Three surviving members of WASP were present on that occasion.
(2) In 2010, three hundred surviving members of WASP came to the Capitol in Washington, DC, to receive the medal from the leaders of Congress.
Conclusion
This film covers the story of WASP. It has two sides:
One side is technical: the story of the airplanes that were used during World
War II.
The other side is personal: the story of the men and the women who were involved as well as the story of gender relations in the modern world.
The female pilots performed as well as male pilots under similar conditions. But at the time their contribution was not fully recognized.
The military records about the role they had played were sealed and for decades it was almost forgotten.
In 1977, when the law was changed, they were finally able to obtain the same benefits as other veterans. Getting benefits was a good thing, but more important was the recognition - long overdue - that the members of WASP had played a vital role during the war.
The purpose of this film is to set the record straight. American Experience deserves credit for making this program, to make sure that this story is not forgotten.
This story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
If you are interested in the history of the modern world - in particular the question of equal opportunities for men and women - this film is definitely something for you.
It is highly recommended.
PS # 1. Some books
** Those Wonderful Women in their Flying Machines: The Unknown Heroines of World War II
by Sally Van Wagenen Keil
(1979)
** On Silver Wings
by Marianne Verges
(1991 = hardcover)
(1995 = paperback)
** On Wings to War: Teresa James, Aviator
by Jan Churchill
(1992)
** Winning My Wings: A Women Airforce Service Pilot in World War II
by Marion Stegemen Hodgson
(1996 = hardcover)
(2005 = paperback)
** Clipped Wings: The Rise and fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II
by Molly Merryman
(1997 = hardcover)
(2001 = paperback)
** A WASP among Eagles
by Ann B. Carl
(1999)
** Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II
By Amy Nathan
(2001 = first edition)
(2013 = second edition)
** Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
by Sarah Burn Rickman
(with a foreword by Deborah G. Douglas)
(2008)
The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
By Katherine Sharp Landdeck
(2020 = hardcover)
(2021 = paperback)
PS # 2. Some documentary films
We Served Too
(2013)
Silver Wings / Flying Dreams: The Complete Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
(2015)
WASP: A Wartime Experiment in Womanpower
(2020)
WASP: Rise Above
(2021)
PS # 3. Items available online
** Ann Darr, “The Long Flight Home,” US News & World Report, 17 November 1997
** Bernie Becker, “World War II Women Pilots to Receive Medals,” The New York Times, 1 July 2009
PS # 4. American Experience is a television program produced by PBS. The first episode was broadcast in 1988. The program is still running. The story about WASP is S11 E12 from 1999.
*****
Silver Wings / Flying Dreams:
The Complete Story of the
Woman Airforce Service Pilots
(2015)
*****
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