Transcript

11.7.25 · History Hour

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Speaker 1: Veterans Day is a U S legal holiday dedicated to
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American veterans of all wars, and Veterans Day twenty twenty
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four will occur on Monday, November eleventh. In nineteen eighteen,
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on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the
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eleventh month, an armistice or temporary secession of hostilities was
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declared between the Allied Nations and Germany in World War I,
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then known as the Great War, commemorated in many countries
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as Armistice Day. The following year, November eleventh became a
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federal holiday in the United States. In nineteen thirty eight,
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in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean More,
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Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day. Join me as
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we read about some of those veterans of our country
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and others as we look and celebrate into Veterans Day. Welcome.
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This is radioi's history and I'm your host and reader,
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Joseph Bolt. So happy to be with you for this time.
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And before we begin today's show, I just want to
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remind you that RADIOI is a listener driven and so
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we welcome your comments, suggestions, and if you have any
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of those, please call us at eight five nine four
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two two six three nine zero. RADIOI, of course, is
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a reading service that's intended for people who are blind
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are of other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. I'll cite the sources from my readings as
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we go along, So let's get started. The first article
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that I'd like to read in honor of our veterans
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comes from the website air Andspace dot SI dot edu,
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and the article is entitled Flying on the home Front
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Women Air Force Service Pilots or WS rather WASP WASP.
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The article was written by Dorothy Cochrane in May of
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twenty twenty. While giving a flying lesson in her Piper
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cub On O Wahoo near Pearl Barbor on December seventh,
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nineteen forty one, flight instructor Cornelia Fort witnessed the attack
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of the Japanese air Fleet. She was the first American
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pilot to do so, and she decided right then and
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there that she wanted to help her country. And she
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was not the only woman that felt that way. When
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some enlightened military leaders agreed and approved the creation of
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the Women Air Force Service Pilots or again WASP WASP
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about twenty five thousand women American women applied to be
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an auxiliary part of the Home Front Army, a fraction
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of the applicants. Only eight hundred I'm sorry, eighteen hundred
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and twenty one thousand, eight hundred and twenty in total
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were accepted. Out of those twenty five thousand women who applied,
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and one thousand and seventy four of those eighteen twenty graduated.
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The Wasp flew sixty million miles in all types of
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military aircraft, including fighters and B seventeen and B twenty
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nine bombers, and they paved the way for today's fully
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vested female military pilots. These women ferried aircraft, cargo and personnel.
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They tested aircraft, and they towed targets throughout the forty
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eight States, filling in gaps left by male pilots who
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have been sent off to war. We had to deliver
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the goods, fort said, or else there wouldn't ever be
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another chance for women pilots in any part of the service.
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With the approach of World War II, two experienced women
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pilots recognized the coming shortage of military pilots as the
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men would be sent off to fly in the war.
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They separately petitioned the military to consider using women as
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fairy pilots fairy spelled fe rry. In nineteen forty one,
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racing pilot Jacqueline Cochrane, who had the ear of General
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of the Army Air Corps Henry hap Arnold, selected a
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group of twenty four women pilots to ferry military aircraft
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in Great Britain for its Air Transport Auxiliary. This would
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be a prelude to such ferrying in the US. At
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the same time, working with the Army Air Corps Air
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Transport Command, experienced business pilot Nancy Love identified similarly qualified
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women as prospective fairy pilots. Cochrane in Love had very
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different strategies but the same goal to create a woman's
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air corps. In September of nineteen forty two, the Army's
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Air Force Air Transport Command approved the creation of a
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temporary civilian women's flying corps, the Women's Auxiliary Firing Squad
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wa f S, under the direction of Nancy Love. As
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head of the wa f S, Love initially recruited twenty
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seven highly experienced women pilots between the ages of twenty
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one and thirty five with high school diplomas. A commercial's
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pilot life license and a minimum of five hundred hours
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of flight time. After their flight checks, the w a
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f S immediately began repositioning military aircraft from manufacturing plants
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to bases in demarcation depots. Meanwhile, Jackie Cochrane ran the
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Women's Ferrying Training Detachment or the w f t D,
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recruiting female pilots with as little as thirty five hours
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and sending them off to a twenty three week flight
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training program the same as male cadets and with military instructors.
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The first w f t D class graduated in December
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of nineteen forty two, and initially these classes graduated into
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the WAFS. However, on August five, nineteen forty three, General
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Arnold combined these two organizations under the title of the
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Women Air Force Service Pilots, or again the WASP. Anne
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selected Cochrane as the overall director. Love remained in charge
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of the initial WAFS unit, although under Cochrane their flight
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training took place in a segregated group at Avenger Field
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in Sweetwater, Texas, where the women followed strict military procedures,
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including drilling and taking an oath of allegiance. They wore
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ill fitting mail mechanics suits known as zoot suits or pants,
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and the A two leather jackets until Cochrant oversaw the
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design of official Wasp uniforms in a color known as
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Santiago Blue, on to which they could pin their silver
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Wasp wings. The important difference was that the women were civilians.
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The idea of militarizing them was too controversial at the time. Ultimately,
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the Wasp delivered twelve thousand, six hundred and fifty aircraft,
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representing seventy eight different types. They flew every aircraft in
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USAAF inventory, including high performance for suit aircraft such as
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the P fifty one Mustang, as well as large four
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engine B seventeen and B twenty nine bombers. In addition,
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they towed targets for cadet fighter training, transported military personnel
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and cargo, and flew engineering test flights, including one in
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America's first jet, the BELLYP fifty nine. Wasp also flew
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target planes for air gunnery practice, flight tested repaired aircraft,
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men became flight instructors in aircraft or link trainers and simulators.
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They flew whatever was asked of them throughout the program.
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The Women's accident and fatality rates were the same as men.
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Thirty eight women gave their lives in the course of
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duty to their country, but because they were civilians, their
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families and in some cases their fellow WASP had to
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pay the funeral expenses. Although originally told they would become
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part of the military, a move supported by some in
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the Air Transport Command and by General Arnold, the WASP
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instead were disbanded in December of nineteen forty four, a
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casualty of rancor over assimilation jobs engender roles. With the
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end of the war. In sight, perceptions were that women
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were no longer needed or even wanted military pilots. Male
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military pilots would return to reclaim flying jobs. In addition, Cochrane,
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who wanted to continue as commander of an independent woman's
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flying unit, was at the center of complications that prevented
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the group from being efficiently efficiently transferred as experienced military
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pilots into either the U s aa F at Large
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or the Women's Army Air Corps. The wax the The
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issue was hotly debated in the press and in Congress. Ultimately,
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Congress voted against inclusion and they were abruptly sent home.
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Still General half Arnold stated quote, if ever there were
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a doubt in anyone's mind that women can become skillful pilots,
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the WASP have dispelled that doubt. The dreams of the
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individual WASP to serve as military pilots for their country
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were over Most WASP married and raised families. Many continued
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to fly, but only a few established real aviation careers.
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At their nineteen seventy two reunion attendees, officially the Order
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of Fifiinella resolved to restore their legacy by applying for
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official veteran recognition. From nineteen seventy two to seventy six,
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several bills went nowhere on Capitol Hill. At the same time,
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the first women allowed into military flight training were being
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heralded as the first American women to fly military aircraft,
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but the WASP countered not so. Aided by Bruce Arnold,
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General Arnold's son and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, the WASP
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persevered and fought for recognition. The first installment of the
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nation's debt to the WASP was paid in nineteen seventy seven,
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with a bill authorizing retroactive partial veteran status. Since then,
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with continuing World War Two anniversary celebrations, including this year
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seventy fifth, the WASP have received acknowledgment and gratitude for
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their service. In two thousand and nine, President Barack Obama
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signed legislation first drafted by Lieutenant Colonel Nicole Malachowski, awarding
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the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.
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Following the award ceremony at the US Capital in March
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of twenty ten, I the writer had the honor of
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carrying this original gold medal to the museum, where it
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is displayed at the Udvar Hazy Center. Let's be clear,
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the Women Air Force Service pilots of World War II
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proved that women could safely and adapt fly all military aircraft. Still,
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it took more than thirty years of social, cultural, and
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legal changes to even begin to allow American women to
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train as military pilots. After anti discrimination and civil rights
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laws were passed in the sixties, and directives were enacted
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to allow women to fly non combat military aircraft in
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the seventies, and eventually all military aircraft in nineteen ninety three,
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women finally gained the right to equal military flight training
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and equal opportunities to be successful as male pilots. However,
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it is important that we remember and acknowledged the other
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half of the story, the long road to acceptance by
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society and the military, marked by virulent prejudice. In fact,
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women have only recently been widely accepted as fully vested
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military pilots by employing the same perseverance as the WASP
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an arm with the WASP record and the law, military
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women pilots now serve full careers and have achieved leadership
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command in flag officer positions. Thanks to the wasps, they
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didn't have to prove again that women as a gender
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can fly. My final article for today's reading comes from
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Reader's Digest, The Story behind n flanders Field, written by
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Charles mc gill, a Reader Digest in Canada. Early on
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the morning of May third, nineteen fifteen, John mc crae
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set wearily near his field dressing station, a crude bunker
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cut into the slopes of the bank near the Epra
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Canal in Belgium. A Canadian military surgeon. He had been
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at the French line for twelve days under incessant German bombardment,
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and the toll of dead and wounded had been appalling
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from his position on the road along the canal run
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into Epra, McCrae wrote, quote, I saw all the tragedies
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of war enacted. A wagon or a bunch of horses,
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or a stray man would get there just in time
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for a shell. One could see the absolute knockout or worse, Yet,
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at night, one could hear the tragedy, or a horse's
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scream or a man's moan. End quote. The previous night
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he had buried a good friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer of Ottawa,
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blown to pieces by a direct hit from a German shell. Now,
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as he sat in the early morning sunshine, he could
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hear the lark singing. Between the crash of the guns.
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He could see the rows of crossus nearby cemetery. The
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field where the cemetery lay was thick with scarlet poppies,
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their dormant seeds churned up by the guns, blooming despite
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or because of the carnage. McCrae took in the scene
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and quickly wrote his fifteen line poem, Speaking as from
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the Dead to the Living in flanders Field, was to
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become the most famous poem of the Great War, perhaps
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any war. John mccray's family had long shown a pension
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for military service and poetry. Back in their native Scotland,
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mccrays had fought against the English in seventeen fifteen and
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seventeen forty five rebellions. From sixteen eighty eight to sixteen
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ninety three, they had compiled a famous manuscript containing Gaelic
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poetry by them and others. McCrae's father, David, showed more
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interest in the militia than in family the family world
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business rather. In Ontario, he organized a local artillery battery
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in response to raids from the United States in eighteen
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sixty six, and subsequently served with the regular Army. Mc
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cray was born on November thirtieth, eighteen seventy two. His mother, Janet,
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loved to read poetry to the boy and his brother
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and sister. Young mc crae joined the Highland Cadet Corps
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of a collegiate institute and later entered his father's militia
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unit as a bugler, then became a gunner. He was
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a talented student. That's where he had his first encounter
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with death. On March fifteenth, eighteen ninety he wrote to
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his mother about the loss of his sweetheart. Nineteen year
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old Alice mc crae from typhoid fever. I have been
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reading in Memoriam, he wrote, and always find myself substituting
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my girl friend for the Arthur of the point. Perhaps
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because of his love for Alice, McCrae never married. In
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eighteen ninety nine, McCrae took up a fellowship in pathology
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in Montreal's McGill University. He had barely acclimatized himself to
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his new duties when military service called again. Volunteers were
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being sought for the Boer War, and McCrae was quick
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to offer himself. He went not as a medical man,
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but as a lieutenant with an artillery unit, spending the
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better part of a year in South Africa, much of
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it in fruitless treks as the British forces pursued the
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elusive Boers, but he did see action and earn a
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reputation as a clever and popular officer. Back in Montreal
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in nineteen oh one, he plunged into his medical work
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as a resident assistant pathologist. He was popular with students
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and staffs alike, according to his friend and colleague Andrew McPhail,
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a smile that was ineffable. It filled the eyes and
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illumined the face in demand at dinner parties. He seemed
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to have an endless fund of yarn of yarns suitable
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for every occasion. Once after he had accompanied the Governor
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General on a lengthy northern trip, some of it by canoe,
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Lord Gray remarked, we traveled three thousand miles, and McCrae
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had a story for every mile. By nineteen fourteen, McCrae
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was at the top of his profession. In July he
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finished editing the second edition of a pathology textbook that
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he had co authored. When war was declared, he was
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attending a conference in Britain. From there he cabled an
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old Boer war comrade and offered his services. He was
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appointed surgeon to the first Brigade Canadian Corps Artillery, with
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the rank of major in the second in command. McCrae's
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South African experience had left him with no allusions about
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what was in store. Before taking up his post, he
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wrote his sister out on the awful old trail again,
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and with very mixed feelings and some determination. After a
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miserably wet winter and Salisbury Plain in England, his unit
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sailed for France, in February of nineteen fifteen. On April twenty,
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the Canadian division to which McCrae's unit belonged, was ordered
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to relieve a French division. On May second, he wrote
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to his mother, heavy gunfire again this morning. Lieutenant h
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was killed at the guns. I said the committal service
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over him as well as I could from memory. A
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soldier's death. The next morning, he wrote in Flanders Fields.
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On January twenty fourth, nineteen eighteen, McCrae died of double
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pneumonia and meningitis. The following day he was buried with
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full military honors. And now the poem in Flanders Field.
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In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow between the crosses row
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on row that mark our place, and in the sky
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the larks still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the
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guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago we lived,
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felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved. And
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now we lie in Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel
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with the foe to you. From failing hands. We throw
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the torch be yours to hold it high. If you
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break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep.
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Though poppies grow in Flanders Fields. That about does it
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for this veteran's day history from Radio I thank you
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for listening. I am your host, Joseph Bolton. I'll be
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back next time with another chapter of Radio E history.
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Until then, remember our veterans in happy trails.