chaptersinaction
Recognition Due
The WASPs served their country with pride during World War II. This spring, they received some long-overdue recognition when the group was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal.
R
ecently, I represented
MOAA at the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal
to the surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Some 2,800 people packed into the main lobby of the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center to help honor this group of women who ferried aircraft and helped train pilots during World War II. More than 200 WASPs attended with their families and friends and many service escorts. A few of the WASPs donned their uni- forms, looking as sharp as the day they last wore them 66 years ago.
2010) on Lt. Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF, who, as a major, was a driving force behind the legislation while as- signed as a White House fellow. Unfortunately, only one medal
is awarded by Congress; others in a group like the WASP normally have to buy their own replicas. But Nancy Parrish and her mother, for- mer WASP Deanie Parrish, spoke to members of MOAA’s Heart of Texas Chapter about a fundraising effort they were leading through Wings Across America. Chapter members decided to help ensure each WASP (or family of a deceased WASP) in attendance received a replica medal and the recognition they deserved. MOAA also helped, donating $1,000 to support the purchase of bronze medal replicas for the surviving WASPs and families who attended the ceremony. Margo deMoss, now a member
In 2009, MOAA supported legisla-
tion that approved the Congressional Gold Medal for the group. The asso- ciation also commissioned an Active Duty Spotlight (Rapid Fire, March
of MOAA’s Riverside March Field (Calif.) Chapter, was one of thou- sands of women who supported the war effort. She could have chosen to do any number of things, but she decided to become a WASP. The WASPs were pioneers for women in the Air Force, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Air Force started put- ting women in the cockpits of planes.
ON THE ROAD: This month, Gen. Richard Neal, USMC-Ret., chair of MOAA’s board of directors, will visit chapter members in Oregon. Go to MOAA Calendar, page 80, for dates.
4 0 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R J U N E 2 0 1 0
DeMoss and all the WASPs were trailblazers for women in the mili- tary, and we owe them our thanks. Read this department’s main story,
“Honored and Remembered,” to find out about how MOAA’s Heart of Texas Chapter helped make recognition of the WASP a reality.
— Col. Lee Lange II, USMC-Ret. Director, Council and Chapter Affairs
Honored and Remembered
F
ifty-seven years have
passed since Margo deMoss (née Harvey) became part
of a unique group of women that were known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). A shortage of male pilots during World War II prompted the formation of the WASP in 1942. More than 1,000 fe- male aviators served as WASPs dur- ing the war. Like the other WASPs, deMoss,
currently a member of MOAA’s Riv- erside March Field (Calif.) Chap- ter, paid for her own flight lessons and transportation to Sweetwater, Texas, where she spent seven months learning how to fly military aircraft. After she earned her set of wings, deMoss flew newly built AT-6s to military bases in California and Arizona where they were used to train pilots for combat. She also
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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