One chapter in American history that deserves more attention is the story of the WASP – the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots who bravely served during World War II. On September 10, 1942, just nine months after Pearl Harbor, an article appeared in the New York Herald Tribune with the headline: “Women Pilots to Fly for Army”. As a result, more than 25,000 women responded to the recruitment drive. With 1,800 accepted for the flight training, 1,100 women graduated the program. WASPs flew every type of aircraft that was used by the military in World War II. These pioneering women aviators flew exclusively within the U.S., which freed up male military
pilots for combat missions.
would be cause for her to be ejected from the training program. She knew from her vast experience with stuttering that she did not stutter while singing or speaking foreign languages as she was fluent in both French and Italian. Over the ever-so-important radio, she totally avoided her stuttering by singing her responses and instructions.
Tompkins made the ultimate
sacrifice for her country, paving the way of bravery for women and all people who stutter around the world.
Her training was a success. Known to her fellow aviators by the nickname of “Tommy”, she was one of a class of 126 WASP pilots who were promoted to fly fighter planes. It is reported that when she first flew a P-51, her stuttering ended permanently. Her stutter ended when she was flying the P-51 at 400 miles per hour and handling the radio communication chores with total ease.
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On October 26, 1944, Gertrude “Tommy” Tompkins would tragically fly her last flight. Flying a new P-51D, she had been ordered to fly from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and from there to Newark, from where the aircraft would be flown to Europe by a male pilot for use in combat. Since her base of record was Love Field in Dallas, someone there noticed that Tompkins had not filed the overnight telegram from October 26. Of the 38 WASP pilots killed in service during World War II, Gertrude Tompkins is the only one still listed as missing. Extensive searches for her aircraft were unsuccessful.
The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots were certainly pioneering women who helped the war effort in a great and unique way. Unfortunately, Congress disbanded the WASP after World War II as a result of pressure from male military pilots who felt that these women flyers potentially would take their jobs. Gertrude Tompkins refused to let her stuttering hold her back from her incredible dream: to be a female military pilot in an era when there were none. At the young age of 33, she made the ultimate sacrifice for her country, paving the way of bravery for women and all people who stutter around the world.
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