Edwards AFB News

Wing commander honors, remembers the Fifinella

  • Published
  • By Mike Strickler
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Valeria Ugalde stood confidently behind her Hillview Middle School teacher Monday, patiently waiting her turn at the microphone as Lani Glasscock explained to the assembled how her students had raised more than $2,200 in pennies to capture the legacy of legends.

When Valeria stepped forward, three of those legends sat mere steps away. Yet she delivered with poise and in moments personified what nearly 1,100 young women set out to demonstrate at Sweetwater, Texas, nearly 70 years before.

"They have influenced me to prove myself to the world," Valeria said, "to show I have (what) it takes to do what other people do and say 'I can,' even when they say 'I can't.'"

On a sun-dappled Memorial Day more than 250 Lancaster neighbors gathered at the Lancaster Cemetery Veterans Court of Honor to remember and pay homage to the service of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Among the honored present were WASPs Jan Wood of Reseda, Calif., and hometown heroes Irma "Babe" Story and Flora Belle Reece.

The ceremony included the unveiling of a striking monument, bought with Hillview donations and dedicated to the WASPs, carved from black granite and bearing the likenesses of Antelope Valley WASPs Story and Reece, as well as the late Marguerite "Ty" Killen and Margaret Castle McAnally. Atop the tribute sits Fifinella, a mischievous female gremlin mascot who has marked their colors since the WASPs formed in August 1943.

The WASPs trained in Sweetwater and were admitted to the program already holding a pilot's license. Post training they were stationed at 120 air bases across the United States, amassing sixty million miles of operational flights from aircraft factories to ports of embarkation and military training bases, towing targets for live antiaircraft artillery practice and simulated strafing missions, and transporting cargo.

Nearly every type of aircraft flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II was at some point flown by the WASPs. Col. Dawn M. Dunlop, 412th Test Wing commander and keynote speaker for the ceremony, celebrated their adventurous spirit and the dedication they share with all of America's war veterans.

"These ladies have more time being shot at than many combat pilots of today, and have incredibly inspiring stories about their training at Sweetwater and their time in the Women Airforce Service Pilots," Colonel Dunlop said.

Colonel Dunlop noted 38 WASPs lost their lives in non-combat roles but did not receive military honors as they were considered civilians.

"They received no military funeral. Their friends and their family had to pay their way home," Colonel Dunlop said. "No American flag draped their coffins, nor could their families display blue or gold stars to commemorate their contribution to the war effort."

"And yet we succeeded on the war-front in part because they succeeded on the home-front," she said. "It was the first war where women were fully mobilized across all jobs and the first time they were given the opportunity to break from conventional roles to become mechanics, factory workers, and Army Air Force pilots."

It would be nearly 35 years until the G.I. Bill Improvement Act of 1977 finally granted the WASP corps full military status, and another seven before each WASP received the World War II Victory Medal and the American Campaign Medal.

On July 1, 2009, with Colonel Dunlop and other active duty Air Force pilots looking on, President Barack Obama signed legislation awarding the WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal.

"We can never forget the greatness of our veterans - ordinary men and women who have done the extraordinary in defense of the United States of America," Colonel Dunlop said. "By their devotion and their sacrifice, we live in a better, safer and freer world."