W7lS1'

NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 1977

Editor - Betty Cross

VOL. XIV

****************
WE SALUTE YOU, AMERICA!

****************
/

"\",

JACQUELINE COCHRAN

GENERAL H. H. "Hap" ARNOLD

**THEY STARTED IT!**

Those two great people above struggled for many years to make us a part of the Army Air
Force. How proud and happy they must be at what has finally taken place.
***THEY FINISHED IT!***

Congresswoman Lindy Boggs

Senator Barry Goldwater

Asst. Secretary
of the Air Force
(Manpower,
Reserve Affairs &
Installations)
Hon. Antonia
Handler Chayes

Col. w.
Bruce Arnold

Dr. Harold Brown,

Secretary of
Defense

Historic days never to be forgotten -- November 3rd and 4th, 1977. The House and Senate passed a veter~.
benefits bill and included the WASPs. President Jimmy Carter signed this bill into law November 23, 1977.

"The Prez Says"

THANKSl

THANKS I

THANKS!

THANKS!

I'Jhenthere are so many to thank, where does one

begin? It is impossible to mention everyone at
this time but here are a few. Our beloved Senator Barry Goldwater whe never gave up the battle'
Congres~lonen Lindy Boggs and Margaret Heckler who
oftel' placed their personal careers on the line
for our cause; Congressman Ja'l1esQuillen who was
the first in the House to introduce one of the
many Bills for LtS; the mal".ySenators and Coneresspeople who sp0l!sored us and convinced others to
vote fo~ us when the time c~ae. Some of our unsung heroes have been the Aides to Senators and
Congresspeople.
Terry Emerson, Aide to Sen. Goldwater; ~ixQ Griffith, Aide to Congresswoman Lindy
Boggs al~d FeteI' Sare,ka, Aide to Congresswoman
Nareare~ Heckler to llame just three, worked for
hours 0:1 cur behalf. To Dr. Harold Brown, Secretary .)1' [j'Jfense,for taking the time to study our
hL:tre,y ,'nJ properly re-evaluate it against the
eas.~,JrrGl~te of follm'iing ,,,hathad been said befor';, '.;8 ',;oemere than words can convey and a
specht!. t:.p of the hat must go the Honorable
Antcr::.anall,Her Chayes, Assistant Secretary of the
Air j<'o:cce
(J<a!lpO'tler,
Heserve Affairs and Installaticns) ',:~o9rc~;er.tedthese facts to Dr. Brown.
To Col. Bruce Arnold "ho since 1972 guided us,
prodded us and d:'..d
more for us than anyone can
imagine at great personal sacrifice, our never
endin.::cratitucte. None of t.his could he have done
,-;itboutt.)',e
iore':Jearal,ceof his' charming 'dfe,
Earba:";;,Ul(i Gil'l Friday, Susan Bradley. For the
Sen,,,tt:
iil,dHOC1~e Veterans' Affairs Committee heari :-le"
"he t:L1T,t'
and 13nergy expended by the HASP
Par:elf;d".:i.nh
i;.cluded 01'. Dora Strother, our Chief
',;itnessjLt. G""neral and HI'S. \'iilliamTunnel' (Ann
Ha:,iHen); Col. ;,HIiam B. Arnold; Doris Tanner;
and L:.::'f,':.ret
Boylan showed their dedication to
our cc,:
..
~;G, a::'Jof "hid, contributed
to success.
lJlj '~h",L',",<crt,
s tilis represented not only hours of
re':ii3&.r'c:l,
-;,:::~;clidat.ion
of material provided by
;;~31s ',,':LL(;11
c,ve them the needed ammunition to
:.':"l'e, 't.il<:, ;"j.:::c
thp. many necessary trips to Washi~'iE:.::r;,
J,':';.
1;; cubmitting her research, Byrd
G~,<rye!',7~,!'; t:~(~~;;-i:~tiated in 'iJASPactivities
" E,~~'''' .::::. t:,,~ '_etell IT.ilitarization the \'iASPshad
e;':':.,,::,i"l;.C'Jd.
T::r-=re
were many others who spoke
.:c~.:1' ",r'"e::t in their comments which are record~..:. .~;: t!:,:;~ C~::e:re;..5ional

Records.

Don't

know ,,"hat

....
" ,":'.~'l.c:
be':'!c: Ck'!ll~
v:i thout Lee \'fueel\\'rie;ht,
Lucile
'iI:.:3",
uc;:..: .') Fer,~;u=ol1,Elaine Har:non, Natalie Fahy,
George ""i'} Lorr"ine Hodgers and the many other
f';;.;. "),1\,::', steady, hard-working group at Headquarto",!,,, '.1itt-:ut
whom this would never have corne to
l;':.SS.
HO:1l fortunate
vie were that Pat Huehes re~r':.edour progress w;ekly i.l'1 the Stars and Stripes,
cO'.<rtc:;y
of 'Ghe publishers., our friends Alice and
Ken Hubbs. And ho....
' about those diligent Corranunica:L,n Captains and their many assistants who kept
tn.:S0 lied ,Herts coming? Without those continous
cor:~municationlines all of you who wrote letters
C():1stQntly,SOl:Cht publicity and did the many
iJl~i.:.vidua.l
t2.sks that contributed grain by grain
to the finished loaf would not have known when
te act.

There were so many who did sc,much which we

would like to record. George Rodgers has volunteered to assemble this material for vlev~ng at
the Sept., 1978 reunion and re~uests each of you
l"rite him listing what you have done on TV, radio,
public appearances or what~ver.
There is always a p.s. and here it is. Thanks
to Senators and Congresspeople is a "must" (even
those we thought opposed us). By no~ you know
how to address them. Dr. Harold Bro~n and Hon.
Antonia Chayes whose assistance tipped the scales
in our favor may be addressed as follows:
The Pentagon
Washington, D. C. 20301
Still another way to show our appreciation is
when reelection tirr~ comes. Next year all Congresspeople will be running for reelection.
Lindy Boggs and Margaret Heckler whose performances were brilliant at the House Hearings as
well as the others we have come to knO\" so well
will appreciate your getting out there and
II stompingll
for them. \'ie have seen how the political process works. Now it is our responsibility to become more active.
All must be happy in the knowledge of a job
well done, of making this in fact THE YEAR OF THE
WASPs 1
EDITOR'S NOT]<;: Bee Haydu was also a witness at
the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing.
Bee Haydu is now at the following address:
Bee Haydu
4200 N. Ocean Drive
Riviera Beach, Fla. 33404

305-842-8225

A TASK WELL OONE

After an interminal wait of 33 yrs., many long
hours of gathering and disseminating affadavits,
pictures, l~tters, documentations, etc., our
efforts have been rewarded with recognition and
Veteran's Benefits at long last! This was a
monumental effort on the part of all concerned
with the ultimate outcome of Victory. It has
been a hectic year for everyone and ,dthout
officers like our Frez, our Sect./Treas. B~tty
Nicholas and our Vice Pres., Sarah hayden, plus
the combined support of the members of OaF ,:[he
upheld the old adage of UNlTl!:Dv/:c.; STAND - DlVl D.:;D
W~ FALL, ALL fOH m~~AND ONE FuR ALL, this great
task could not have been acccmplislied. Our Prez,
in her message to all, has tried to thank at.
many as possible who, through their combined
efforts, have written another event in History.
An historic moment, culrrQnatinG in Passaee of th0
Bill by Congress and signed into being by President Carter on Wednesday, November 23, 1977.
A day all American will remember RS the HASP
came out of the shadows and were finally noted
as serving their country when needed. ED.

PUBLICITYREPORT
Chair:nan:

BETTYJANEWILLIAMS
5935 I1cDonie Avenue
Woodland Hills,
CA. 91)64

Ph. 213-348-8671
Loud applause and some well ea~ned ~ldos for Pat
Collins Hughe~ (4.'.-6) for her sterling
efforts,
writing the weekLy \'iAS?colutln in "The STARSand
STFJ:F'E:)". She has proyided a needed cata.lyst in
our com:nunicatiolls .link.
Pat has a neat way of
turning a j::h!'a~~e
we're most fo:-tunate to have her
working in our behalf.
This indeed has been a productive period for WASP
publicity
- ir. aJ 1 media.
As we do not employ a
pref;s-cl ipping se:-vice .<endall artides
have not
come to l"Y at.tention,
I can on.ly repOI"t of those
are:i5 in ,<bieh I i1JTl falnil.i.ar. However, I do know
that a size&.bl~ ar,:o~t of press cliFpings have
been sent to he~0quarters
and to the WASPhistorlarl.
Then" has be't: fairl,Y const.ant expc'sure in the
pres:; ,,:i..-.Cf" fi.~.rly spring,
starting
with the VIVA
ma[;'nine prct'otion
campaign, which tied in with
t;~eir fe~t.u:ce artic1.~, "Those }:agnificent Women
in Their Flying tJiachines" - May issu3 -, guest
appearances on radio and TV of local WASPsacross
the countI')' were arranged through VIVAoffices
and
other !=,ubUC rela t:i ons contact s wi thin our own
"WASP
orga:;ization.
Some 100 prints
of the short
film (2 nin.17sec)
Ibmr., color/sound
(which I
wrote ar,d prod'.1ced with the Air Force) were dis1,ri1:;uted to TV station3
througbout the llation and
used wiLh these guest appearances as well as by
news directvI's.
We were able to get some videotapes of t1lt;se TV appearances.
Most of you saw
the ";'OfJi,Y" 0how (NBC-TV)when Bee Haydu and other
HASh; wt<r" L,terv:lewed along with Senator Barry
GoldVlltter, at the time of the Senate hearings in
lI,ay.
Other magadne featured WASPaI"ticles,
i.e.
the
May issue of the official
Air Force monthly magczine "AI !-tM.AN"; the April issue of AIR CLASSICS
related
Byrd Huwell Gral1ger's reflections
of operati.on.q1. flj'ing in the WASPprogrctID; and the
April issue "AlRFOHGE",published by the Air Force
Asso~., eave us a feature.
In the Los Angeles area there were lead articles
in the Los Angeles Times (featuring
Jean McCart)
as well as WJ;.SP
legislative
attempts in general
were rel?ted
in various community newspapers; at
least 6-8 radio and TV appearances,
with some
st.rong eciitcrifils
supporting us one from William
}randolph Hear:>t, Jr. (Herald Examiner, Sept. 18th)
and another,
the following week. The National
ObserVer ran an editorial;
vITNGS
OVERTHF ROCKIES,
a supplemer.t to Elnpire Magazine, Denver, featured
Betty Jo Reed and the WASPstory in their issue
covering all aviation a handsome tribute
to flying, publi shed July
1977. The Houston Post devoted nearly half a page in July; Shreveport Journal (JUNe;26) gave front page caption and over
half the front page, second section;
The Times

:3,

Picayne, New Orleans (JUNE 25) along with articles

in the Baton Rouge paper, The Modesto Bee (Central
Calif.)
half a page plus another fourth of page
(June 15) with a follow-up of a big Editorial
story a few weeks later as well as a Letter to the
Editor by the Pres. of Stanislaus
State College
urging the WASPbe given their rights.
I'm certain
that practically
every major metropolitan
area has
given space to our continuing
struggle for recognition most of the WASPshave sent their locally generated news directly
to National and therefore I can't report city-for-city
coverage.
WASPshave been speakers at various military
or
aviation functions,
providing direct
communication
tc the most interested
audiences.
I urge! more of
this,
whenever the opportunity
arises.
Your publicity
chairman was invited
as the feature
speaker
at the June meeting of the Order of Daedalions,
Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, Calif.
In addition to a handsome plaque, which now hangs on my
den wall, they extended an invitation
to all WASPs
to join this prestigious
organization,
which dates
back to World War I; truly pioneers,
they foster
national programs in support of aviation
safety.
1heir invitation
is f1attering
recognition
of our
worth to military
aviation.
During the American Legion National Convention in
Denver, August 19 - 25, when we lobbied to get
their support for our pending legislationl
the
WASPreceived considerable
radio and TV exposure
. thanks to Betty Jo Reed's efforts.
TV interviews August 18, 19, and 22; with radio on the
21st, which was later repeated.
Dorothy Davis, San Francisco,
has been working
hard at it and reports good coverage in the Sunday Examiner & Chronicle (August 28) she mingled
with young people waiting in line to see "Star
Warsll got them to sign her petition
(she was in
WASPuniform) an ingenious act, Dottie it paid
off.
She is also doing public spealdng and interviews on radio and TV.
On August 28th, The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa,
Calif.,
ran an in-depth feature
of Florence Ernig
(Mrs. Marshall Wheeler) along with full coverage
of WASPhistory and current efforts.
The public is aware we have indeed had a responsive attitude
from the news media as a result
of the
efforts
of hundreds of energetic,
willing WASPs

making contact at the local level and through their

social and professional
organizations.
When the
final outcome of our Congressional hearings and
the Military
Affairs COJID'Ilitteereports become
mown, there will be an opportunity for good publicity
follow-up.
WEMUSTDOITlll
HISTORIAN'SREPORT- Nov., 1977
This year has been an active year for all departments of the WASPorganization.
I express
my thanks to all the thoughtful Fifis who sent
clippings
from their local newspapers and even
from out-of-the-way
places.
Many of these clip-

pings were used in the WASP Headquarters in Washington during the Hearings.
The collection of classbooks is growing. We
have eight, but need six more for a complete set.
The missing books are: 43-4; 43-5; 44-2; 44-3;
44-4 and 44-8. Also, this year the Historian has
received bits and pieces from flying outfits worn
during ATC assignments by the WAFS and WASP trainees in Sweetwater.
The family of Gretchen Gorman Graba sent all of
her flight records plus her uniform and pictures
for our history. She was a very remarkable even
after her WASP days, and was active up to 1977 in
community service for the city of Bottineau, N.D.
There has been interest shown in having a temporary exhibit available for WASPs who need to
display the "History of the WASPs" for local meetings, libraries, museums, schools, air show, etc.
The Historian is in the process of assembling pictures, copies of orders, logbooks and a short history to be used on loan for ~~one requesting it
through the Office of the Historian. Write to:
l'lARTYHY ALL
p.O.

BOX 9212

HNOlUAL COl-'il'1ITTlili:
Chairman - JOAN FROST
M.54 Scrope Rd.
Rydal, Pa. 19046
Ph. (215) 884-2130

After reading all the material sent to me that

was corr.piledby the past committee, I felt we
would discuss matters at the up and coming 178
Conference in Colorado Springs as, by then, we
will know the status of our Militarization and
our "Tax free II status.
HI SCELLANEULJS
,~e are attempting to cor"pile a list of nickname ~ used for ~JW1:Iairplane s. Example:
UC78 - Useless 78; Bamboo Bomber, Double
Brea~ted Cub.
If you know any, please jot it down on a post
card and mail to Bee Haydu, 4200 N. Ocean Drive,
Riviera Beach, Fla. 33404.

ABeUT THe ~QW

CONFERENCE

TREASURER 1S REPORT
As Reported to the Board
September 17, 1977
On Hand from Previous Report

$6,125.80

Receipts:
Dues
Donati01l8
Sales
Replacement Checl<s
Transfer of funds from
savings
Interest on savings acct.

$1,290.00
190.00
4l.3.85
58.00
600.00
43.65

2..595.50
8,721.30

Disbursements:
Militarization:

F~rt Wayne, IN 46809

Ph. (219) 672-3237

ORDER OF FIFIN.ELLA.

Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In order for us to use the Air Force Academy
facilities, ttis must be called a "Conference".
Registration Wed., Sept. 27 and Thurs., Sept.
28, 1978. Activities throughout Sun., Oct. 1,
1978. Headquarters, Antlers Hotel. Gobs of
details will follow in early 1978.

Rent - Headquarters
Washington Reception
for Hearings participants
Bruce Arnold
T-Shirt Gifts
Regular:
Board Travel
Printing
List Maintenance
Postage
Telephone
\'lings& Pins
Stationery
Miscellaneous
Allowance - returned
check.

500.00

479.40
200.00
39.00
$1,218.40

147.05

2,792.63
46.61
133.70
23.01
132.70

15.55
26.60
4.575.31

4,146.99
Transfer tund15 trom saTings
BALANCE

600.00
$3,546.99

Fund Accounting:
Saving.
$2,090.79
Checking
1.456,20

i3.5lt6'99
MEMO TO MElffiERS

----- LOST ~~D FOUND ----Betty Jo Reed, 44-7, lost her Class Book at Hot
Springs, Ark. reunion.
If anyone picked it up by
mistake, would they please return it to her since
it does mean so much to her.

FROM

The Secretary-Treasurer

Your dues are welcome fo'J:t.he October '77 to October '78 year if ;rou have not already paid them,

HOWEVER, P LEA
1..

S ~-

Make checks payable to ORDER

OF FIFINELLA
Wasp Memorials, Inc.
The name of the'
organization
is still
Order of Fi.finel1.a
and we ha-ns not set up an account at this
time for Wasp Memorials Zlince the OOFaccount and identification
-number are acti-ns.
Wasp Memorials t name is for bul.k mail.ing
purposes.

!!Q!

2.

Dues are $1.0 per year.

3.

Pl.ease destroy a.rry old yellow order blanks

you haft been saving.
They show dues as
$5 and some of insignia prices are wrong.

4.

Please notify me if you move. The OOFhas

had a 1.ot of expense this yeax because some
of you have gone to sunnner homeu or resorts
(and I don't b1.ameyou!) and have obviously
asked that only first
class mail. be forwarded.
The OOFand Wasp Memorials use
bulk mailing pri vil.ege~ where pos5ib1.e, so
your mail is returned to me and the return
often costs doub1.el Therefore, please be
sure I have a PERMANENT
rna; J tng addr~s
or
that I am made aware what dates you will be
at other addresses and we wil.l TRYto make
sure you get your mail.. Aren't you afraid
you'll
be missing something important?

Dues are $10 per year; check should be made

to ORDEROF FIFINELLAj check should be sent

to:
Betty Nicholas

125 West 82nd Street

Indianapolis,

Indiana

413260

MONEY
That's vhat ve ain't got much of. In spite
of the fact that many have donated funds in
addition to dues, ve still need funds. We urge
that those vho did not pay Oct., 1976 to 1977
~lO dues, please do so. For Oct., 1977 to 1978,
would you please pay $10 dues and an additional
$5 to help defray expensive Militarization battle
in D.C.?
~e not only need money for this, but
we must advance funds for things for the Conference in Colorado Springs, Sept., '78.
COi'lTHIBU'1'I0HS
You may be vondering vhjl contributions cannot be tax deductible.
Order of Fifinella is
not a corporation or a tax exempt organi zation.
HASPs ;.1emorials Inc. is. Hovever, ve have been
legally advised that a tax exempt organization
cannot use funds for lobbying vhich is what we
are doing in D.C. Therefore, if funds vere
donated to WASPs Memorials Inc. and then these
funds vere used for lobbying, \.,rASPs
l~emorials
Inc. vould lose their tax exempt status.
Under

W~P~ Memorials Inc. ve set up the lov bulk

ma~l~ng rates vhich saves us hundreds of
dollars in mailing your Newsletter,
Roster and
Militarization
Bulletins.
We do not want to
jeopardize this.
Of course, this is why you
see WASPMemorials Inc. as a return address on
mailings.
111

HAVEYOUMOVED?111

Pul.eeze notify Betty Nicholas of any address and

telephone number changes.
The Newsletter and many
of our notices are now going via Fourth Class mail
and when they are returned,
we pay a premium.

MEMBERSHIP
Chairman:

COMMITTEE

Ziggy Hunter, 838 Havenvood, Dallas

TX 75232 Ph. (214) 224-2905 or
352-5204

QUESTION:
(From one of our 60-plus committee
members) DO WE KEEP LOOKING FOR LOST WASPS, NOW
THAT THE BI-CENTENNIAL IS OVER?
ANSWER:
LET'S DO KEEP AT IT--NOT ONLY TO FIND
M~D WELCOME BACK THE LOST ONES BUT LET'S DON'T
LOSE THE FOUND OHES.
But thanks to all of you, the information
keeps coming.
Even the restless ones are keeping us up on their nev addresses.
Another year rolls around and it's dues time
again.
Be sure to pull the memebership form in
this issue and keep us updated on YOU and yours.
A vhole bunch have already "dued" it but if you
haven't, maybe you'd like to pullout
that form
and get on it before it gets stacked under some
of that other business.
And do please keep looking for those old classmates or the WASPs you flev vith on base.
Send
along any clues, hovever remote, and ve'll start
searching.
CM~ N1YBODY

HELP?

Frankie Bretherick says there is a WASP Mayes

somewhere in Florida.
Is it Faye HcWhorter Mayes
of 44-1 or Doris A. Mays of 43-8 and does anybody knov the vhereabouts of either?
Rumor has it Eleanor Boysen l~organ has moved
from her 26th St. address in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Who can confirm and send along her change of
addres~?
'Tention 43-1's.
Also from the Florida
grapev~ne, a-la-Bretherick:
WAF Shoemaker has
moved to 2238 l~ichelle Dr., Sarasota, FL.
~ASP Lois Bristol of 44-3 has changed her name
to Mrs. Herbert Young and lives at 1226 Los
Robles, Pomona, CA 91768, Ph. 714-622-1636.
She
has made inquiries about Betty Chambers.
Can
anybody supply any information?

Katherine L. (Boyd) Miles, 44-5, called from

Oregon to give us her new address as 40 Angel
Lane, Eugene OR 97402.
Phone number remains the
same.
FOUND~
WAF Dorothy Fulton.
Married name is
Slinn and she lives at 13550 N.E. 10th Avenue,
N. Miami, FL 33661.
Anybody have her phone
number and husband's initials handy?
And after a long search for her, we get a
letter out of the blue from Ellen A. Bunch (Howard)
Graff.
She lives at 1018 S. Halladay S, Santa Ana,
CA 92701.
Her 44-10 buddies will be delighted.
And how about this?
Before we even get the
page finished, we have a locate on Doris Alice
Mays, 43-8 trainee.
She is Mrs. Ralph E. Davis,
1726 Questar Lane, Sarasota, FL.
ANOTHER LOST ONE BUT WITH CLUES--Rose G. Crowley. Marion Tibbetts says this 43-8 trainee
married a William Abbott and lived at 98 Crofton
Rd., Woban, Massachusetts.
Efforts to reach her
there have failed.
Calling all New Englanders
for help on this one.
ATTENTION, TUCSON AREA WASPS:
Dallas' loss
is your gain.
Hazel Sue Richter, 44-3, has moved
out with her daughter, Mrs. C. W. Pyeatt.
Sue
has been putting up a valiant and we now ~elieve
successful fight against throat cancer.
It was
diagnosed shortly after her return from the Hot
Springs reunion.
Her latest phone communication
revealed they are in the process of moving and
will be settled in at 750 Las Lomitas, Tucson,
AZ 85704.
Phone will be listed under C. W.
Pyeatt.
Sue sounded great and will be wanting
to hear from some of the A~izona WASPs.
Let's keep that info current and flowing in
now. Remember, we've got another reunion coming
up and we don't want that mailing to go astray.
The membership form asks you to insert a carbon.
You have no idea how much it will help your
secretary and membership chairman if we can each
get a copy and get the action started.
But don't
hold up the show for lack of a piece of carbon ..
we won't argue over a single copy. And thanks
for all the help on keeping the membership alive.
REBELS?

AREN'T WE ALL?

The Dallas/Fort Worth Wing of the Con:ederate

Air Force has taken the WASP members in the area
under their wing, so to speak.
They have opened
all their meetings to WASP and have invited them
to be their guests at the CAF annual Air Show,
staged every October.
Marie Muccie Genaro, 43-2,
Frankie McInerney Warms, 43-3, and Ziggy Hunter,
Flight Instructor, went from Dallas to Harlingen for the main show October 6-10, and found out
what it was like to have the concrete carpet
rolled out for them.
Ed. note:
The whereabouts of Edythe M. rusk
(Carlton) whose last known address was 6650 Franklin Ave., Hollywood, Ca. 99028 is needed.
She has
become a "1ostll WASP.
If located, please have her
contact Bee Haydu.

Bee & Mrs. Bruce Arnold

- "pinning

of a Firi"

WOMEN PILOTS
WILLIAMS AIR FORCE BASE
The Sept. 2nd graduation class from Williams
Air Force Base had 10 women pilots about whom
there was much publicity.
Col. Bruce Arnold
attempted to obtain an invitation for one or
more of us to attend the graduation service.
However, except for the invitation that had been
given Joan Olmsted, Lt. Col. USAF, no WASP was
invited.
Bee Haydu sent a mail-o-gram to Col.
John O. Hanford, Base Commander, congratulating
the young ladies from all the WASPs and a congratulatory letter with a Fifinella decal to each
woman graduate.
The two replies she received
are worthy of quoting:
"Thank you for the patch, I am very honored.
Out of all the greetings and congratulations
given to me, your letter has meant the most.
I
admire all of you that participated
in the WASP
program.
We aren't the first as so many want
to claim for us. You are, and unfortilllately
so many don't ae~nowledge that today.
Enclosed
is an article that the Williams AFB paper wrote
about the WASP program.
The Phoenix paper hal
a commentary on the WASP flying during WWII so
more is being heard, but I feel you all deserve
much more.
I am going to be stationed in
Columbus, Miss. 37 FTS instructing in t;~" T-37.
If possible I would like to be able to meet
some of the women pilots if any are in that
general location.
Thank you again for the letter.
Sincerely, Mary Livingston" (she is a 1st Lt.)
"Thank you for your letter of congratulations.
Thank you also for the Fifinella emblem.
We were trying to track one down earlier to
-"se on our helmets.
We had a very enjoyable
conversation with Lt. Col. Olmsted yesterday.
She told us of some of her duties as a pilot.
I do truly appreciate your thoughtfulness
but
as we both know, there is still a long road
ahead.
Respectfully yours, Mary E. Donahue"
(she is a Capt.)
If any of the 10 young ladies are stationed
near WASPs, it would be ni~e to invite them
to your home.
I suspect they all would like
to know more about us.

***1 J I

Victory

Oelebration

111***

Dottie Davis, 44-10, gathered S.F. area WASPs

together for a Victory get-together Nov. 19, '77.
Premature?
No, she had faith (as we all had) that

our WASP bill would be signed shortly by President

Carter. Expecting delivery of 100 Ibs. of ice for
chilling the wine (supposed to be delivered 2~ hrs.
before the party guests were to arrive) she became
apprehensive \~len an hour before the appo~ted time
the ice hadn't arrived. Thus began a frant~c search
(liquor store to liquor store) to get wh~t ice she
could buy and arrived back at her home Wlth a
basic supply of 25 Ibs. Vdnutes later the original
order of 100 Ibs. of ice was delivered. A bit
shook, naturally, she carried on as hostess.
Thirty-three WhSPs turned up --- all but two of
them (besid.es herself) from outside S.F. Quite a
turn-out seeing that the U. C. - Stanford Game
was being play~d that day. Counting friends &
neighbor" and "1"IASPs,
about 70 people enjoyed the
celebration.
Cappy Whittake Johnson (43-6)
bro~ght mounted WASP photos that she had gotten
from Headquarters and set them up for all to see.
Dottie had gotten several records of IIHit Songs
of 191.,3and 1944" for background music, so t?ere
was rr~ch nost~gia.
Dottie wishes to apolog~ze to
the thoughtful HASP wl:~)brought fre shly-baked fortune cookies to the party. Says they would have
been such fun buif somehow, she never served them
__ and even worse--forgot
who it was that brought
theml Dottie took some of the cookies to a Nur~in'-'home where they deliehted some very old ladies.
Th~ rest, she and her family are enjoying so, they
di~~lt go to waste.
Ed. note: Sorry Iooulllln"tcome Dottie, sounded
l~ke fur., but thanks for the invite an)~ay.

" AJ3UUT COST REPORT

17:17 from Washington enroute to Cincinnati.

Mrs. Dussaq was on an administrative cross-country
surveying reemployment possibilities for Women
Airforce Service Pilots after inactivation.
She
had been in Washington to discuss CAA policy on
certification of WASP.
It has been through her energy and foresight
that this survey of reemployment possibilities
was developed. Her planning and work made possible the WASP Newsletter and provided the basis
for our post-inactivation organization.
The future of the WASP and their unity after inactivation will owe much to the foresight of individuals like Katherine Dussaq. We will do
everything possible to carry through the program
which she has started.
Ed. note: Above from article in WASP NEVISLETTER,
Maxwell Field, Ala., Dec. 1st, 1944 issue and submitted to me by Clara Jo (Marsh) Stember 44-3.
THE CHAMPION FIFINELLA. Jackie hughes who flew
her own plane to Lock Haven from Fresno, Calif.
placed first in the air meet and received among
other prizes a trophy from the Congress of American Women, whose Pres., Dr. Gene Weltfish, is
shown making the presentation.
At left is W.T.
Piper, behind Dr. Weltfish is Clara Jo Marsh,
Pres. of the Order of Fifinella.

II

A figure of $2500 - $3000 has been mentioned as

the cost of our fight in D.C. This is erroneous.
It was much higher. At the reunion in '78, Betty
Nicholas will present accurate figures as to overall costs.
'"'"" NOTIGE TO NEW-BORN \'iASPVh"TBRANS

"'"1"

hE' rne:1tior.ed
in the post card mailing to graduate
~ASFs, our next step is to wait. The Department
of Defense n~st prepare their procedures and ascert'lin what documentation they will need from
us. None 0f us has any answers as to precisely
'....
h'it shc'..ll,u
be done now but when we do, you will
be notified. Please do not contact the Department of Defense, Senators, Congresspeople or any
Guverrunent Agency for information just now. Be
assured, as soon as we know what is to be done,
you will be contacted. Be patient just a bit
longed

Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum
The new building of the Smithsonian has given
us space in the ~~I section, pictured above.
The space for the period of time they had to
cover was limited and they regret they could not
give us more coverage. In the old Air and Space
Museum we were not represented at all. Anyone
visiting the museum will agree it is worth the
trip to D. C.

WASP HISTORY
'NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN

~trs. Katherine Dussaq, WASP Staff Executive for

the Army Air Forces Training Command, was killed
.,,!len
her AT-6 crashed at New Carlisle, Ohio, the
night of November 26, 1944. The cause and deails of the accident are not known further than
that she took off on an instrument clearance at

Marty Wyall, our historian, is in the process

of compiling a pictorial history of WASP to be
used for temporary exhibits at Air Shows, Libraries, Museums, Schools, etc. This will be available on request.

"Our Newsletter Editor, Betty Cross, Submitted The Completed Product For Printing Prior To Going Into The Hospital
For Serious Surgery On Her Hand.
She Is Recuperating At Home and We Not Only Send Her
Our Wishes For A Speedy Recovery, But Also Hope With
Her For The Best Outcome."

"~
I,NELLA
DEDIE AND CHARLYNE AT SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE'S
"WOMEN IN THE SERVICE" DISPLAY AT SIKES SENTER
MALL, WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AUGUST 27, 1977

**

After the morning House Hearings, Sept. 20, 1977 on

the steps of the Capitol, handing over the more than
22,000 signatures on petitions from allover
dIe
country. L. to R. Jill NcCormick, Congressman James
Quillen, CongreSS\'lorlum Hargaret Heckler, Fran Acker,
CongreSS\'lOmanLindy Boggs, Dorothy Davis, Bee Haydu,
Col. Bruce Arnold.
ABOUT D. C.

Hhat would we do without PATRICIA HUGHES and

her -"eekly column in Stars and Stripes? She
keeps us abreast of the latest doings in D.C.
There are many other unsung heroes who work for
us continuously in D.C. and we want to mention
a few. Of course, COL. BRUCE ARNOLD and his
wife BARBARA who spend countless hours on our
behalf meeting and over-coming many of our
hurdles; LUCILE WISE and LEE WHEELWRIGHT who
will be spending the next weeks visiting the
uncommitted in the House and who have spent
full time at Headquarters; DEANE FERGUSON and
NATALIE FAIlYwho help so regularly at Headquarters; ELAINE HA~~ON who handles the treasury
for the Congressional Hearings fund as well as
countless other tasks; SUSAN BRADLEY (Col.
Arnold's secretary) who does so many things for
us that it would be impossible to list them all;
C;;;;onGE RODGERS our PubH c Relations advisor and
the !:'Iany
others too numerous to mention. And
tnen there were those of you who were able to
attend the hearings (4 from California, FRAN
ACKER, DOROTHY DAVIS, HELEN SCHAEFER, VIOL1~
',ni::RZEICKI),
about 75 who left standing room
only in the hearing room. A GOOD DISPLAY~ The
presence of ~ASPs -- expecially in uniform -impress Congress and the news media with the
fact that we did exist.
Those who spoke so well for us before the
House Veterans' Affairs Sub Committee HON. LINDY
BOGGS, HON. JM~S QUILLEN, SEN. BARRY GOLDWATER, COL. BRUCE ARNOLD, LT. GENERAL AND MRS.
NILLIN~ TUNNER, DR. DORA STROTHER, DORIS TANNER,
;45. A.."lTONIA
HANDLER CHAYES, MAJOR GENERAL HARRY
A. i<10RRISare to be commended on the quality of
their testimony and convincing delivery. How
fortunate we are to have such talented and willing people.

OF DAYS PAST
yet
NOT FORGOTTEN

*l~

AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION

CERTIFICATE OF HERIT
AWARDED TO
DJ:illIE
DEATON
FOR HER Dl!:DICATEDAND HONORABLE SJiliVICEAS A
OF TH~ WOMlN AIRFOHCE SJiliVICEPILOTS (WASP)
DURING WORLD WAR II FROH 1942-1945. THIS GROUP
OF WOMEN ARE COMMENDED FOR THEIR FAITHFUL AND
CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE AS PILOTS IN HELPING THE
MILITARY FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES GAIN TOTAL
VICTORY, ----AND
FOR HER TOTAL DEDICATION.
HEl1BIili

C. W. Knight
President
This citation (beautifully framed) was presented as a climax of the Federal Women's Week Banquet held at Sheppared Air Force Base Officers'
Club on August 24, 1977. During this week, the
base included the WASP in its various activities:
WASP slides shown at Squadron Commander's Calls,
exhibits, displays, etc.
On Saturday, August 27, we were invited to participate in Sheppard's "Women in the Service"
static display at Sikes Senter Nall. Charlyne
Creger sent two dozen enlarged photos, the beautiful felt Fifinella banner (the third one Ruth
Florey had made) that was used at the American
Legion National Convention, and flew in herself
from Shreveport to help me "man the boothe"l We
also had the slides from the Air Force Museum
showing continuously--as well as two cases of
WASP memorabilia. All this was interspersed with
current photos and displays about service women.
We shared the boothe with young Air Force officers
and airmen (women), who were so interest~d in the
WASP and had so little knowledge about us that it
was unbelievablel We able to get many signatures
on our petition that day and more than a dozen
airmen (male & female) took petitions to get signed for us.
The Command at Sheppard has always recognized
the WASP on every special occasion. In its 35th
Anniversary Commemorative magazine, a full halfpage in the "Women in the Service" section was

devoted to the WASP, and I was invited to attend

the anniversary banquet as an official representative of tLe 1tIASP.
"THANKS"
from
DEDIE

No Hords cc,'Jldpossibly express my deep gratitude

for your thc\.iehtfulnesswhen I was "floored"! Your
p'8yersJ your wonderful letters, cards, telegrams
8r.d Leod wi she s (over 300 from "MY vIASPIES") hastenecl my recovery immeasurably, I'm sure. My
nurses tock great delight in bringing in my stacks
of !~:ailJcounting it and taping cards allover the
deers ~nd walls. This n~de my hospital stay 11.1::,osta eala occasion which otherlflse vlould have
been very dreary. (I was allowed very few visitor s).

~dent Franklin Delano Roosevelt and is a member

of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame. He
is past president of P-47, P-40 and CEl-Hump
Pilots Associations.
There were over 350 at this reunion and those
WASPs who attended were: Esther Berner, Kay
Brick, Katherine Fine, Teresa James, Betty Le
Fevre, Liz Lundy, Jill McCormick, Mary O'Brien,
Martha Rupley, Adel Scharr, Jane Straughan and
Ruth Trees.
The next reunion will be held May 12, 13, and
14, 1978 in Chicago at the Playboy Club. Any
WASP who flew a P47 prior to 1956 is eligible
for membership in this organization. Information can be obtained by writing Herb Fisher,
628 Mountain Road, Smoke Rise, Kinnelon, N.J.
07405.
This is a great and fun group of fighter pilots
and every member and spouse to whom we presented
our petition signed pledging to help.

Ir. s7ite of developing a number of unrelated

"aiL'1~ents"fol101v::.ng
thl;)hear "incident", I 1m in
gcod shape novr. I was even able to go to vlashinG~on for the Hcuse committee hearing - and I
'-lasver;! proud of all the HASPs who were there-a.s al'~'lays!

I '.,:ish
::.could write to yo'.!allJ but it is still
'1:ot pos:3::.b1.e
for me to write or type very much, so
I 110;';0 62Cb of you will accept this as a very pers~)r:al":'!l<ink you" for your concern. (I still get
a 1'-l!:.;J
i:-. my throat .....
hen I look at the box holdi!::.: yeur r.je s ~8,ges 1 )

(1.. to r.) Lee ,Jheelwright, Dora

Strother, Bee Haydu, Byrd Granger,
tJargaret Boylan, Voris Tanner, Col.
Hruce Arnold.
OUR BARRY

On March 17, 1977, those pictured above met ~~th

Senator Barry Goldwater to discuss his Bill S247.
It was on this occasion that Bee Haydu presented
Sen. Goldwater with the miniature gold WASP wings
and a citation which read:
Herbert Fisher presenting plaque to
Bee Haydu at the St. Moritz Hotel,
NYC May 7, 1977
At the 16th A~1ual Reunion of the P47 Thunderbolt Pilots Assoc., our Prez, Bee Haydu, was presented a plaque with large Air Force type wings
for her efforts on behalf of the WASP attempt
to become militarized.
Herbert O. Fisher, Chairman of the Reunion and
veteran civilian engineering test pilot, made the
presentation on behalf of his association. Herb,
as a National Director of the Air Force Assoc.,
'([as influential in supporting and seconding the
AFA's significant resolution supportil~ Senator
Barry Goldwater's 3-247 bill in recognizing the
WASPs for their outstanding WVIII service in the
Ar;:;edForces of the USA.
Fisher has been in aviation continuously for
50 years and has been a command pilot for 48
years. He is the first living civilian to ever
be awarded the coveted USAF "Air Medal" by Pres-

CITATION
to
THb; HAN
BARRY GOLDWATER
-"ho

Fill' !,-;:ILITARY
AIBCRAFT
and

FL1,'1WITH THE \-JOMENAIHFORCE

3EHVICE PILOTS IN \'IORLDWAR II
and
FLIES SUPPORT FOR US IN
WASHINGTON, D. C.

*-1.****
lftAYYOU AUiAY3 \i,t;AH
OUR v,lINGS
With Admiration and Respect
i"rom Your Lady Pilots
Senator Goldwater was most appreciative of this
gesture and always enjoys hearing from all of you,

~
I
I

WASP AS WEEKEND

WARPLA1'lE PILOTS

~Jorr.e
oJ!.' the 'wASP who were
guests of the Con\1.1' Forc'", at its Airsho 77 in Harlin~:C!,.~'r',:~~.October 6-9, feel they may have some
extra qualifications
to accept the recent invitatiO:'lto Lecome members of the Combat Pilots
;E'nc:'Rtc

i-',:,' the ."irst time in its l3-year history the

:::"n
:'edel'at.e.'Ii
r Force featured women pilots in
it" "I,h'st]-:- '17," WASPs Suzanne (DeLano) Parish
cf 1.4-b, F!'unkie (McInerney) Harms of 43-8 Marie
;..
;ucc:e) ';en~ro of 43-2, Charlyne Creger of 4410, and '-"ASPFlight Instructor Ziggy Hunter piloted or shared crew space during some of the most
vi vid re-en!J.ct::lentsof World War II air battles.

,
I

;u"i a'ly::.'sd:r
.just observing this spectacular,
with Ger:~nr;bO::lbel'Sand fighters droning overhead
and d,opp.i.r,t~
their bombs (TNT simulations with
:'iery musn:'oo~inr; smoke adding remarkable realism
t.o the exp':'".sinns
.--with Japanese Zeros, decorated
'.-lith
tl1e:r red meatball insignia, in the Pearl
Harbor '~f):-u-T()ra
sequence, swooping low to explode
fiery bCJMbs 01" t.lle de"k in front of the viewers'.-lit.h
a G-l'( s',dnp;ing in low over the runway, one
c:'l!.:i
ne 3r~oid nr. and one gear dis abled, but touchin;:;de:'.mon the other before pulling up, pursued
by Zcros--'"i th p-l,O's and FM-2 Wildcat pursuing
t!".eZer'cs and engaginr; them in dogfights--with
oj d \'iWlI'.-larplanescoming
across the field headon and cro:;s tr'affic (whew: somebody pass the
fly swatter )--'.-li
th concussions shaking the stands
from the bomb bursts--with
machine gun and anti!].i
:-e:'a:'tfire beating a staccato on the ear drumswe~~, cvpn the observer feels a vivid taste of
~pr'i 81 c"!T:batas goose pimples ['uffle the skin
~ri
a lur.p sticks in the throat.
'1'1125
year six ',;o::Jcn
pilots got a better than
~icnri0us experience when they were invited to be
pR~ticlpants,
Actually, a Ninety-Nine, Shirley
::est of {,ng1eton, Texas, takes the honors as the
fil'St.'.-lernan
to pilot a plane in the show.
She
slip-st.:'eRI'.edan A'I'-G throueh the initial fly(,,'ercn '.;.;'[1 warplane:, at the beginning of the
;;.;":l~-.:~IJ. ~X~ r~nvagnnza.

3~e Parish ~ith her pink p-40 (painted in the

ci the Libyan Desert \-lingwith shark teeth
and all) led the formation of Flying Tigers prior
to t:'lcL':lttacK cn the 'I'orafighters.
Following
th is seD,l',';',ce,
she was brought up the taxi way in
;ror,t ():-t:le stands and introduced with a brief
history of t.~e W!~P and her service history as
she sto:Jd up in the plane and received the
applause and waves of the 70,000 spectators.
Crecer, Harms, I;enaro and Hunter had been asked
to rerr.ainin the VIP viewinp; stand and they, in
turn, were introduced and the announcer then
dedicated the Saturday show to the WASP.
Somebody whispered how nice it was to have a whole
'''orld':Iardeuicated to the WASP.
With this public
announce~lent t'.-lO more WASPs showed up at the
revie'.-lingstn.nd: :!:axine (Edmondson) Flou'noy
of "3-8 and ,.iuriel (Kiester)~.1artin of 411-5.
C"lCI'S

Genaro, Warms and Hunter were invited to ride

the B-17 in Friday afternoon's battles.
Genaro
took movies from the plexiglass nose of the
incredibly close formations and the looming
bulk of the B-29 leading the formation ~ust a
few feet away.
All were treated (?) to the
effect of extra G's as their B-17, selected as
the missing man from the formation of the same
name, pulled sharply up and away, trailing the
smoke of a wounded aircxaft.
WASPS GO INTERNATIONAL:
Charlyne Creger joined the above trio next morning at the invitation
of the Canadian B-25 pilots for a dawn patrol
flight.
This group came as representatives
of
the Canadian Warplane Heritage, based at Mount
Hope Airport, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Charlyne
and Frankie rode in the tail where a crew member
obligingly removed the hatch so they could get
an unobstructed
view for photographing
Padre
Island (and they practically
got a fish-eye view
on a couple of sweeps of the shoreline).
Marie,
who delivered B-25's during WASP service, and
Ziggy were seated in the front.
The biggest thrill
of the airshow came for them when each was invited
into the co-pilot's seat for 20 minutes' actual
pilot time--and each carries the signature of
George E. Stewart, pilot, on their officially
logged co-pilot time.
Both are still wearing
very broad grins.
Dennis Bradley, Co-pilot, and
Wayne Roberts, flight engineer, and the entire
Canadian contingent all contributed to a warm
and wonderful experience for these four women
pilots, pinning each with the maple leaf insignia
of their group.
They also extended an invitation to attend their big warplane heritage air
show in Ontario next June.
Ziggy was: invited by the Minnesota CAF win~
to ride in their B-25 on Sunday's show and
participated
in the Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,
Battles of Coral Set!.and Midway, and D-Day
Invasion.
She was more surprised than anybody
when, after landing, she was walking through
the flight line gate and a spectator came rushing up to exclaim, "You really held that formation better than anybody.
It was really neat."
She nearly cracked up when Marie and Frankie
explained that the announcer had called attention
to the fact that the lead B-25 was being flown
by former WASP Flight Instructor Ziggy HUl,.::er.,.
his own invention, of course.
A word about the CAF. WASP in other areas
might find this joint association most worthwhile in that it provides an opportunity
to
work with and share mutual interests in \-.'orld
Wal
II war planes.
The Dallas/Fort Worth Wins of CAF
have opened their meetings to local WASPS, although
the membership is now reserved for men only.
They
made us their guests at Airsho 77 and really
rolled out the red carpet for all events.
One
member, John Becker, on the Airsho's security
staff, provided red flightline arm bands for
each and Harie' s car carried an "all-points"
pass which provided the freedom of Rebel Field
during the show.
Marie, Frankie and Ziggy were
decked in uniform blue jump suits, designed by
Marie,with a Fifinella arm patch.
Charlyne and

',;01'<:
some of the original
uni :'crrr: blue seemed to catch

"ue

no2 e n.ut0f;rapb

seekers.

HASP apparel.
The
the eye of innurner-

i\lade the

whole

bunch

fee: Ij~e celebrities.

'?he oril:inal
purpose.of
the CAF was to locate
acquire
and restore
WWII aircraft,
destined
for
the
~nk heap.
They called
themselves
rebels
in the beginning
because
they were rebelling
:;r,ainst
the dest.ruction
of aircraft
that
should
have beer: pl'eserved
but were being ,"hopped up
01'
left
to l'ot on abandoned
fields.
As their
fieet
of fichters,
bo:nbers and some \{1.-J1I foreigh
aircraft
crew, they were invited
to perform
',It. rr.il i tary
bases.
Th..':.1; year
they secured
a
:',e:"!!',aniieinkel
HE-Ill
bomber, the first
German
oom"eel' eve r to touch Juneri can shores.
Located
in Spain,
it ,,'as flown to England and then
through
Scotland,
Ireland,
i~ewfoundland and finally
to i!<lrlingen
just
one week before
the show.
In
~ddition
to the celebrity
aircraft
appearing
in this
year's
show, celebrity
pilots
included
GreG "?appy"
Boyine;ton (Baa-baa
Black Sheep),
Pa']} Tibbetts
(13-29 Enola Gay drop on Hiroshima),
'lex iiil.1 (one of original
Flyine; Tigers,
Gabby
Gab=-eski (A:nel"ica's
leading
combat ace),
and
George Gay, sole survisor
of the famed "Torpedo
i::isr:t Squadron"
in the Battle
of l,lidway.
In
addition
to the nearly
100 CAF WlHI aircraft,
there
were 613 visiting
private
planes
at the

WASP & Canadian B-25

L to R Marie Genera, Frankie Warms, Ziggy Hunter,
Charlyne Creger were made Honorary members of
the Canadian Warship Heritage.

shew.

Durinr, the evening

Officer
Club gatherings
CAF members pledged
their
support
for the WASP
fi ght for veteran I s benefits
with hundreds
of
petition
signatures.
i-lany expressed
themselves
"-5 particu~arly
incensed
that
WASPwere still
beinp;

Sue Parish, pink P-40 & friends at Confederate

Airshow - Oct. 8, 1977

denied.

" TO TELL THE TRUTH "

Japanese
Val, Kate and Zero
replicas
erupt
over the field
at the CAF Airsho
- coming in
low and fast
on the deck.

Because of a front page article in the Oct. 30,

1977.Sunday New York Times, New Jersey Weekly
Sectl0n about the WASPs which resulted from an interview they had requested from Bee Haydu, she was
asked to appear on TO TELL THE TRUTH. The show
was taped Nov. 9, 1977 and below is the schedule
they gave her as to when it would be aired. If
you call a TV station to inquire about when it
will be shown, be sure to identify it as show
#3311. Panelist Peggy Cass was the only one who
guessed Bee who said, "It sure was fun!" The
dates given below are for the Monday of the week

f
\

KNlJC

Los Angeles
Seattle
Portland, Ore.
K1"1':B
San Diego
\YD",!)
Scranton, Pa.
KTVI St. Louis
\iEB\v
Buffalo
vlPRl
Providence
WTVF Nashville, Tenn.
:'/TVI Phihdelphia
WLCY Ta:i1pe/St.Pete
'tiliA Atla.nta
~;RC \'iashingtcn, D.C.
viPGH
Pittsburgh
KoeL Phoenix
WLWT Cincinnati
vih.VE
Loui sville , Ky.
KIRO
KATU

)-1)-78
1-)0-78
1-16-78
2-1)-78
2-13-78
2-13-78
1-16-78
1-2-78
12-19-77
1-30-78
3-13-78
1-2-78
1-16-78
2-27-78
2-27-78
1.-30-78
2-27-78

SARA P. HAYD&J, Vice. Pres.

22 Stadium Road
Methuen, MA 01$44

He : Sale s Iterns
There are no new items at present and no changes
in price. She will have, in 1978, two types of
cr:arllis
(wines), and a selection of neck chains
and cham bracelets.
$25.00
WASP wings, sold to grads only
10.50
Small wings, 1" pin, sterling
9.00
Fifi pins
Fifi decals, large, outside
1.15
1.40
Fifi decals, small - three
Fifi brrmze sculptures
5~1I
55.00
(by Dorothy Swain Lewis) 7t.1I
155.00
Fifi stationery, 40 sheets
3.60
40 env.
1.15
Fifi notepads, 50 sheets
T shirt (C) blue with white
8.00
!"ifi flocking*
(C) blue with navy
8.00
Fifi flocking*
T shirt (Z) white, navy neck
and sleeve piping, navy Fifi*
~~Specif:rsize, S, M, L,
child or adult
Needlepoint Fifi kit
Postage has been included for all
items.
Order from: Sara P. Hayden
22 Stadium Road
Methuen, Mass. 01844

FIFI S1!.TTUD IN
The August, 1976 Newsletter carried a Dicture
and articles about the June 14, 1976 Dedication
Ceremonies for the Fifinella statue made by Ann
Atkeison and Frances Withers. The final product
is pictured above in our restol'<3dWishing \~ell
at Sweetwater, Texas. When the trees are larger
and flowers in bloom, what a beautiful spot this
~~ll be. Quoting from the March 4, 1977 Sweetwater paper sent to Bee Haydu by Mrs. Poe:
"FIFINELLA MENORIAL MARKER. The final toc:.ches
were added this week to the "Fifinella" monument
on the TSTI Rolling Plains Campus, former home
of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. The project was begun as a Horizons Co~~ttee project
of the Sweetwater Bicentennial group. This ,:eek
the memorial plaque mounted in granite was placed
at the site by Jay Morgan who was instrumental
in obtaining the monument.
A Walt Disney created bronze statue of "Fifinella" is to be permanently mounted directly behind the plaque. Pictured above from left are: Mrs. Wilson (Dorothy
Jean) Guest, Bicentennial chairman; l.~rs.George
(Peggy) Poe, horizons cownittee chairman; and
Morean. The "Fifinella" memorial was a project
of the Woman I s Forum." The plaque reads:
"FIFINELLAII Presented by the Svleetwater \'iomansl
Forum in the Bicentennial Year of 1976 Honoring
Women's Airforce Service Pilots Avenger Field
1942 - 1944"

Shirts, with hand painted Stearman and

Fifi - - $30.00 plus shirt
Order from: Beverly Beesmeyer

R.R. #3
Grove, Okla. 74344
30th Memorial Reunion Book
40 left
Order from: Betty Nicholas
125 W. 82nd St.
Indianapolis, Ind. 46260
Above report from Sara Hayden,
Vice-President

iHHHl*
MASCOT jA~H,*
Jim Tilford - Volunteer

During the big unpleasantness, Jim ~ilford~ a

pilot and radar controller was statloned l~ke
thousands of other Americans in England. Back

home, on the way t.oSweetwater, Te~:as "as his

deare st love, ..
:here WASP were training. Absence
makes th~ heart grow fonder and one night in
iCEdon, Jim had Fifi tattooed on his left shoulde:: right 'Ihere ;)'ounormall:,'wear your unit patch.
ThJ.rty-t:,reeyears later Fifi is not quite as
lovely b~t then neither is her wearer. However
sh~ is still lithe and active. Fifinella and h~r
frlends are <llways welceme at Palm Beach Intll
Airpurt (Tilford's Aviaticn Center) Florida
.l . ord, \.;ho
is anxious to see ,. the WASPs
("uln,.'T"]f
get military benefits, has been vlriting letters
or. our behalf and sending us funds.)

EAGLt; PASS H.~;UNION

JOHN H. BUNDY
Col. (Ret) USAF
1612 Air Force Village
h917 Hav:mswood Dr.
San Antonio, TX. 78227

"News from Col. Bundy"

Col. Bu.ndy had 30 vlASPs assigned to him at
.r;aglePilSS where they 'iere towing targets for
a3rial ~~nnery cadets. In Nov. he, again, met
lC of the 30, after a span of 33 yrs. at a Reunion
he organized. In his words "a total success".
He says; "ReSeal"ch provid.ed me with what I considered to be 24 solid addresses from a roster of 30
I.".::>j's.
Lett"rs of inquiry were sent to these 24
ar:i I h"a1'd from 21 of them. Response came in the
form of rr,ail,telephone and third party reports.
The inquiry (after a span of 33 yrs. with no communication in the interim) was--"would
you be inte1',~stedin a 33 yr. Reunion of the Eagle Pass
",r.3Fs."The replies provided me with a mandate to
lay en such a Reunion. The resulting Reunion was
a.tot~l,success a~d embraced a program starting
'1I11.h
a Ren:iez'lousi:1San Antonio the evening of
Hov. 3r:i. Nov. 4 - 6 was spent in Eagle Pass and
Fiedras Negras and a return to San Antonio for a
a fareell luncheon on Nov. 7th. Ten of the 21
.,:1..51"5 ti,,,tresponded to my inquiry participated
111 t,he Heunion, eight of these were present for
a.l.l events - from beginning to end. Two had to
rct'\rn to the ~ast coast on Sunday, Nov. 6. They
ca~ from N.Y. to California and North Dakota to
sU'.It,h
Texas. Several other \'IASPsattended. These
were from the central Texas area with a majority
of them from ~an Antonio. This group helped in
prv'liding transportation to and from the airport
aiding in registration, etc. We had good press '
ar.d TI coverage here in San Antonio, thanks again
7,0 the local WASPs. Our coverage on the border was
even more extensive, particularly by the Mexican
TV."
"AS
a 1'esuit of the 3 x 11 03 years) Reunion,
1 have been mandated again to lay on a repeat in
1979. This I will do if I am still able to."

ED. ImT~: Col. Bundy sent a letter to I,leconsolid:~til1ghis ori[;inal-report on the recent \'1ASPreunion he held.

III

LAST FLIGHT

III

NELLIE CARMODY KLEIN (43-6): Passed away in 1974

after an 11 year fight with Cancer.
SIDNEY MIlLER (43-1): Passed away March 29 1977
as result of a stroke suffered in 1970. '
"To the friends of Sidney Hiller-Sidney wa~ a beautful soul and had many friends.
T~ her fr1ends, we are sorry to report that Sidney
d1ed ~n Marc~ 29, 1977. We are sad, but it was a
blesslng. Sldne~ had a "stroke" about 1970 and
had really deter10rated physically since then.
~he had a fear of becoITlinghelpless and incap~cltated. Death came suddenly and quickly as a cerebral hemorrhage, and we know that she is happy
and we are happy for her.
T~ank yo~ for your friendship for our beautiful
Sldney Miller.
Her Mother, Mrs. John C. Miller. Her Sisters
Lucia M. Collins, Joan M. Caulson, Mineral W~lls
Texas."
'
BETTY LeFEVRE (44-2): Died suddenly around Oct.Nov. 1977. No details available.
GRETCHEN GRABA (GO~)
43-3: Passed away June
30, 1978 of Cancer.
HELEN PARKS flliNRY- Trainee (43-1): Passed away
May, 1977 in Georgia
Ed. Note: For those who asked, Margaret E.
McCormick was killed in service after graduation,
accordinR to our Roster.
?? WHAT'S IN A NAME ??
There have been many comrr,entsby WASPs lately
about the name selected for this organization
prior to our inactivation. "The Order of "Fifinella" seems to lace in appeal to many and yet to
be completely acceptable to others. It has been
criticized on the ground that it is too frivolous
and even silly. Some think it should be simply
"WASP".
The name was selected at Maxwell Field when the
staff of the Order was bucking Army red tape and
the involved bottleneck of coordiEation to establish a Newsletter. At this time, Kay Dussaq came
in from Fort Worth to help us. If she had not
cleared our authority through Training Command
Hdqtrs. we would have been blocked again. We
had dre3lI,edof and worked on this paper for several months. The only way it was finally cleared was as a medium for the exchange of reemployment opportunities. We received perITlission
through the efforts of Col. Paul Todd, Deputy to
the Chief of Staff, A-3 Division, Headquarters,
Er~C, to use Army paper and mailing facilities
for the Newsletter. But even he could not clear
authority for us to use these facilities for a
post-inactivation organization. So we paid for
the initial materials ourselves, believing we
should establish at least the structure of a
group to keep us together, and we dubbed it the
"Order of Fifinella". It was in the spirit of
fun, and to avoid any complications vdth the Army
Air Forces.
'
If there is enough opposition to the as lt stands,
let's clear the air before our legal incorporation
is completed. (Reprinted from the Mar. 15, 19~
Newsletter. Ed.)

INSTRUCTORS: GIP D. OLDHAM,

Jr. - SEGTY.
6008 W. Univ. Blvd.
Dallas, Tex. 75206
Gip says he's sorry he doesn't. have t.oo much news
for Instructors
but did send the following:
JOHNNY
HUErr has expanded his real estate operations and is building 1!EQ:!!2 homes in Da1.las.
CAREY
BOWLES
and WILLIETISH!.ERhave called when
in town or passing through and we had long phone
con\~rsations.
BOWLES
still
with Flying Tigers
~nd TISH with United.
Both are flying DC-8s.
I saw Dav:td Lamb at a WASPget-together
at Red
Bird Airport in Dallas in April 1977. Dave has
retired
from Texas International
where he had
bean a DC-9 Captain.
August '76 I went on a visit to Saudi Arabia to
see the changes after 8 years away from nying
fc,r Arabian American Oil Co. for 17 pl.us years.
My p13.nned one month trip t,u-ned L'1to 2 months.
Aviation was short. of pilots temporarily
and so
I was put to work for 6 weeks lying F-'Z{s.
Made one trip as 3rd pilot on GIL.

,
r

I missed th Hot Sprines affair becaul5e I had just

re~,urned fran S.A. and had to make a trip to
Abi.1.ene, but did see some of it on the TV newscast th~re.
I would like to corrrnendPat Collins Hughes on her
Cohuns in Stars and Stripes.
She makes the
WASPC~~e Tery well.
I'll
wind this up as I just received a call telling me that we will be departing in a few days
on a trip to Singapore in a Gultstream I.
A
friend has an air freight
line and I will be
goi.ne as 3rd pilot.
Should be an interesting
2 week trip.
As usual, I'll
clos& with an appeal to my Fellow
I!1structors
to send me any tidbits
of your
doings for the 1978 Newsletter as well as
news of others YOL may keep in touch with, one
way or another.
WAFS- All the WAFSsent. indi. vidual letters
to
me this year but 115isll Fine said she may
take over as Secty. next year.
ED.
KATHKDJ
(Sis) FIUE: "Highlight" of my year was
the day I picked up James.y, Del Schaar & Jim and
Liz Lundy and brought them hane for dinner and
overnight-so
we could all appear next day at the
St. Moritz, N.Y. for the P-47 IIJugll Club Reunion.
We were wined, dined and danced allover
N.Y.
Had dinner at Marian Mackey's Restaurant and a
boat ride around Manhatt.an, ~
a P-47 flyby!
Made our debut on TV. We were on CBS 7 & 11 PM
News-also,
NBC, ABC& WNLW.Never had 50 much
fun.
Janey Straugham and I shacked up together Twitter & husband were there.
All in all, about
11 WASPand 1 don't think I'll
ever cane down off
this Cloud 9. The guys, as )0 years ago, were
marvelous to us and I couldn~ believe that we
wera as crazy as way back then!
After that, I
decided to put up a real firsplace
in my little
house and after they cut all the main beams in
the .front, a hole in the living room floor (so
1 could look down and see the car in the garage)

and the bau-hoe fell through the ees5pool, I

jUIllpedinto my trusty Buick & <iruve to D.C. to
spend the week-end with my son-in-law.
He's a
budding lawyer and had a smnmer job with the
Navy dept.
We did the town up royal.ly - ending
with a Sunday ChampagneBrunch at the Bolling
Field Officers Club! Then, I drove to Atlanta
to spend a week or so with some of my old buddies.
Stopped in D.C. on way back and this time
we gave Georgetown a whirll
Fun, FunI I I Came
home to find siding going up on house (which was
still
intact and hadn't folded up in the middle
as l' d expected).
The summer was too hot for me
to do much 'capt sort Qf clean up after the
daily wor~enls mess and lollygag in a friends'
pool.
My son, Rob, came home from Navy in Aug.
to get married.
'He had a beautiful
wedding and
we all had a ball - then he went back - but will
be getting out, after 6 years.
Now~I have my
reservations
on a round robin night,
to Tulsa
to see my daughter, Dugie. in her Jrd year of
law school, then back to Atlanta for a little
elbow-bending and eventually
homel
BARBARA
ERICKSON
LONOON
has had a busy year.
Youngest daughter Kris became a mother in Hay
with a nice big baby boy-so
I joined the ranks
of "grandma"-She lives in San Clemente so is
close enough for me to baby sit on occasion.
Terry, my oldest, has been flying for Western
Airlines for nearly 2 years and hopes to get a
llwindow seatll on the 737 in a few months. Western now has 6 wonen flying--more
than any other
airline
and they are all doing great.
Terry is
stationed in San Francisco and her husband, whom
she married in February, is a pilot for United
Airlines and he, also, is stationed in S.F.
Their schedules are sometimes overlapping-but
do
manage to see each other quite often. Terr.y and
I just returned from a Seminar and p~~el on Women's career opportunities
in Aviation given for
the Hawaii School for girls.
There were 3 women
airline
pilots--and
4 service womenpilots--the
Air Force, Army~ Navy and Coast Guard, also three
womenfrom General Aviation and 2 Ex-WASPs.. It
was very interesting
to talk with the service
girls and see how they are accepted and t~eated
in the modern service in comparison to our service during WillI. There's no longer any female
chain of command. Once they've completed training, they are just a name, rank and serial # and
are assigned to duty depending on their
standing
in their class and their request.
The Navy and
Air Force girls are flying jets-the
Navy in an
operational
Squadron at Mira Har, CA and the Air
Force at Williams Field in Arizona-and
she will
continue to train and became an instructor.
The
Army girl is a maintenance Test pilot for Helicopters in Ft. Lewis, Washington and has 40 or
so mechanics under herj the Coast Guard girl
flies a helicopter
in Search and Rescue in
OREGON
and is the only womanpilot in the Coast
Guard. Really a ver.y interesting
meeting.
I am still
in the aviation business at Long
Beach Airport (Barney Frazier Aircraft,
Inc.)
and II\Y office is right next to the airline
Terminal.
I keep flying often but never get very
far awa7 so, give me a call and come b7 for a
cup of coffee and a visit.

NANCY
BATSON
CREWS
sends the sad news of her husband Paul's death on Mar. 8, after a long illness caused by diabete11a We're very sorry to
hear of this Nancy1 With her son~-s help, however,
Nancy started towing aerirl
advertising
ba.nnerlJ
along the beach with her Super Cub last swmner.
Says that was a new experience and this w.inter
she plans to go back to flying Sailplanes
again
here in Calif. as she'd rather fly than do ~thing else.
TERESAJAMESflew from Fla. to N.Y. in May to attend the P-47 Reunion.
Stayed at Sis Bernheim
Fine's overnight..
liMyGosh, she keeps growing
younger. II The gals had a dinner party at Marion
Mackey's (De Gregario) restaurant
Felix "in the
Village" - minds went blank - they couldn't remember the words to Zoot Suits and other songs
of Sweetwater days - "too many Martinislll
Went.
to Wash., D.C. for Senate hearings on WASPle&islation
and those WASPfrom that area deserve
medals for the job they are doing for their sister WASPs. Saw Barbara Donahoe Ross at the hearing.
Went to lunch at her ranch home in Va. and
caught up with 25 yrs. of news. Flew to Tampa,
Fla. to see Betty Gillies
land at termination
of
Powder Puff Derby. She, Gert Tubbs and I spent
the afternoon reliving
Wilmington days.
Betty
looks the same as she did 30 yrs. ago. Came
back to Lake Worth to find I had a call from a
long lost WAF
Dorothy Fulton Slinn, 13550 N.E.
10th Ave. ,N. Miami 33661.
We are going to visit.
I've been busy working on WASPlegislation
and I
urga everyona to do all they can to help by supporting requ8sts in "Action Now"letters
from
WASPHeadquarters.
Luy to all my old buddhs
at Wilmington!
ADELA
SCHARR:
M7 life resembles a soap opera serialized
into strange and unusual episodes.
My
first
birthday girt in August was a Tiolent
thunderstorm.
I thought the thunderbol.t was
coming to bed with me, but it was Hugin, 7IJ:1" huge
black German shepherd, who was firghtened
enough
to want to be protected by' me. the big coward.
Upon arising., 1 discovered that lightning
had
struck my house, plaJing havoc with the electrical syst~
exploding bricks to enter Tia t.he
upper northmfst corner of the kitchen, leaYing
an acrid smell and plaster
dust covering ~thing it coul.d, eYen inm-de t.he cabinetll.
(lot
struck a tree nearby and burnt wood covered the
entire back yard).
The telephone was 1IIJl1sabl.
for several day8 and it took a month before the
company cleared the line of wlIat.evln' calumd outrageousl;y loud static.
An elel:tri.c clock in the
dining room exploded.
Fortunateq,
the electricians repaired the wiring and the tuckpointer
repaired the brickwork. (11m still
waiting far
a contraator
to plaster
and pamt. the kit.chen.
Could do it myse-ll', but the insurance adjustor
contactsd someone agreeable to the can:pa1V).
Next day 1 took Hugin, the dog, along on my
visit
to an elderly retired
nhool-teacher
I
bring garden produce"On the way heme, 1
had to stop at eYfSr7redl.ight and Hugin became
nausea.ted all over the back seat. And that eTenin&. I bl:oke off part of a ~
Fortunately,
though my dentist was on vacation,
1 phoned a
friend of his and the tooth was filled
the n.n

morning.
lid let the OlIt-of'-doors work: get ahead.
of me becanSll I aQul.dn~ handle it. all br mysel!.. At'ter DIilm1" tritSli, final.ly had a 70ath show
up to work. He worked an boar and disappeousd.
So, kids dontt want to work these days? Negatin.
One came br a week later and was so wil.ling to wori: it. almost ld.ll.ed me to keep ahead of
hiJn, showing him how things are done my way.
After an entire WIIII11l!lr of' adventures,
(my
sister
and I tQOk an Alpine va~OIl,
not bei"ore more
t.rouble the day ...,..left.),
starting
with the "JUG"
Reunion in NewTore in Ma;T,and interrupted
by'
my attempts to per-suade politicians
that 'bhe
will of the people is justice for the WASPand
to perBl1ade people to do something about it, 1
must regret to say that my goal--"the
canpleted
first
draft of my writings is not finished.
Getting the WASPstatus changed is first
priority
and it's
what the book is about, a.n;rway
To
show what we did in hopes that legim.ators
would
feel impelled to make up far Congresnonal
neglect all these years.
So, now, itls back to
the typewriter
and .!!ll projeJlt, for that canlt
wait any longer.
Incidentally,
11m up and working at 5:00 A.M. dail;y and in bed before nine
so it's
best to write to me; I do that better
than talking.
DELPHINE
BORN:Moved to Amari1.lo fran San Francisco lWVeI'al months ago.
I met Betty Gi1.lies
in Dallas, in July, for what was too short a
time.
Despite the rigors of th8 99' s last
"Powder Puffl1eovey, she looked Dll11'Telou:sl.y
well
and overshadowed everyon8 else in the area of'
enthusiasm. and energy.
Recently, 1 lunched with
neighbor Florine Miller Watson and her daughter

Chris, who is almost as beautiful

as her mother.
Florine not. onl.r has lIwn.Ioas ideas 'in the hop-

per'

she accomplishes twice as muchas -three

other people.
One of my pet d:i:rersions has been
cOnYersing with Barbara Towne Fasken.
She has
become an interior
deeoratar and a fine one.
One thing I've managed was to get off to the
Air Foree Museumat Wright-Patterson,
the best
remB.ining parts of two WAFSuni1'orms. "Best"
or not, the pants had sma.ll holas in the seatJ
One item, after all t~
years, was missingthe 'oversealSl type cap.
If' one of you has one
and would wish to donate it to the 1IIl1S8UDl.
Please do get in touch with me.
KATHERINE
THOMPSON
RAWLS:I am on final countdown for my last year as swim:ning pro at the
Greenbrier,
White Sulphur. Springa, W.Va. Wi) 1
be retiring
on Jan 31st and to think I came up
here 21 ~arll ago for the S'llIlIll8rto open and
manaae the -.new" poo.l. Thoss were wonderful
and exaiting ~s
but I'1Il hCll1&Sick
for Fla..
and re&1l.7 looki:ng forward to JD7return-.
HAwnI \ tllotm siIn3 we sold 74 Brava 4 yeaM!
ago. These W.Va. bills are for "the births, not
old ladi4nl like me in an aged Bingle engine
Cesma.. But, 11~,
I'll find & ~lyi.ng
club to join when I gst back to the rlat lands.
Don't know what my address will. be but I can
al~s
be reached through the 5lrlmning Hall of
Fame in Ft.. Lauderdale.
If ~
WASPsget that
way I hope tl187 will look II1II up.
.
~
GILLIES: It has been & good yea:r. Last

'.

July, I took our Beech Baron in the final Powder Puff Derby, Long Beach, CA. to Tampa6
FLA. Had Gertl"Ude Lockwood as co-pilat
and
Nancy Bird Walton of Australia
as passenger.
We had a balU
While in Tampa, enjoyed a get.together with WAFSTeresa James and ~de
Tubbs, spending an entire ~""'ternoon in a Howard Johnson restaurant
hash1ng over old timesl
They both looked just great.
Barbara London
had planned to fly the Powder Puff Derby wi:th
me but had been in an auto accident and was
having problems with her back, (she 1s ok now).
Then there was the Ninety-Nines Iut'l.
Convention in San Francisco in August.
Bud and I
went over to Italy to visit
with our daughter
and her family on the 2nd of Sept.
We came
home on the 19th on a British
Airways CONCORDEll
Flying in the Concorde was a tremendous thrill
for mt:l. 23 miles per minute -Mach 2 at
58,000 ft. I FabulOt1sU And such a BEAUTIFUL
airplane!
The hostess was nonchalantly
serving cocktails
as we flew through Mach 1.
ED note:
Thanks to Betty and her stamped and
addressed "notables"
for the wonderful response
from the WAFS. Terrific
ideall11
BARBARA
DONAHUE
ROSS: It was great to go to the
Senate hearings and be part of 37 WASPsattending.
Teresa James was the high-point.
Hadn't
seen her since WiL~~ngton and she looks marvelous.
Apparently,
tlre blue mrl..form is about
to be at the Smithsonian.
Why dOl;)sn't one of
you who has a grey one offer it for Posterity?
Wouldn't it be great to have them part of the
act too?
(Delphine sent everything
'cept the overseas
cap). ED.

;
/

43-1 Secretary:

G. C. (BROWNIE)
KINDIG
17205 North 14th St.
Phoenix, AZ. 85022

BYRDHOWELL
GRANGER
has returned to teaching
after a year'~ sabbatical
during which time
she traveled
to Greece.
She spent ma.n;rlong
hours, before and after her trip,
compiling
evidence for presentation
to the House and
Senate in behalf of ot1r fight for militarization.
She is looking forward to her retirement
from teaching at the Univ. of Arizona in Jan.
Byrd has been honored by election
to the U. of
Ariz. Hall of Fame. She has su'tlnitted information for inclusion
in the forthcoming edition of WHO'
5 WnD in the World's Women. She
will be completing three other books.
Looks
as though Byrd will be more active in retirement than in teaching!
HELENPARKSHliliRY,a trainee with W-l who resigned because of a ruptured spleen, passed away
in May at her home in Georgia.
MARJORIE
GRAYmay be faced with a mandatory retirement from Grummanand, if so, plans to
travel around the country a.'1d possibly a trip
to Australia
to visit
relatives.
MARION
MACKEY
DeGREDORIO
and her husband spent
their vacation in Montreal and Quebec. Don't
believe the restaurant
business is conducive
to long vacations.

ELEANOR
BOYSEN
MORGAN
has been traveling
around
having spent some time in Washington, D.C.,
New York and Connectieut.
MARY
LOUCOLBERI'
NEALEand Ray started
flying
again and are taking refresher
courses to renew their Flight Instructors
Rating.
They have
planned a trip to Hawaii in the Spring where two
of her oldest children were born.
Mary Lou heard
that Marge McCormick passed away years ago __
wonder if any wasp in other classes who may have
known Marge can verify this?
JANE STRAUGHAN
JOINEDTHEP47 club this year and
went to their Reunion in N.Y.; and a good time
was had by all.
After t"he meeting, Marion De
Gregoria entertained
them at her restaurant
in
the Village.
Jane's husband is now retired
and
they spend most of theiT vacation at Fenwick
Island -Whoops, almost forgot --- the high
light of' the year f'or Jane was the birth of her
first
grandchild,
a boy.
MAGDA
TACKElearned that a golf course isn't
always safe -- she wrenched her kne~, wore a kne~
brace, then stepped into a pot hole and ended up
in a hospital
for surgery --- a torn cartilage.
However, she is now back on the golf course but
her game needs some Improvement, so she says.
GERRY
NYMAN
is proud to announce the birth of another grandson,
Her son Cliff has received his
full Commander'5 rating in the Navy and is flying the G-3 jet.
Gerry continues working on
two state public health boards and two county
boards.
Her vacation this past year was spent
visiting
her children and grandchildren.
Van
was very fortunate
in that he was not laid off
in the recent closing of so many copper mines.
BETTYTACKABERRY
BLAKEfinally
took time off from
her duties in real estate
to go to Honolulu to
visit
her Mother who is not well.
As for yours truly,
I worked part-t:im~ most of the
summer substituting
for legal secretarie"s
who
were on vacation.
Last week I went to Las Vegas
for a mini-vacation
and the day before I left,
my purse was stolen --- have been spending hours
on the telephone and writing letters
to stop
payments on credit cards and obtaining new identification
cards, all of which will take a
couple of weeks. Las Vegas anyone? CLARICE
B.I!;SSENT,
43-3, was indeed a big help, not only
loaning me a purse and taking me to dinner,
but
later
she and Lucky took me downtown to Western
Union to obtain money which was sent me by a
friend in Phoenix.
All in all,
it was a nightmare.
Come on 43-1s, let's
have a good showing
at the Colorado Springs Reunion next year!
43-2 Secretary:

MARION
S. BROWN

P.O. Box 797

Patterson,

La. 70392

GINI ALLEMAN
DISNEY's greeting,
"Hope you he8l"
from all 43-211, would be an answer to a class
secretary's
prayer.
She now has a new address
and telephone number, after living in the same
place for 24 years;
5904 East 46th St., Tulsa,
OK74135. Gini says, liThe mOTeunovered a few
forgotten
WASPpictures
fran tra:ini:ng at Houston, as well as assigmnent at New Castle,
Wilmington, De. Brought back a few memories and

a technical
writer for Citibank' 8 computer di"Viinspired me to write a few more letters
to Consion in Los Angeles.
Mae and I keep very busy
gress on S247 and HR3321.. Fa.l.1 activities
are
going to school, figure skating,
traveling,
and
beginning even though the temperatures
are in
visiting
my
two
daughters
and
four
grandchildren
the 90s.
I am a trustee
for our Bar Auxiliaryin San Diego.
(My other daughter is marrilld and
scholarship
fund which tries to help kids go on
in Denver, 50 we don't see each other 50 often,
to college and just had the pleasure of seeing
al though we spent a weekend in Vail skiing-toa young man receive the first
payment of a
gether in March.)
I have made five trips East
$ 1,000 grant.
Not much at today's cost, but
this year to help my 89 year old parents,
who
we feel it helps."
have had a difficult
time since my Dad broke his
BETTYEAl'JESJOINERwrites,
"Our son Mark, 24, is
hip in January.
I Jm sorry we were. unable to
in graduate school at U.C. Berkeley.
It was a
make either of the last two reun:l.ons. We even
busy summer for me. In late June I joined my
got as far as making reservations
in Reno.1l
husband in Baltilliore on a business trip..
Got
What a delight to hear from MARGARET
KERRBOYLANll
to see my good friend,
VIRGINIAYATES,43-6, in
My letter
caught her at a busy time.
She was in
Wash., D.C. She and I went to the WASPoffice
the midst of wedding arrangelllElnts for her sonat the Army - Navy Club, and joined LEE WHEELthe rehearsal
dinner and receptimn to be in
WRIGHT,43-6 and NATALIEFAHY,43-4 for lunch.
their home.. (The latter
hoated by the bride's
Natalie is running the office.
The three of us
parents who are from Pa..) There was an excellwere in Dallas together.
On July 18, I left for
ent, almost full page, story in the Washington
Worcester College, Oxford, England, where I was
Post on Margaret and the WASP. Perhaps she will
enrolled in a course in Landscape Architecture.
do a story for the Newsletter on her work with
Had a wonderful time at Oxford, a truly exciting
the FAAand her travels
with. her husband as a
learning
experienca.
I ~ve been active in supp~
diplomat.
orting the WASPcauae for militm.zation
via TV
RUTHHELMDAILEYhas been busy this past year as
newspaper articles
and speeches."
'
Communication Capt., We15ternWing, Sec 2 for
I~S CRITCHELL
is enjoying good healthe while keepthe WASPRed Alert.
Ruth says, III ha~ enjoy::.ng busy with the unique aviation
curriculum at
ed it and look forward to Reunion '78 so I can
Harv,r Mudd College.
She continues to be the
meet the girls who are names and phone numbers
faculty rep to teach all the two and three year
to me now. My husband is retired
and breeds
long aero courses, act as chief flight
instrucQuarter Horses to keep busy.
We sold our bustor for the Bates Foundation's
flight
school for
iness in Texas, and I have devoted my time to
the college,
and serves them as pilot examiner.
volunteer work ---- church and politics
on the
Being part of the college keeps her busy with
local level.
I broke my hip in May and have
student activities.
"They graduate one or two
a metal ball,
however, am walking without crutch
ex~ellent womenpilots
eVfrr'Yyear or so, most
or cane and hope to be up to my mile a day run
go~ng on to Commercial and IFR, etc.
However,
by the f~rst of. the year.
My daughter, Sidney,
,
they are all scientist
and not destined for
teaches :-n a pnvate
school in Tucson" and 1!!Y
commerCial aviation.
Three of our grads, inson Jay ~s a sophomore at Baylor Univ. in Waco,
cluding one giTl, have applied for scientist
Texas.
astronaut.".
"My husband and I enjoyeU. a superb
Clas~ 43-2 is going to have a new secretary.
In
vacation in Alaska at McKinley Park.
The highsp~te of being another one of those busy, busy,
point being a flight
around the great mountain
gals, MARTHA
WAGENSEIL
RUPLEYhas agreed to take
at close quarter. I! liMydaughter Sandie Clar is
over.
All of you that have be~ good about keepClar is Commercial and IFR rated and attended
ing in touch, get those cards and letters
to
the Ninety~Nines Convention in SFO. She is marMarty.
Those of you that never answer, at least
ried to an aerodynamicist & CFI and lives in
send a card to let her know that your address is
San Diego. II Iris
served as Chief Judge for the
correct and that YOll'Te receinng
your mail.
start of the Powder Puff Derby.
After a week of trout fishinl
in the Sierras,
KAYGOT! C~AFFEYhas been doing her part in support
MARTHA
moved to Fallbrook,
CA. She attended the
of our flght for recognition
and militarization.
P47 Republic Thunderbolt Pilat's
Assoc. Meeting
She is still
teaching dance at Humboldt State
at the St. Moritz in N.Y., May 6 - 8. There
Univ. and travelil)g
a lot during summers and
were at least eight WASPthere and the ID6Il treatholidays,..; She and her husband, Keith, went to
ed them great.
RUTHTREES and MARY
0' BRIENwere
Main Folk Dance camp and the Audubon Workshop.
there as \nJll as Prez, BEAHAYDU. RUTHFRANCKThey spent a week at Davidls Folly (East PenobLINGREYNOLDS
came down trom the farm in the
scot Bay, Maine) and two weeks on Grand Manon
Catskills
and spent a few days.
"Wewandered
I sland in the Bay of Fundy. IIGlorious birding!!",
around New York like two Jdds from the country
Kay reports.
She has taken her second class
having faD sating a lot of good food. II Martha'
physical and will start flying again after nine
continues,
"I did some skiing last winter with
years.
the S. B. Ski Club at Ban!! and Lake Louise and
MARY
TROTMAN
O'BRIENis the greate.t
when it canes
then at Taos, N. M. We really
suffered fr~
lack
to keeping in touch.
She says that she doesn't
of snow out here.
I've also begun to play tennis
have any exciting news; just golf and bridge and
this past year, and though I'm hardly past the
traveling
a bit, while maintaining two homes--Advanced Beginner Stage, I intend to keep it up
one in Conn. and one in Tequesta, Fla.
Mary
until I am a good player.
WhenDove season 0plocated MARTHA
POTTERPHILLIPS in Bar Harbor, ME.
ened, Bob Stevens and I h1mted on some ranches
JARYJOHNSON
McKAY
writes,
"I am still
wor1d:ng as

around Fallbrook,
which is very rural . We had
some fair shooting.
(Bob Stevens, the cartoonist,
writer and combat pilot,
was guest speaker
at the P 47 banquet.in
N.Y. He lives in Fallbrook, CA.) The West Coast P 47 Group will meet
at Terminal Island NAS, with space for overnighters at the Queen Mary Hotel.
The first
week in
Nov. I will leave for. Vero Beach, Fla. and from
there take a cruise to the Bahamas. II
Your poor ole, tired
sect7. is about to put away
the typewriter.
It has been terrific
making contact with'.'so mar.y great gals from 43-2.
Husband
J. D. and I are still
flying charter and instructing in Patterson,
La., deep in the heart of oil
and shrimp and Cajun country.
We hope you all
will come to see us.
In the meantime - we luv ya.
HARlONSCHORR
BROWN
43-3 Secretary:

BETTYARCHIBALD
FERNANDES
3050 Spruce Dr. Rte. 1
Hernando, Miss. 38632

ESTHERBERNER
is still
in Indianapolis
and BErTY
F:'.:R.NANDES
still
in Hernando, MS.
LOIS HAILEYis working to nenew her pilot's
license.
She visited
her son and family in Houston
recently.
ELAINEJONEShas removed her make-up, pulled back
her hair, donned old clothes and moved to ~~ui
as a golf bum.
REAMEDES
is tending a large garden.
DORASTROTHER
spent mest of the year preparing for
her appearance at the Senate hearing in May and
the House hee.ring in Sept. for WASPmilitarization.
S~e was extremely gratified
by all the
help we received in the halls of Congress, in
the Pentagon, and particularly
by the leadership
of Cel. Arnold.
She is still
in charge of the
design group in the Eng'g. Dept. of the Bell
Heliocopter HumanFactors Eng'g. and Cockpit
Arraneement.
She was banquet speaker at the
Ninety-Nines Int'l.
convention in San Francisco.
BERTHA
TRASKY
and husband spent their vacation in
Alaska where son showed them the state.
Her
gardens at home and the lake keep her busy and
happy, especially
beautiful
this time of year
with mums.
LOIS ZItER has renewed her instructors
rating,
bought a Cessna 150 and started a flight
school.
She has soloed three students and they are on
their way to Private licenses.
All this from
a to~m of )00 people.
Her husband is still
county judge.
GRETCHEN
GOID-1A.N
passed away in July after a long
bout with cancer.
She wanted to see another
spring and attend another WASPreunion in her
motor home. I hope she got to things green up,
as she said.
Ed's Note: During the winter in
conversations
with Bee Haydu, Gretchen discussed
her plans for her funeral.
She so loved her
WASPdays, that she was viewed in her uniform
and American Legion Post No. 42 gave her a
Military'Service.
She arranged for her uniform
and all her rnemorabelia to be given to our
Historian.

43-4 Secretary:.

RUTHUNDERWOOD
FLOREY
Rte. 1, Box 464
Odessa,
7976)

rx.

The Reunion in Hot Springs has got to be the

greatest..
MaDythanks to those who spent many
hours preparing for us to have all the fun.
1
you were not there, let me tell you it's
worth the
time, efort and price to make the next one. I am
giving Bucky a breathing
spell as she has had this
job for 25 years, and taking on a Travel Agenc::ysince retiring
from Braniff.
However, before her
move to Albuquerque, N. Mex., she has taken a side
trip to St. Paul's Hospital in Dallas for some
Tests.
You did a great job keeping track of us
and we give you our t-hanks and love.
KATILOFTSTREBLEis teaching part time at MiamiDade CollllIlUIlityCollege (South.) in Aerospace Dept.
She and her husband took a two week flying trip
to Alaska in their G-IB2. Fran Sargent went with
them and is also teaching at Miami-Dade.
"UZ" PEARCELUNDY
met her' husband at Pursuit
School in Brownsville.
Lived in Bdmonton, Alberta, then operated a flying school in Live Oak,
Fl...
Her husband is a Sr. Pilot for N.A.L.
Oldest daughter was Navy :ntmee. Nowmarried and
mother of only grandchild.
Youngest daughter
has .been hostess for T.W.A. for B years and is
based in Chicago.
Liz and Jim attended P-47
Convention in San Juan and are the only husband
and wife team who belong to the "Jug Clubu
MARY
ROSSOLEWISwent to graduate school at U.C.
at Berkley in Physics Dept. She and Hal met and
married at Berkley, moved to Princeton,
N.J.
where he was associated
with Institute
of Advanced Studu and Mary worked for the Computer Project there.
This Computer is now at the Smithsonian Inst.
Later, Hal. became Pro!.. of Physics
at U.V. at Berkley and Mary worked for Naval
Research and did Research at U.C. for North American Aviation.
Returned to Princeton where
she helped in MeteDrologieal Research.
In 1956,
Mary got her Inst. rating and taught P.U. students to fly.
Moved to Madison, Wise. as Hal
was Prof. at U. Of Wise. Mary taught a little
flying and did a bit of !.erryin~
Moved to
Santa Barbara in 1964.
Doing a little
199"ing,
little
flying,
and a lot of mothering too daughter who has pilots lic..., Instrmnent & Multiengine rating.
Son is still
in High School.
WILLIEJEWELLPEACOCK
KELLYlives with husband
Dick in Lake City, Fla.
Works in Personnel Service at local V.A. Hosp. and looks forward to
retiring
in 1,166 days.
Willie hopes to attend
all future reunions.
LYDIALINDNERKENNY
worked for N.S.A., G-2 and "',
state Dept. (where she served in Korea from 62
to 64) after WWll. Ran a translation
business
in Wash., D.C. for 5 years.
In 1972, she took
a job in NewYork as a management consultant
in '1l.ranslation/Publishing
Industry.
Does Volunteer work as hostess for foreign students and
the U.N. de-legates' in her spare t:iJne. Plans to
return to Wash., D.C. where-her son and daughter
live.
Took trip to Australia,
New :i.ealand and
Talbit (sp:) this part 8tllllIllor-.

Loretta Beatty, Hene Nielson, Rub7 Mullins MenFRANCES

ROHRER
SARGENT,
after marriage and three
schin&-, Viqinia. Hash and Bet.t," Hass Pfister).
children,
started back to work in Miami-Dade
MARGERY
MOORE
HALBEN
stationed in N.C. and Ga. in
Community College.
Got her Bachelor in Bus.
Tow Target Sqd. After dea eti vation returned to
Adm. and Masters degrees.
Teaches College Comm.
Roanoke, Va. and got flight
instructor
rating.
Pilot,
Air Traffic Qontrol and Aviation Adm.
Worked for Garner Aviation at Suffolk, FredProgram in the Aerospace Dept.
With Prof . rank
ericksburg and Richmond, Va. Married student
Fran added Flight Instructor
for both Airplane
pilot 2nd Lt.. Donald E. Halben, V.S.M.C. who
And Instrument to her Cert.
Was awarded the 99'8
was then sent to the Far East upon graduation.
Amelia Earhart Scholarship and used this to get
Joined him in Tsingtao, China :in 1947.
25 yrs.
her Air Transport Pilot Cert.
Also, has complater,
they went back to the Far East, this time
leted Commercial Gliders rating.
This past summer
to Japan, for Don's final tour.
While there,
she took. lessons in Hang,Gliding.
Arter trip to
Margery joined the Navy Aero Club at Atsugi.
Alaska ~th
Kati, she jo~ned friend5 on a raft
Returned to the U.S. in time t.o attend the Reno
trip down the Rio Grande.. Owns a Piper Asteek
reunion.
Don has retired
from the Marines and
for fun trips.
Active in 99'11, Air Pilots and
they live in Oceanside, Ca. Both their girls
University
Aviation Assoc., faculty advisor for
are married and the eldest has 2 children.
Collage Interc:01.1egiate flying team. and on
CONNIELLEWELLYN
HAVERTON
is a Social Service
council for National Intercollegia~
Flying
Supervisor with the Santa Barbara County Welfare
Assoc.
Has also served on Accrediation
Task
Dept.
She has been with this Dept. for 18 yrs.
Team for College Aviation Programs.
Her three
and works with Children Protective
Services,
children are married.
Her son is in G~
supervising
children in Foster' Homeswho are
and both daughters are a short distance from her
under the serviaes of the County.
Connie is
"PETE" MADISON
VANLOMwas Flight Instructor
at

flying again and plans to renew her license.

Stephens College, Columbia, Mo. and Oregon State
She is active in ~anta Barbara Chapter of 99's.
College.
Married Gerald in 1949 in Portland
Plays on Women
I s Softball
Team and learning to
Ore.
Has 5 children and works at Tektronix,'
Square Dance. Connie lives with her 17 year
Inc., manufacturers
of Oscillosco~
and related
old daughter.
instruments.
.
BETTYNAFFZI~IN
married rellow pilot at Love
JANEWAITEFLIESBACH
married Navy Pilot lIChet" in
Field.
Has 2 children.
She is a housewife and
1947. Has three:. daughters who live and work in
a "perennial
student" at Univ. of North Alabama
Calif.
All the g:l:r15 learned to fly and the
for 12 yrs.
Graduated with major in biologJ' and
youngest soloed Sail Plane at 16 and Citabres
teaching.
Active in Enviormanta1 program,
at 16.
Chet is still
flying and Jane is his
mainly anti-litter
and recently,
anti-nuclear
Navigator on the business and pleasure trips
they
power.
take.
He and his brother are having a "Swift"
"EDDIE".PEDLAR
BISHOPil!l currently
serving as Dirrebuilt
for hunting and football
trips.
Chet
ector of Child. Developnent Teacher Technician
has served 20 yrs. on the Nebraska Aero. Comm.
Program at Prentiss
Jr.. College in Miss. Serves
Jane is active in Christian
Education and a Truson State Commit.tae of Family Lire.
Pr-es. of

tee of the West Neb. Hosp.

South Miss. Transactional
Analysis Assoc. (T.A.),
GI'/ENDOLYNE
COWART
HICKERSONhas done some night
Secty. of Pinebelt Mental Health Assoc.
Jim
and Instrument instructing.
Married Jim Hickerteaches at Univ. of Southern Miss.
II Eddie II and
son in 1945 and lived in Long Island,
N.Y. and
Jim have four children.
One son is a Dentist,
Pittsburgh,
Pa. They have two ..SOn1!S,
one Cmd.
one a dental student,
one daughter with a Masters
James H. Hickerson, a P.O.W. Moved to Corpus
Degree in Career Counciling,
and another daughChristi,
Tx. in 1965 and works at Layout Artist
ter working on her Masters Degree in Geography
Instructional
Bedia Center, Corpus Christi
and Natural Rescmrces.
Has 2 grandchildren.
Ind. School Dist. She has lots of fun playing
Eddie is a member of American Univ. Women, Kappa
golf and flying.
.
Delta Gammaand Mississippi
Psychological
Assoc.
LYDADUNHAM
KEEFEhas one husband and three sons,
NANCY
BAKER
is Alaska supervisor for Field EnterPlus one daughter-in-law
and one grandchild.
Has
prises Educational Corp. in Fairbanks,
Alaska.
done some teaching,
worked as a secty. and also
She was so busy 'bobbin'
around seeing people in
a legal secty.
Quit work in June to enjoy livHot Springs she didn't fill
out a sheet for me.
ing.
Latest hobby is Belly Dancing and she
Do know she ha5 bought. a home in Fairbanks that
brought pictures
to prove it.
has in-door plumbing, electric
lights
and the
HELENSNAPPlives in Wash., D.C. Area where Ben
works.
She even brought pictures
to prove it
owns a restaurant
business.
Helen works at
and to show off her beautiful
dog and window cat.
Postal Service Hdqs. in D.C. They-have three
JEANTRENCH
BROWN
arrived late so didn~ get into
grown sons, one of them still
at home. She and
the class picture nor fill
out a sheet for me.
Ben travel when they can and see as many WASPs
She lives in Philadelphia.
as they can.
MARY
EDITHENGLEand her husband arrived in Hot
II DEDE"JOHNSON
MOORMAN
married ole Hank, a tow
Springs by Boat.. Havom't figured out how they
target boy from CampDavis, N.C. and has five
did this and we would all like an explanation.
children.
Lived in Japan for 6 yea:rs.
Came
HELENSCHAEFER
lives in San Bruno, Ca. Has recenback to Tenn., S. Carolina,
Oklahana and ended
tly retired
from the Air Force Rsserve as a Lt.
up in the Fla. Key-B.
Dede works for the U.S.
Col.
She was commander of her squadron which
Fish and Wildlife Service at National Key Deer
was composed of male pilots
and lil ole Helen.
'~ild1ife Refuge.
Busy with ecological
problema
They get together often for fun and have a great
of Gov't.
Served on W.A.C.O.A. for 3 ~ar13 (eaw

~~~e. Helen is retiring,

also, as Police Dispatcher so she .~ll have plenty of time to gad
about.
She visited with Bert Miller in Dallas
on her w~y home from Hot Springs.
Had lunch
with Alberta Head and went down to Ennis for
dinner .lith "Vi" Thompson Mason and her husband.
On her way out of Texas she stopped in Odessa to
visit .lith me for the night.
It was fun to gab
til midnight with Helen.
She went with me the
next morning to have my tooth pulled and it was
good to have her moral support.
In El Paso, she
called Nancye Lowe Crout and gave her a message
from IT.eabout not \'iriting,
attending reunions,
etc.
Nancy is teacting
school.
BERT~ULLERhas a metal business in Dallas.
They
make things to customers specification.
Hear
she is quite a good bowler.
?TJTH
FLOREY:"I'm still
plodding along as a vrife,
nether, mother-in-law,
and grandmother.
Still
~orking vrith clay and attending a few County
Fairs here and there to sell a few. Doing some
work with mentally retarded
children teaching
ceramics.
Play tennis,
golf, mowgrass, overhaul moters, fish and goof-off a lot.
I sure
hope you girls will keep me posted on your acti vi tie s. Even if you think you aren't
doing
anything, we want to hear from you so we keep in
contact.
So~e of you have never given us news,
so, come on and drop a line."
43-5 Secretary:

JILL McCORMICK
4920 N. State Rd. 43
w. Lafayette, Ind. 47906

The reunion at Hot Springs was greatl

43-5 had
l3 members there:
Anne Shields,
Betty Shea Boyd,
~arge Popell Sizemore, Dorothy Ebersbach, Helen
Porter Sheffer, Sylvia Dahmes Clayton, Yvonne Pateman, Ellen Croxton Evans, Margaret Cox Stegall,
Dora Bochanek Focht, Gayle Bevis Reed, Edna Nodisette Da'r.ls. and Jill McCormick. I. (Jill),
had
a unique experience of bathing in a special pool
located in one of the Hospitals which was especially built for Rheumatoid Arthritis
victims.
It
had a ramp with a rail for entering the pool or if
unable to walk, there was a chair lift
for entering.
The water Temp. was 980 or 430 Celsius _
what a soothing feeling!
\vant to thank Dora Focht
and her husband for transporting
me back and forth
to Hospital and Motel.
Pat Pateman and her Air
Force friend Marty Stanton had a get-to-gether
supposedly for just 43-5, but I do think that we
had some 44-5 mixed in.
However it was fun! I
flew to the convention in a Bonanza with Esther
Berner (43-3) Pilot,
Marty Wyall (44-10) Co-pilot,
Betty Nicholas (44-7) Engineer and I was Stewardess.
It was a 5 seater Bonanza and I entered the
plane thru the baggage door with much help from
the gals.
As one observed, it looked as if Betty
and I were not speaking to one another.
Betty sat
with baggage on her left
side and I sat behind her
with baggage at my right side.
Even tho we looked
uncommunicative, I was quite able to pass the refreshments forward to Bett}'" and she forwarded them
to the Crew. The trip was great both directions-beautiful
VFRto Hot Springs and IFR on-top back
to Indianapolis}
I was in super-hands.

HODGSON,
MARION
STIDEMAN-received Marion's note
too late to get in the last Newsletter.
She
said she was hoping to receive news of publication of her recently written novel? (A mystery
novel based in St.Simons Island.
Marion reported her husband Ned is now President
of First
Life.
Marion is, also, hard at work on Cookbook
#4 to be entitled
"One -Armed Cooking".
Congrats
to you both.
Marion hal' three children,
two are
married and the youngest, John, is still
at home
and known as their "Baby Dinosaur".
He' s 6' 4lr
ROCHOW,
DAWN
SEYMOUR--Dawn's
note arrived too late
for the 176 Newsletter in which she hoped to make
the Hot Springs reunion.
What happened Dawn, we
no saw you? She, apparently,
had 3 High School
Seniors graduate in June '76.
We congratulate
all of them! Dawnand her husband will be spending the wet, cold winter in Tucson on her husband' B
doctor's
orders.
Bill, their son, is selling
real estate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and
his wife Mary is Junior High ~'i.brarian.
They
have three children in college:
Sam at Clarkson
Tech, Wiz at the Univ. of Arizona, and Marge at
W.Va. Wesleyan.
Amyis a junior in High School.
"Quite a familylt.
Dawnis owner and t chief operating officerl
of RochowSwirl Mixer Company.
rEER. SHIRLEYSLADE--Shirley reported on her Xmas
card that her husband is about to retire
so they
have left Houston and gone to Rockport "the Texas
Riviera".
They have a cute house with a huge sun
deck overlooking the water.
And there is fiShing,
crabbing, and swimming at their doorstep.
What
a life,
Shirley,
I'll
be down!
WILLIAMS,VIRGINIAARCHER
says that writing letters
for the WASPBILLS has been educational
and she
has become acquainted with some of the N.E. gals
(a plus) while in Wash., D.C. She found interviewing some of our Reps a frustrating
experience.
Her year old grandson and his mother came from
England to visit.
Her son, who is in the Air
Force and flying F-4' s, has been stationed in
England for four years and has been transferred
to Las Vegas. He was going to be visiting
before
reporting
there.
Virginia has the very time consuming job of Regent of Old Concord Chapter of
the D.A.R. but enjoys it.
NUTT,MARIEANNE
BEARD
lives in Fla. where she is
working in the control tower at Witham Field,
Stuart, Fla. and loves both.
She's busy fixing
up her cottage and has her young 80 yr. old
Mother living with her.
Also preparing for the
biennial flight
review again, but does still
keep
flying a bit in spite of helping with calls and
paper work for the WASPbills.
DeGRAYIRENEFRlliD has made the permanent move to
Port'Isabel,
Tx. She has just been through the
evacuation for the impending hurricane Anita
which fortunately
went South to Mexico instead
or hitting
Port Isabel and South Padre Island.
It still
leaves them with all the unboarding and
reassembly or lawn f'urniture,
etc.
She is tbri ving on the ambient'
The shelling is great,
clear
water and law tides;
body BtU'fing is marTelou'o'i
exerci!ll!lj the t,1'CIUthave been biting like there
is no tamoIIOM; and the pelicans,
barons, egrets,
and gulls peroh on the sand bar in tront of the
house and are a constant. delight.
She sends an
invite to 8Ve17Olleto cane see her.

KARl. FRANCES
GREENwas a police IroIlI8nfor l'f~yra.
when she had to taka ear~ retir;~ment and have
cataract
operation!1 on bot.h 61'6'8. She has been
working as a Security Officer since in a large
department store.
Recently, she was almost. ~
stroyed bT a womanwhen she 8.M'"e'litedher for
stealing
$16.00 worth of stationary.
The woman
stOJllpfN
Francttst foot with a. WOC<isn soled shoe
and broke four bones in her foot so, Frances has
been getting around with a cast. on her lett leg
for a IllOntb..or more.
(1 wonder if they get HAZARDPAY). Dana, her older daughter. will graduate from eollege next year in Special Education
and has given Frances two granddaughters.
Stacie
who is 10 yrs. old and Kari who is five.
Leslie
has been going to tha nun since she graduated
from high school and is also a manager of a Gourmet Food Section in a dept. store.
Frances flew
to Galveston for a family reunil)n rls:it with her
90 yr. old Mother who st.ill lives alone. takes
care of her own house and has a good sied
gard
each year.
LINDNER.IRENEGREDORY
works for the Pres./V.P.
&
Chief Pilot (her darling husband) of Liminer AT.i.ation.
Her twenty year old Daughter Janet earned
her Private Pilots license on 8/18/17. two days
before she drove her Pinto (Dad drove a Loaded
station wagon with her belongings) to IJ..iIiiQi'i;
Univ. for her Junior year there.
The three Lindners new 747'6 to Hawaii fram Dec. Zl, '76 'to
Jan. 8, t77.
Janet worked in the bank five days
a week during the stmmeri flew, worked at the
airport~ and practi~ed and played on a women's
softball
team (The team. came out fourth in tha
State of Iowa).
She also ate, slept, dated and
helped her Momremember that "Old pilots never
die, they just fade away". Irene has talked to
all pertinent
parties
in the state of Iowa about
the WASPmilitarization.
3TORTZ,CARYL
JONESand WINWOOD,
43-7 flew to Fla.
in May. This was naryl's
rettzrn to flying after
30 years.
There they visited
old friends including Kaddy Landry ~ 43-7, and then on to Fort
Worth to visit
JOUll1Garrett,
43-6.
Caryl has
escaped from teaching [~ter 22 years.
She has
just returned from a trip to Mexico and she and
Win Woodare planning to go to Montana in Oct.
ObT.i.uusly, she is enjoying her retirement
from
teaching.
SCHAFFER,ELLENOR
KURTEN
has retired
from the Post
Office after 22 yrs.
Her feet were killing
her-three operations
on them in five years.
Her days
of high heels are over but she is walld..ng (not
dancing) and happy to be able to .get around as
well as she does.
Her husband Gt.orge is still
with the library
at La Puente High School.
In
Nov. they will be installed
6S the Worthy Matron
and Worthy Patron of East.ern Star in a chapter
which is the oldest in So. Calif.
They have done
a lot of visiting
of other chapters this past
year since George has been the Pres. of the So.
Calif. Assoc. of Associated Patrons and Ellenor
has been Recording Secty. of the Associated
~trons.
Even when they go fishing in their
camper at Calif. lakes and streams, they carry
clothes along suitable for attending meetings,
and enjoy every bit ~of it.
Ellenor hasn't flown
in five years (since her brother sold his air-

plane).
She has found that a Past Matron of an
Ill.
Chapter of Eastern Star has moved to Monrovia - - Fran Smith Tuchband of 44-2.
MUNDTROBERTA
has been working at the Courthouse
,
.
t
in Alliance, Nebr., occasion~
and tr.png
0
learn how to operate a farm since her father
died last Fall.
She has found neither to be very
lucrative
but a real challenge.
mAN, JOSEPHINE
PITZ lives in McLean, Va., and has
been working with WASPhdqs. trying to push the
VETSstatus bills.
She will be taking her two
daughter s with her next year on a two weeks sld..
trip to Austria and Switzerland.
Doesntt that
sound interesting?
RINGENBERG,
MARGARET
RAYis a member of the Silver
Wing Frat. which made a COllIIIlemorative
flight,
Aug 31 1977 marking the 50th Anniv. since the
Post Office turned the transportation
of the Air
Mail over to private
contractors.
This anniv.
was.' commemoratedby having more than 40 volunteer
members of the Fraternity
fly from N.Y. to S.F.
and from S.F. to N.Y. over the original
transcontinental
route, with each pilot flying approximately 100 miles.
Margaret's flight was 180
miles from Chicago to Bryan, Ohio. Margaret's
dossier read as follows:
Margaret J. Ringenberg:
(Mrs. Morris; - - - Soloed Nov. 21, 1940 in Piper
J-3 - - -Grandmother of Wright Brothers-Jon
and
Joey--Mother of son Michael and daughter Marsha
Wright---Indiana
99 --- WASP--- Silver Wings
Fraternity
---- Indiana Aviation Assoc. --- Nat'l.
Aeronautical Assoc. --- AOPAMember --- 3 time
winner Illinois
Race --- 1st place Indiana Race--1st in Michigan Race --- Flew 20 Powder Puff
,
Derbies (placed in top ten) --- Flew "Angel Derbylf
(International
Race) --- Flew "Air Race Classic" \
1st place (Ogden to Cheyenne) --- Pilot of Singl~,
Multi-engine Airplane --- Flight Instructor:
Instrucm.ent, Multi-engine Airplane.
THOMPSON,
MARJORIE
SANFORD
and her husband have a
twin-engined Travelaire
and belong to the Bonanza Society.
They flew with 13 other planes
of the Southwest Chapter of the society on a
ten day tour of Mexico --- Guadalajara,
Morelia,
Puerto Vallarta.
etc.
The next planned trip
is to Carlsbad Caverns.
They also use the plane
for hunting trips
and take their two German
Shorthair hunting dogs with them. The dogs
seem to enjoy the trips as JilUchas Sandy and her
husband do. Sandy has been writing letter~
to
the Congressmen on WASPMilitarization
als".
WHITE,HARRIET
URBAN
finished a stint in Bilingual Education in an elementary school with four
different
languages.
Then took off and joined
her youngest son Tan (#5) and the family where
they had been living in Quito, EcuadOI", for six
months.
She saw snow capped mountains, the
Equator, and the prlmiti:ve Marimba group Tomhad
studied with on the Ecuador coast.
They returned via Panama and Costa Rica, visiting
old Univ.
of NewMexico friends.
Now she is worldng with
Pueblo and Navajo Indians teaching English and
Adult Education which she finds fascinating
and
creative.
She taught in Las Cruces with Mexican
Univ. students and travels
qu:l..te a bit,
so is
considering trying to get her license again.
HAMMOND,
VIRGINIAWILSONstayed in general aviation with local FBOat Ann Arbor, MI. Married

in 1947 and left active participation

to raise
a family with every intention
of returning "some
beautiful
dayi'.
She made the triumphant return
with much help and encouragement of the Garden
State 99's and the NewYork Chapters of 99's
(to Quote, "The greatest
bunch ever").
She updated herself by securing her Basic and Instrument Ground Instructors
Ratings----also
took the
CFn written but that is as yet an unfinished
activity.
At this time they were living in New
Jersey and she soon had a full agenda of ground
school and aerospace/education
classes goi~ at
Paul VI High School, COIIIIIllIIlity
College, Adult
Ed. evening classes and Boy Scouts.
She attended a speci'al Aerospace Ed. summer program at
Rutgers Univ. in Trenton, EJ. Shortly thereafter
she became Pres. of NJ Aerospace Ed. Assoc. for
the purpose of promoting Aero~aee Education
throughout the state.
This was in '76 and
shortly after the first
compact and affordable
simulator was offered at the market place.
A
friend with the FAAsuggested they take a close
look at the new 'device'
and found it to be a
great "hands on motivator".
Virginia and her
husband returned to Mich. and looked forward to
some quiet flying.
She feels that flying has
become 50 very sophisticated
and pressures upon
pilots
so great and she became acutely aware of
a greater need for a more Professional
Approach
to our pilot training
techniques so has continued affiliation
with Analog Training Computers,
Inc., the NJ manufacturer of the simulator.
At
present she has been busy talking with the local
. press about the WASPveterans benefit bill,
with
much success.
HUNTER,
CELIAmoved to Washington, D.C. June 6, '77
to serve as interim (probably one year ) Executive
Director of the Wilderness Society, a national
conservation organization.
Previous to this,
she
served as the Pres. of the Council, a part-time
preoccupation,
which sh~ traded for a full-time
job.
She finds.living
in Wash., D.C. is a far
cry from a log cabin in Dogpatch, on the outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska, but it has compensations such as good theater and the fascination of being involved in an ongoing process
of govermnent.
Liabilities
include Washington'.s
hot, humid climate with its air pollution.
Says
bike riding to work is hazardous but breathing
the air daily is downright dangerous.
Celia has
managed to get back to Alaska once a month since
July, but prospects are slim from there on out.
She's met a number of D.C. area WASPs,among
them 43-5, Dodi Pitz Egan. Her partner in Camp
Denali, Ginny Hill Wood, 43-4, has guided a
backpacking trip across part of the Artic Wildlife Range this ~r.
CLAYTON,
SYLVIADAlIMES
has been named Asst. Gen.
Mgr. of IOTAEngineering, Im~. IOTAis involved in research and development oJ: Energy Saving
ballasts
for fluorescent
lights.
Some of the
ballasts
will be on test at PG&Ein S.F. soon,
also on demonstration in the governor's office
in Sacramento in a Solar Project.
Sylvia took
a trip to Iowa and Minnesota in July to attend
family reunions by both of her Mother's and
Father's
families---one
July 24th and one July

31st.
She is the proud grandmother Illf a little
girl born on Memarial. Dsy whomshe is enjoying
immensely since she lives with Sylvia's
son and
his wife in Tucson.. Her daughter and son-in-law
who are both captains in the army are in Advance
Finance School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis,
and will be going to Germany in Jan.
'78.
Sylvia and her husband are already making
plans to visit
them there.
Being Program Ohairman for the. El Sol Chapter of the Amer. Bus.
WomensAssoc. give's her a little
extra to do to
keep busy.
McCORMICK,
JIll. lost her Student Roomer at the
beginning of Spring Semester.
Consequently, she
spent the worst part of the winter by herself.
Two stray cats named ONEand TWOmoved in so she
wouldn't be alone and got along very well while
the ice and snow were on the ground;
as the
weather improved, Two chased One away so Two has
been taken over as a pet.
In May, Esther Berner,
43-3, and Jill went to NewYork City to attend
the P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Assoc. reunion.
They
opened the reunion to WASPswhether or not they
were P-47 Pilots so they could tell our story at
the business meeting and get some .300 people to
write to Congress for'us.
Our Prez, Bee Haydu,
gave an excellent talk during their business
meeting.
Upon Esther's and Jill's
arrival
on
TWAat LaGuardia Field they were met by NBC-TV
and photographed debarking from the aircraft
and all the way to the baggage pick-up.
Also
were interviewed as they drove to tile St. Moritz
Hotel.
Jill. never did get to see it on TV;
however, they did see WASPsin the bow of the
excursion boat they took around Manhattan Isle
when that was shown on TV in N.Y. City.
All
during the three day week-end events, they were
surrounded by the media and got lost of coverage
for both groups.
After the reunion , Esther and
Jill went o\:.'b to Oyster Bay, L.I. and spent five
days resting and visiting
with Lt. Col. Marge
Gray, USAFRes., Ret., and WASP43-2.
Jill
says
she has had a very dull swnmer trying to cure an
open ulcer on one of her legs. Hope it was better
by the time Jill went to Wash., D.C. for the
House Committee hearings.
Ed note:
Thanks to Jill & Syl'J:i.a Clayton for
the cooperative get-together
on their class
news. J:iJ.L is still
your Secty. (43-5).
43-6 Secretary:

JOANI\II
GARRETT
1504 Lamplighter Lane
Fort Worth, TX 76134
817-293-6796

WILSON,MAURINE
BRUNSVOLD
just returned from a
trip to Maui along \'d.th husband Flen, daughter
-20 yrs. old and son 16 yrs. old. Their fourth
trip.
Maurine haan't been flying nmch since
she flew in the Powder Puff Derby a year ago
as her son broke his leg and was on crutches
for 4 mos. and 4 trips to school daily took
most of her time.
She and her husband went to
Puerto Rico for their vacation and do lots of
boating in-between times.
WHEELWRIGHT,
LEEwent on a tour of Europe-Austria,
Hungary, Czechoslavakia, Yugoslavia & Germany.

DUES NOTICE AND MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Order of Fifinella
Membership Information
Please send carbon copy of this form

Dues Donation: $10

For: October '77 to '78
Payable to: ORDER OF FIFINELLA
Send to: Mrs. Betty Nicholas
125 West 82nd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46260

NAME

to:

Miss Ziggy Hunter

838 Havenwood
Dallas, TX 75232

Home Phone:
First

Last

Trainee Last Name

Include Area Code

Business Phone:

ADDRESS
Street or Box Number

Husband's Name
Zip Code

City
State
Seasonal or Second Home:

List months of year in

residence there:
(so we can direct mail properly)
~
1

WASP INFORMATION
Graduate

or Trainee
(class)

Instructor
Staff
Associate
_
(class)
(phase)
(title)
(explain)

If graduate, where stationed?

As signmen t(s)
Military Affiliation:

Rank & Assignment

Reserve Status

Please complete if you have not previously done so:

Present Career

Career after WASP deactivation:

Still flying? __________

Flight Occupation

IF YOU KNOW OF OTHER WASP OR ASSOCIATES WHOSE ADDRESSES NEED UPDATING,

PLEASE SEND ANY CLUES YOU HAVE TO MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN ZIGGY HUNTER SO WE
CAN CONTACT. (If you don't have current address and phone number, it will
help to have husband's name, WASP name, class number, and last known
address.) THIS APPLIES TO GRADUATES, TRAINEES, INSTRUCTORS AT AVENGER
AND ON BASES, AND AVENGER STAFF.
PLEASE
Keep either Betty or Ziggy informed of your own address or name change.

Thank you!

She has worked long and hard at WASP Hdqs. and

says it has been a marvelous time for her personally. Lee wants to add her thanks to all
those WASPs who have worked 50 tirelessly for
our cause.
JOHNSON, CAPPY-Cappy
and Lyall flew to London for
five days, then to Yugoslavia where they boarded
a cruise ship for a trip through th Greek Isles,
Athens and Istanbul. (While in Istanbul, they
met a shop-keeper who still vividly remembered
the day her busband had crash-landed his shopup B-24 there, and the people were panicked,
thinking they were being invaded.) After their
cruise they spent a week in Yugoslavia before
returning home. Cappy took a photography class
last semester at Junior College and says she
became hooked. She never goes anywhere without
her camera and does all her own developing and
printing. This summer she made several photo
forays to Carmel, the Big Sur area, the Mendocino Coast and the High Sierras and hasn't
found anything to excite her so IIlUchsince she
learned to fly, Cappy was Chairman for the No.
Calif. area for Conmunications on RED ALERT.
KOCHER, PEDeY HELBURN says they're still at same
address. No piloting, but they flew to Copenhagen, biked across Denmark, ferried to Oslo,
took trains and planes the 2000 miles North
(north of the Arctic Circle) and enjoyed the
mail boat's frequent stops in the small towns
and cities along the coast south to Bergen.
Managed a few days hiking in the mts. between
Bergen and Oslo before heading home. Not on the
ground 12 hrs. before they took off for Anchorage, another 5 hrs. of jet lag1 This was an
emergency for their second son Terry was in the
hospital, but she's happy to say he came out of
it quickly and well, and is already back at work
on one of the houses he's building. No.1 son
is doing Public Defender work in Brunswick, Ga.,
No. 3 son is going back to Columbia Business
School, after a summer working for an import
export firm. Daughter Debre will be in her
freshman year at Tufts College this year. Peg
says Eric continues at Columbia's School of
Int'l. Affairs, but expects to retire in June.
She is working full time fo~ our environment water rather than air - constituting the paid
staff for the Citizens Advisory Committee to
the NYC Area~~de Wastewater Management Planning
Program, a 2-year federally funded effort to
plan for bri~:ging waters up to the fishable,
swimmable Federal Standards. Part of the job
is editing the bimonthly Newsletter.
She hoped
to get to Col. Hal Bw1dy's EPAAF Eagle Pass
Reunion, not having gotten to any since the first
one where they all ferried planes to and from
Lock Haven.
HOORE JEAN GARLAND 'i. Husband passed away six years
ago' after 37 years of marriage.
Had one child,
son and he has four children - 2 boys, 2 girls.
Has'been living on a ~line Farm which got to be
too much for her to handle. She's in the process of selling it & moving up around Bloomsburg
(Stillwater), Pa. Has purchased a mobile home
and will let everyone know when her address
changes when the move is made.

STORY, IRMA IIBABEII- Had a fire last D&c. while

she was out of town and forced her to move out
of the old 'homestead'1 She still works for
Santa Fe Engineers, a construction company, and
travels quite a bit. Irma was a Major in the
AFR. Hoping to see everyone in Colo. Springs
in Sept., '78. Says she plotted for a year to
get a free evening in Ft. Worth to see Joann
Garrett; made it on the 7th of Sept. and no
Joann, so she (Joann) flunks hostess. Irma's
new address is 829 W. Ave. J-12, Lancaster, Ca.
9:534.
ANONSON, MOYA MITCHELL - Sent around 250 letters
to friends to send to their Congressmen & Senators on Vet status, got a local TV Sta. to give
her a cou~_e of minutes (they did this about 10
times). She had a call from Lillian Calkin", Eno
44-5 who now lives in pt. St. Lucie, Fla. uadn't
known her but hopes to see her soon. She had
been at the Senate Hearings IIFor amusement or
something, I deliver IIMeals on Wheels" for Martin
Ci~y Council for Aging - entertain a lot and try
to keep house. We're attempting to sell ours as
we've purchased a Condo nearby. Our friends
prefer to call it a ''Pandemoniumll but we feel it's
the way to go. Aroh retires-one more year-then,
we plan to do some traveling as long as our
health holds out. I was a 1st Lt. in Reserve
then resigned about 5 years later. My husband
Arch and I follow the O.P.C. (Outboard Races)
Our last trip was to Eufaula, Ala., a charming
town, (as Martha Smith Bullock always told me
during training). Had many shorter trips to
attend Races. Next comes the Fla. Air Show at
Kissimee. It is such fun to see C.A.F. of Harlingen with their many viWII planes-as well as
the many new one s. We go via van and spend 2
whole days just watching & smelling and 11m so
happy to be near airplanes. Hope to see a lot
of you gals next Fall. I can't miss this one
as Colorado was a favorite area of mine.
RANCE, HARY RUTH writes that Nelle Carmody Klein
passed away in Aug. of 1974, but the OOF was not
notified. Her hnsband Russ had written that she
died of cancer after fighting it for eleven yrs.
Mary Ruth says she's not doing anything interesting except needlepoint at the moment.
RICCI, LOLA PERKINS - Just 35 years and 3 days
after my first Cub lesson, I made it into the
Jet Age with a Learjet Rating last Nov. - a
Lear doesn't have the "feel" of flying, but it
certainly is "up-up-and-away"l
Then back to the
Travelair for a visit to Ed I S mother in NYC,
with a side flite to D.C. and a delightful tour
of the Air & Space Museum to see the WASP display. Flew up to Vancouver Island for a few
days of summer vacation after a hot, sweaty
trip to Tampa in the final Powder Puff Derby in
July-counted 22 other WASP flying aboard that
last flight, and met many more at stops enroute.
All commented about the Hearings on Militarization-now, of course, we know we're "back to the
drawing board", but interest was high. Put one
new engine in the airplane in Mar. and plan to
mount the other in Dec" so '78 should Oe a
good vacation-flying YlJar11 Attended one local
area gathering to clue us in on how Congress
was handling our case - a pleasant afternoon of

meeting many new kindred souls. If the Militarization Project did nothing else, it DID get us
fired up and re-united.
TIBBETTS, MARION - I moved over to Largo, Fla. in
Aug. '76, from Texas, and had a ball painting,
papering and learning about all the lovely flowers, etc. we have here. Then, this past May
my sister Claire and her husband came down for
a vacation & look-see at the area with thoughts
of moving down from Mass. soon. Within 36 hrs.
we had to have the services of P~a~1Bdics, etc.
and a quick run to the hospital for emergency
surgery on Claire. Seems the long continued use
of Aspirin products for Arthritis had eaten part
of her stomach. ~gery
was required to build
her a new digestive system. So, beware of Aspe:in - ~t can be fatal. we nearly lost her
tWlce & ~t was the Para-Medics who saved her
S
I

he s now doing beautifully and seems to have

a new lease on life, Frank came back to Middleboro, Mas;. & sold their house. He's retiring
Oct. 1; Claire bought a house in Largo only
4 miles from me. I drove her home to Middleboro
& arrived just before La00r Day and started to
help her pack. She gives the instruction on
what goes where, etc. and I've found muscles I'd
forgotten about since last year. Dedie came over
for a visit prior to Claire leaving the hospital.
We had long planned on her visit & I had hoped to
have a get-together of gals from the area while
she was there. J put out an SOS to Mary (Nesbit)
Hearn (44-5) and she contacted as many as she
.. could on short notice. Result was lovely lune.on at her home with 10 WASPs present. It was so
good to see Dedie again & she looked terrific as
usual.
JOHNSON, CAPPY WHITAKER has retired as your class
secretary after serving for five years in this
position. Cappy camo frOlll Calif. Herhusband
is retiring and she asked to be relieved of her
duties. She has done a fine jo'cfor a long time
and we all owe her a big vote of thanks. I learned from Cappy that each class secty. pays her own
expenses to contact class members for news and
no one minds, except that MANY 00 NOT ANSWER. I
agreed (JOANN Gi1RETT) to assume the secty's.
duties until our next meeting in Colorado Springs
in

1978.

}ARRETI', JOANN - I attended my FIRST OOF Reunion

and I'm so glad I went! IT WAS GREAT FUN. Nine
of our classmates were there---Cappy \fuittaker
Johnson, Virginia Broome Waterer, Lee Leonard
Wheelright, Irma "Babe" Story, Mi _dred McLelland
Christiansen, Evelyn Trammell, Nancy Ruth Johnson
Thorne, Irene Maglia and myself. I was "selected"
as Secty., those other eight members didn't even
vote. Please send news about yourself, your families, what you've been doing, where you have
been or are going and any other infonnation you'd
care to share. If you are no longer interested
in being contacted, PLEJ~E, take the time to drop
a note and ask to be removed from the 43-6 contact
liet.. This will reduce the work and expense of
the class secty. May I encourage you to support
your organization by paying the $10.00 yeady
dues--membership
year runs from Oct. to Oct.
Our organization badly needs your financial help:

especially with the hearings in full swing. l~ow,

let me tell you that I flunked Secty. When I received the card from our Editor on Aug. 25th
telling me the deadline for news, I was leaving
town for a 5 weeks trip so I immediately called
Betty Cross in Calil. and yelled HELPS She agreed
your letters could be sent direct to her. It's
been a lot of years but WASP-days memories are
still strong. I remember being thrown into the
Wishing Well by some of you; marching a lot of you
into a grandstand on a July 4th celebration at
Abilene, TX.; night-coaching in Morse code by
bay-mates that saved my skin; I remember the
friendships, I remember, I remember. Let's hang
together and hear from you soon. I have a suggestion---start
yourself a "dollarll piggy bank
for the reunion in Colorado Springs in '78 now!!
McANALLY, MARGARET CASTLE - I'm still teaching
4th grade at Boron, CA. My children are all involved in sky diving. My youngest is a senior
in college. After June, 1978 I'll be able to
afford another hairnet! I spoke to Congressman
WM. Ketchum about the WASP issue at our 2O-Mule
Team Days as well as my family and friends sending telegrams, letters and cards to Senators and
Congressmen.
MADDEN, ANN CRISitlELL- Life seems to become more
complicated rather than sloughing off. The
fringe benefits are so good here that seven of
the ten children continue living at home but
IIHotherll is able to do her thing too. I've become very involved with the Charismatic Movement
and love it. Am also lecturing several days a
week on the King Tut exhibit currently touring
the country and on several other art-related
topics. Hopefully one of these days I'll be
able to attend one of the reunions. They sound
really great!
SMITH, MAnNE STh"WARD Just closed escrow on my
new home in Ramona. It's an old house but I am
delighted with it. The telephone won1t be installed until Oct. 24th. After selling my home
of 26~ years at 1073 Agate, San Diego, last Maroh,
movillt.,
one whole block to 980 Agate to a rented
house where I have been camped and cramped for
almost 7 mos., it's exciting to again have a permanent home. Driving the same 30 miles to my
office, which will remain in San Diego, will be
somewhat tiring but worth it. Any WASPs getting
to Ramona--do call. My 'phone will be listed
there, too late for the CW 1 ent dixectory, of
course. Peg (MARGARET) Wissler Roberts, 43-6,
and her husband Jay, lost their beautiful home
and almost all of their be1..mgings in the Santa
Barbara fire. They were called back from a
distant island as they had just started an 18
month trip around the world. They planned to
resume their travels as soon as they took care of
the requi~ed details because of the loss.
ED: To all members of 43-6--Your
great response
was terrific and. those of you who sent your dues
to me fear not! I sent all checks on to your
Secty., Betty Nicholas, so it will be noted on
the books.

43-7 Secretary:

MARY
HELENBURKE
1700 Sea spray Apt. 2119
Houston, Texas 77008

DRUMMOND,
EMERALD
- Elnm;rcame tc- Palm Springs and
visited me for several days prior to the Powder
Puff this ye-ar. She is still
with the Fire Dept.
in the City of Los Angeles and still
goes to
Hawaii on vacations,
which now run into 6 weeks
a year.
Looks great and we had such fun visi.ting.
Maxine (Edmandson) Flcmrnoy, 43-8, of Alice, 'IX.,
was going to try to meet us in Palm Springs but
found she didn't arrive hane from Greece and
Italy until the day be.fore <fe were to leave, so
had to f'orego the trip.
Her 3 gi:r-ls are married
and Maxine is a proud grandmoi;her, too"
BURKE,MARY
HELENOnly had a few short notes
fran our class be1'"ore sending tms in.
I had
the pleasure of riding co-Pilot
in the Powder
Puff Race this yrrcI:r with Mary Jane Norris.
We
had a great time and I even passed my Medical
again.
Every year one wonders abcmi; it.
Since
the 1st of Aug., I have been working at Norris
Aviation, Inc. flight
school on Andrau Airpark,
Houston, TX.. Something to keep me busy and it
is very heartening to see how many womenare
interested
in flying.
Many young girls who are
fortunate
to have parents with money and can enjoy learning without scraping for the price of
a lesson.
43-8

Secretary:

MARGE
SLEFRIOOE
DRESBACH
1302 Walker Lane
La. Habra, Calif.
90631

JAN HATCH
DOWNER
is doing fascinating
work in aviati.on.
She's restoring
old aircrai't
and l'lans
to assist
in building "anotherU (Get thatl)
airplane next year.
Additionally,
she's done TV
documentaries and magazine publieity
on the subjact of aircraft
restoration.
As eventful as
1977 has been, imag:ine what 1978 will be like
when she starts
Calif.
compet:ttion with these
airplanes
she's restored.
EFFIE PRATTKEMPTON
has joined the ranks of us
retired
sehool teachers.
Several eye surgeries
have nece15sitated abandoning flying but, thankfully,
she still
ean drive.
She enjoys her
roles as organist for the ehurch Sunday School
and being grandmother to fourteen.
JOCELYN
MOORE
EVERNHAM
had a beautiful
trip to
England and France last spring.
An interesting
and certainly
challenging part of her work at
the library
is giving shadow shows tor chi.!dren.
JANACRAWFORD
EBERLY
has been performing hel' civic
obligation
serving jury duty tms summer, and
~one
who has done this knows it leaves little
time for other activi.ties.
She attended the
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing and
hopes to be present at the House hearings on
our behalf.
The girls in the Va., Md., D.C.
area frequently
get together- to keep their WASP
friendships
active.
Elaine Harmon, 44-9, gave
a luncheon last winter.
In the spring about
24 met at a D.C. restaurant
and they plan to continue this once or twice a year. Jana writes
that Lois MacKemlie, "the samebttbb11' gal", was

the instiga1;or of tbis idea.

.
ANDREA
SHAW
is deep in the effort-s of. gett1ng a
house blIii~ before the NUl lob.est raJ.n~ and/or
winter set"s in.
Shels doing her awn c~acti.ng,
ana as Andy sa:ys regarding building,
pred t
cry a lot.-II
Moving-in time should be
pare though" Wish we all could go to Kirkland,
soon

warmWashington for a good old-faslrl:oned house

i.ng f or Andy.
.
LOIS DOBID.N
AUCHTERLONIE
t.ook tJ.me out from her
duties as techn:i.cal editor to enjoy the beauty of
Scotland in the spring with her husband, Car~
.
I n Edinburgh , the -.;u.een
who had rel~1ve5
there.
w",s making her Jubilee official
vi.sit and t:rey
saw her 4 times in one day. Lois says she 1s
and co1 ors
lovely and the pageau ttOY 0f th e guards
.
are very :impressive.
That was spr1ng and now
in the fall it is salmon fishing in the San J~r
Islands.
(I think: salmon fishing woul~ be sa sfying-not only to the palate but catic~g
one
would give you the satisfaction
of kn~g
you
had saved it fran that long arduous tr:Lp upstream. ) One of these days Lois and Carl hope
to retire
to the great Northwest.
MAliC[A
WENZEL
MIIRERhas added another exciting
trip to her many others.
A hi.ghlight to this
latest
one was chartering
a Cessna on floats and
flying over the fjords lower than the tops of
walls and houses along the ~orth Sea.
Phi.! is
going to retire
fran the bank in Nov. so th7y've
sold their Bedford home and plan to w:LDterl.n
their new Oeean Reef hane in Fla. and summer in
Weekapaug, R.I.
Marcia called Pat Pratt Stark
after finding her listing
in the new roster.
She's still
flying and amamber of the 99'5.
DONNA
SPELLICKGLENDINNING
is another of those
whose big event of '77 is their first
grandchild.
Her husband, Bob, also retired
this year 50 they;
too are off and running.
It was Aspen in March
and' Bermuda in Sept.
(Sounds like such fun!)
Donna says she's been with "Country Gal", a Jr.
shop in Westport, for 14 yrs. and is now manager.
HELENTIUGGLUTS, the vi"Vacious, efficient
secretary
for 43-8 for so many years, is busy cleaning
quarj;z for their fireplace,
hoping to get it done
before the stone mason arrives.
Friends of
theirs have a gold mine and let them go rock
hunting where they foand some beautif'ul quartz
rock.
It's
easy to visualize
Helen and Jack
ensconsed in front of a glowing "fire this winter
enjoying the fruits
of their labor.
They, also,
are involved in comIty planning and a water project involving 7 dams in the SierraB.
As Helen
says, "It's
important, but it is also too many
meetings".
In June, Cappy and Lyall Johnson
(43-6) had a dinner for Sacto area WASP. In addition to the goodcanpany and good food, Helen
especially
enjoyed seeing the beautiful
home Cappy
and Lyall dlnti.gned and built themBel~
ELEANOR
~
OLSEN"WaS
19:i:rl:ngbi:rth-l to her first
grandchild this year.
Whenlast heard from, her
bag was packed and she was all reatiy to leave for
Conn., hoping amid all the excitement to know how
to act when the big event oeelll ed.
(They tell me
it all canes back: 1;0 yeo. -pretty quickly", Eleanor,
but I'd sure like the opportunity
to find out for
mysel..r.) She has been to Colorado Springs twice
since it wae acided
to have the '78 reunion

there and writes, "There couldn't be a more appropriate place."

LOIS NASH, one of our target towing bomber pilots
with flying experience in B-26's, B-17's, B-24's,
and B-29's, is enjoying the South this fall.
She and husband, Al, visited their two sons and
one daughter-in-law in Ga. and Ala. Next year
though, regardless of other travel plans, she's
looking forward to our Colorado reunion, and
this time she III bri,;g her golf clubs. Lois
shared a couple of marvelous newspaper articles
with me. Full page story Barrington-Gourier
Review on Nov. 11, '76 and big write-up under
'Openers' in Chicago Tribune Mag. on 7/31/77.
ELIZABETH STAVRUM LUX, fondly remembered as Buzzy,
was one of our "lost" ones who was re-discovered
in time to make it to our Hot Springs convention.
To say the least, Buzzy is busyJ Shels still
flying, attending grad school, is a docent at
the space museum, and is really excited about
painting, with special concentration on water
colors. In Aug., she had a marvelous time ,lith
her son visiting her daughter & husb~ld in Mex.
IRIS HEIL1}UiliSCHUPP, another of those we old tirr~
reuionists enjoyed reuniting with for the first
time in Hot Springs, has thumbs full in yard
work. Iris also is another of those fortunate
enough to lay claim to the title of Grandmother
and, last Christ;1.as, she and Bill had the pleassure of ha.ving all their children, the two
grandchildren and their great-grandmother for the
holidays. They, too, enjoy their sailboat and
race it with the local yacht club. In May, a
number of the WASP in her area were special
guests at the Aero Space annual conference and
luncheon at Cocoa Beach.
!'1ARGOTRECK, ,d.th husband Tom, and their two daughters spent Christmas in the Bahamas with Santa
Claus wb~ring a bathing suit, a very pleasant
and warm relief from the bitter cold they tad
in Mo. last winter. (I can vouch for that IIbitter
cold") as I saw snow in St. Joseph before our
Oct. Hot Springs get-together.)
But, in Feb.,
she found Acapulco a little too warm. She refers
to it as a IIwall to wall body place too hot for
tennis or golf after 8 A.M.". May brought her
an unwelcome visit to a K.C. hospital for a
complete hip replacement.
Grateful for the wonders of modern day surgery, she says that a!'ter
J weeks on crutches only the metal detector at
the airports know she has a large hUIIk of stainless steel in the body.
IRENE i!.lSTER~'JGLAND and her husband, with three
children on their own, also are doing a lot of
traveling.
Last winter they went to the Canary
Islands, Morocco, and Peru. The highlight of the
Peru trip was a ride up the Amazon from lquetas
to a jungle camp where they spent a few days
visiting Indian villages. They're taking a cue
from the animals, who seem to expect a hard wint-.
er, and digging in themselves for a long, hard
season. Irene says they'd love to have a~
WASPs in the area Visit them. Their home is located on Rte. 171, ! mile east of Tuftanboro
Corners.
MARGE SELFRIDGE DRESBACH says one of her greatest
pleasures this fall was receiving so many IDar-

velous letters from members of 43-8 and wishes

space would allow the opportunity to impart more
of their news to the rest of you. Marge's saddest news is the loss of her mother on Sept.. 21st.
44-1

Secretary:

JEANETTE JENJaNS
716 Second St. N.W.
New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663

MARIE MOUNTAIN CLARK reported that Mich. had lots

of snow this past winter and in Fe"., after a
beautiful day of skiing, she broke her hip. She
is still on crutches as of Sept. A few weeks
after her parents celebrated their 65th Anniv.,
her Mother passed away in August. Since then,
Marie has been spending as much time as possible
with her father. Marie, let's hope 1978 is
better for you.
IDA (Skip) CARTER's mother passed away early this
summer. Her mother was an Oklahoma '8ger , so
Skip has many antiques and mementoes to dispose
of since she and RUTH JONES will have the same
address sometime this fall. Early this summer
Skip .and Ruth came east through Ohio and traveled down the Atlantic Coast to Key West, Fla.
where Skip caught a record BIG fish. She must
await the end of the season to know if she wins
any of the prizes.
MARDO CRANE ~~ote that she attended ~~ Air Force
Officer's Assoc. convention in Calif.. She met
Jersh's husband Col. "Salty" O'Rourke who had
charge of one of the workshops.
She was pleased the WASP received good publicity and recognition. Mardo says she is still busy on several
books and wishes time would slow down.
DEBORAH DICKENS spent March and April in Calif.
attending several Artist Workshops.
This autumn
she plans a motor trip through th Smoky Mts.
It's a great place for artists and I would expect to see Debbie with a sketch book and camera.
GENE FITZPATRICK wrote about the "mini-bash" at
IKE KEALY WORDEN's home this spring with over
40 WASP attending and m~
letters from others
who couldnlt attend. Plans were discussed for
the Congressional Hearings on the WASP status.
Gen said her granddaughter arrived Dec. 24th
and weighed only 4 lb. 8 oz. and she gave he: a
log book showing she had flown 27 hrs. dual ~n
the last PPD from Calif. to Delaware.
Few glrls
can claim such a flying start.
RUTH CRAIG JONES AND SJaP CARTER came through Ohio
this Sept. enroute to New England to see the
fall foliage. They are enjoying their retirement.
NADJA GADOWSJa KOSTUK (Gadget) reports that husband Bill retired in June. They sold their
house and mov<:ldinto a condominimum at Derby, so
her address is now 176 Shagbark Drive, Derby,
Conn. 06814. They also acquired a condo at N.
Myrtle Beach, S.C. and this summer they have
been busy moving.
EMILY PORT~ KLINE had a nice surprise when
BETTY WALL ROBERTS called her in Aug. and said
she is living in Maywood, N.J. and working for
the American Cancer Society in N.Y. They got
together and went to Washin~o~
for ~he WASP
hearings. Emily and Betty Vl.slted 'Wl.thJERSH

O'ROURKE and her husband who live in the Wash.

area. Emily has passed the N.J. board and is
now a Real Estate Broker. She says she is looking forward to the next WASP Reunion.
MARTHA WILKINS ~ilTCHELL sent a new address: 2601
Airlane, Phoenix, AZ. 85034.
MARY KOTH McCABE interrupted her travels this
spring to attend the WASP get-together at IKE,
KEALY HORDEN' s home in CA. Nary says that whlle
traveling through Sweetwater she found thay are
building a bigger court house and the WASP Memorial will be moved there.
ALBERTA HUNT NICHOLSON was a member of the tour
to India in Feb. sponsored by the 99's. She
attended the 99's convention in S.F. In ~'uly
she retired and is so busy she wonders why she
didn't retire sooner.
ANNE NOGGLE is still teaching part time at the
Univ. of New Mexico. She has, again, received
a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
and is planning a trip to England, "Jales, Scotland and France in the spring to photograph the
people. She o\~ a small sailboat and sails
often on a lake near Albuquerque.
Careful Anne,
don't lose anYmore cameras in the lake.
VIRGINIA STELL O'NEILL shares a news clipping with
me from the Miami Herald. It was a very nice
write-up about WASP O'NEILL, now a real estate
broker of South Miami, and some of the other WASP
in the Miami area. Ginny was delighted to have
CAROL "/OOD OSNUN' s addre ss However, my typing
errors caused some difficulty in calling Carol,
but then sometimes the hunt is as exciting as
the find. It should be CAROL WOOD OSMUN, 1652
Highland Dr., Solano Beach, CA 92075 - Ph. 714481-9145.
Thanks Ginny. Ginny also talked to
PHYLLIS RYDER and said that it is so nice they
are in touch again after so many years.
MARY JERSHIN O'ROURKE entertained EMILY KLINE and
BETTY ROBERTS when they were in Washington for
the WASP hearings. Sounds like 44-1 was well represented at the hearings. We ALL thank you.
ANNE BARTHOLF RAWLINGS is still busy attending horse
shows and plans to attend the Grand National Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma City in Oct. She saJs
her daughter and family are now living in Dallas
and her son and his wife are stationed at Abilene.
DOLORES MEURER REED reported that GENE FITZPATRICK
is in England and when she returns they plan to
fly the Pacific Air Race in Oct. While Dolores
was in San Diego, she called CAROL WOOD OSMUN and
they look forward to a mini-reunion of 44-1 WASP
living on the West Coast. Dolores said that she
has a problem with all her hats grandmother's
bonnet, ranch hat, helmet and goggles etc. Don't
worry Dolores, I am sure you look great in all
of them.
MARJORIE EI.l..FELDT
REES says that she is still plodding along on her dissertation while two of her
children are still at home. In Fe9., she entertained the WASP in the K.C. area at her home and
they had a great time.
JANE O. ROBBINS has returned to Colorado. Her address is 1498 King Ave., Boulder, Colorado 80302.
BETTY WALL ROBERTS attended the WASP hearings in
D.C. with EMILY KLINE. Bet.ty is still working
for the American Cancer Society and does plenty
of traveling. She is our Goodwill Ambassador.

BARBARA MANCHESTER ROBINSON sent a card from Hawaii

where she and her husband vacationed this summer.
She said it was a delightful time visiting with
their grandchildren and parents.
PHYllIS RYDER spends' her summers in Wise. and winters in N. J. Since all of 44-1 Flt. 2 have been
found, wouldn't it be great if all 22 of Flt. 2
were at the next Reunion~
ANNE HOPKINS WHITE reported that she is still in
school at Arkansas Tech. Univ. and expects to get
an Accounting Degree in June. She plans to attend
the Eagle Pass reunion.
EILEEN KEALY WORDEN entertained more than 40 WASP
this spring when plans were made for the upcoming hearings in Wash. Seems warm weather certainly does attract WASP. A quick check of the
roster shows that about 1/3 of the WASP living
today are located in Calif.
PEARL BRAGG LASKA entered the Powder Puff Derby as
a co-pilot but a locked brake on take-off left
them with their wounded pride, as Pearl put it.
Pearl and her sister plan a vacation in Spain
thi s winter.
LUCY HEDGECOCK & JOANNE FULLER, we are delighted to
have found you. They live on a small ranch near
Bellingham, Wash. JoAnne lives on the ranch and
works at the Georgia Pacific Pump Mill in Bellingham operating a machine that makes flock.
Lucy lives and works in Seattle and looks forward
to retirement at the ranch. Lucy is Administrator for Comprehensive Services and works for the
State Dept. of Labor and Industries Rehabilitation Center for Injured Workers. She has a staff
that tries to help industrially injured workers
recover and hopefully. ret~-n to work. They call
their ranch "The Hardly Able Ranch" because they
were hardly able to keep the work up, and at
times could hardly make the payments. Sounds
like a delightful place.
JEAN~"TTE JENKINS, yours truly, spent the summer
vacation helping with preparations to celebrate
the 50th Anniv. of New Phil. airport now called
Harry Clever Field. John Glenn didn't make it to
the dinner, but Harry Clever's first student was
found in Fla. and he returned to be the banquet
speaker. He said that little did he realize when
he started flying 80 long ago he was making history. Almost 50 yrs. ago, he was a 19 yr. old
high school senior when he soloed the Lincoln
Page. My first flight instructors were at the
dinner and arranged for me to join the Silver
Wings. This if> a nationwide organization of
pilots who soloed more than 25 years ago.
RUTH JONES AND SKIP CARTER visited with me in Sept.
and we talked about Colorado Springs in 1978.
If you are planning your schedule for 1978, I
hope you will put Colorado Springs on your calendar. It will be so nice to see you~
44-2

Secretary:

MARY ELLEN KEIL

56 South Chesterfield
Columbus, Ohio 43209

Rd.

Clas~ 44-2 was well represented at the House of

Representatives Hearings in Washington, D.C., on
Sept. 20, '77. In attendance were: Betty LeFevre,
Margaret Ehlers Twito, Phyllis Tobias Felker, Lorraine Zilner Rodgers, Molly Barnes Hicks, and Mary

Ellen Keil. Phyllis, Lorraine, and Molly live in

mates whom I saw in D.C.
the area and have been helping "Our Cause" in many
FRAN
LARAWAY SMITH has been writing Congress rew.ys from their advantageous location; we o~ them
garding our WASP Bills, too. Also, she recently
many, many thanks for all the time and energy they
select~d and cast IlPeriod of Adjustment" by
have spent.
.
Tennesee
Williams for a Nov. Production by the
HOLLIE BfillNr:S
HICKS is inviting all the 'iiASPl.nthe
Westbury Players Group she directs. Fran had
'ih.sh.area to a luncheon in her home in Georgeher first helicopter ride over her house last
to~~ Oct. 15th, and she is including any others
fall and she said it was the loveliest flying
who h~ppen to be in Wash. at that time. ThiS.
she'd ever experienced--dream-like hovering,
Wash. group has really shown diligent legislatl.ve
gentle skimming. Fran's daughter Leslie was
efforts and generous hospitality.
married Aug. 21, '77. "We're alone at home these
PHYLLIS TOBIAS FELKiR now has her own printing busdays and may get to travel place s more," she
iness and has helped turn out some WASP Communisays. Try the Colorado Reunion next year, Fran.
cations, along with the help of her son.
1 guarantee you'll enjoy that beautiful Air
LORRAINE ZILLNiR RODGERS attended both the Senate
Force Academy---the absolutely glorious chapel,
and House Hearings, and besides her activities,
the magnificent mountains, the meadows and trees,
her husband John has spent many hours and suppand they've taken down the "for men only" sign!
lied tremendous "know-hm." in helping us with
You'll find most of us still look pretty good,
the news media etc. Many, many thanks to you,
desFite our advanced years! And we can still
John, for caring. By the way, Congresswoman
sing!
Margaret Heckler said our witnesses had the best
DORIS FUI~IAN EIC~yALD
wrote protesting that
docwnented testimony she had ever seen at a House
that the new roster has her listed as a member
Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing.
of 44-1 as well as 44-2, and that she never was.
MARGE GILBERT STZVJJutTsent me a copy of an interestCan't blame you, Doris, for wanting to be counting old docwnent, a Commendation to.All WASPs~
ed in only 44-2.
Class 44-2-C attending B-26 School l.nDodge Cl.ty,
KATE LEE HARRIS ADAMS gets around---last year a
Kansas, dated 13 April 1944. It stated that it
trip to Russia, and this year "a fabulous trip
was j,oted with great interest that on the B-26
to the Orient in April when the cherry blossoms
Procedures Course (given by Captain Grandjean)
were in full floom--too beautiful for wordsl"
the average grade of the WASPs was 77.8% while
She adds, "We still have our Piper Arrow and get
the average grade of the male students was 74.6%
to take an occasional trip in it. We hope to get
and tha.t all WASPs could well be proud of the
to N.C. and see my fa."lilythere the end of Oct."
high margin of superiority demonstrated in ~his
Kate Lee's especi&lly disappointed in those Texthe most ~nportant ground shcool course. Sl.gned
ans Ray Roberts and Olin Tegue. She wrote to
by John D. Todd, Major, Air Corps, Commandant.
all the committee members ani had man,y responses,
This copy was forwarded to WASP Hdqs. to be~ome
mostly favorable, but Teague listed objections
a part of t~~ docwnentation of the WASP achl.evesuch as'more pay than cadets while in training
ments. So, Take a bow, you 20 members of 44-2
and than a 2nd Lt. after training." (Sec'y.'s
who were in that B-26 Class at Boot Hill. Marge
Note: Not true, Mr. Teague)
and her husband Ray are both working and all
CLARICE SIDDALL BERGBMANN attended the National
seems well. Their son Mark graduated from SouthAir Race s in Cleveland on Labor Day with her
ern Illinois last Dec. (Phi Beta Kappa), attends
daughter and checked in at the WASP Booth there
Goshen College and returned this summer from a
which was organized by Mary Jones for obtaining
tri-mester in Poland. Daughter Karen is a soph.
publicity and signatures on our petition. (Over
in high school.
1700 signatures were secured.) Sid and 1 had a
BETTY leFEVRE celebrated her birthday with us in
pleasant visit. Her daughter looks so much like
Wash. the night before the hearings. She's b~sy
3id did when at Sweetwater--and the sarnenice
selling real estate, but getting ready toretl.re,
smile. Bee Haydu and husband Joe drove all the
and she's still an active pilot. She and her
way from New Jersey to help out at the booth!
daughter had an interesting flying vacation toMARY ELLEN KE1L has been serving as Communications
gether last swnmer to Martha's Vineyard. They
Capt. for Ohio, Mich., and Ind. in the WASP
saw ANNE BERRY LESNIKOWSKI while there and had a
struggle for recognition. She, also, helped out
nice visit with her.
at the WASP Booth at the Nat'l. Air Races. Hav~~RGhRET EHLEnS TWITO completed her Commercial reing attended both the House and Senate Hearings
quall.fication last year ~th her form~r Sweetin Wash., she found it a very educational experwater instructor, Fred Brl.esse. She l.Snow ~rkience to see our national govt. at work, and a
ing on her instrwnent rating. Husband Wayne l.~
very heart-warming experience to see the spirit
a Northwest Airlines pilot, and they're plannl.ng
and ability of WASPs in action and to learn more
about the histD~y of the WASP Mary Ellen has
to do some flying together after he retires in
retired from teaching as of June and is hoping
1980. Margaret flew by airline out to Los ~gfor a time of contemplation before asking "What's
eles after the Hearings and, while there trl.ed
next?".
again to locate Kay Cleverly, without any luck:
MARY SAU~DKRS WILLSON, combining city and farm ll.fe, RUTH WOODS shared a bit of her Naturels retreat on
the shores of Ceda~ Creek Lake near Mabank, Tx.,
writes she can't get away on vacations or anywith the Dallas/Fort Worth WASP in Oct. She and
thing else but she has written her S.C. Sen"Little Mama" Woods and friend, Betty Matz, are
ator~ and Representatives regarding 5-247 and
moving permanently to their beautiful l.akeside
H-3321, and sent mail-0-grams.
She asked to
home at 143 Robin Hood Way, Mabank, TX 75147.
send her regards to all o\u" "old" (quote) class-.

She would like all her friends to note the new

address. VIOLA (THOMPSON) MASON, 43-4, has become a permanent asset to this Dal/FW group and
joined the open-air "fishing, eating and chatting" Woods get-together hosted by thE:Woods-Matz
trio. DOROTHY HAWK, administrative assistant to
Jacqueline Cochran, in those early class days,
got her first personal intr~duction to what a
fun-group this is. MARlE (MUCCIE) GENARO, 43-2,
found that daily ter~is exercise didn't quite
condition her arm for fishi~Z and casting but
decided she waJ going to have to get more practice. FRANCES (GIMliLE)McADAMS, 44-10, and
H~bby ~o~'1ie (or Mac a::;we know him), showed up
Wlth flshlng tackle and a luscious cake dessert
properly inscribed with WASP insignia on top.
ZIGGY HUNTER, WASP Flight Instructor, completed
the group. Mac, the only D,e.n, was a welcome
addition to the group, and shared his fishing
expertise with Marie and Ziggy.
44-3 Secretary:

NARGAllliTCHAMBERLAIN TiIl'IPLIN
4727 East Cambridge Ave.
Phoenix, Arizona 85008

JUNE BRAUN BENT stated she and husband John are

still quite active in Gliders and that she had
soloed . T~ey recently made a trip to Washington to VlSlt the Aero Space Nuseum which she
reports is a ~ruST.
ANN BRCTH~R..,)
FlUNK is busy with three jobs --_
teaching school, professional music job on the
weekends and helping her husband run a restaurant in the new cOrnnulnityof Pueblo West, Colo.
She reports "I squeeze in a little time with an
adorable granda~ghter I hope I can teach to fly
some day as I dllJ her Dad." Ann plans on attending the '78 reunion and hopes more of our class
will be there.
LOIS BHlSTOL has been located. After a couple of
t~lephone calls I found her in Pomona, CA. Her
flrst husband, Bert Rice, passed away 12 years
ago and she is now Nrs. Herbert Young. She has
four grown sons and promised to send me a rundown of.her activities of recent years, but as
of now lt has not arrived.
V.&'tGIEBRYANT BUCHELE is another I had hoped to
hear from. I telephoned her while visiting
nearby in Oklahoma last year. Her husband was
Mayor of Caneyville, Kansas and they were active
~n ran7hing ~hey had done a lot of travelling,
lncludlng a vrlp to Australia to visit a daughter
there. They have an~ther daughter also.
GLORIA DiVO~ SCHWAGrR wrot~ they were getting the
fringes of Hurricane Babe. She and husband Hank
made a trip to France to visit their son Chris
who teaches just outside Paris. They loved
France~ Ge~many and Holland, having cruised up
the Rhln7 lnto Holland. They were impressed by
the Amerlcan Base at Heidleberg - to quote "Boy,
do they have the planes over therel - it is HUGE".
Margaret Harper Watson (44-1) and husband Elmer
had joined Gloria and Hank for the celebration
of their 20th anniversary and Gloria said they
had a ball.
STAHLEY G~ONA reports a full busy life. She still
has one son at home who is studying dentistry.
Two other sons and a daughter live nearby with

10 grandchildren. Starley made a l.Bngthy trip

to Washington, N.Y. and Chicago and also reports
the Aero Space Center a marvel. She is now back
at work in Orthodontistry but finds time to play
tennis, water ski and take care of a wayward
pony and Appalousa mare and two cats. Her Dad
of 82 years has been with her for several mos.
and Starley says he wants to go - go - go. She
thinks this is better than lus being flat on his
back though she's afraid she'll get on hers.
Can't believe it, however, as she sent a snapshot with one of her SOIlS- she looked younger
than he. Starley plans to make the next reunion.
BETTY JANE HANSON EllENBERG, in spite of to!"n ten~ns in her hand, wrote to say she hopes to make
the '78 reunion. Her oldest son, Bill, is with
Flight Maintenance for Bell Helicopters, Inc. in
Iran. No. 2 son is a commercial deep sea diver
and her youngest son, who acted as her co-pilot
when she had a mooney, is building fish houses.
Her daughter is in Fla. with the Navy Reserve.
Betty reports having heard from Shirley Haugan
Wunsch, who with her husband Bob, was spending
the summer in Norway.
CECILY ELHES CRA'viFORDis another grandmother
having one grandson, age 1. She is going to
school two nights a week to qualify for Real
Estate Broker licensing having been a salesman
for the last few years. And, in New York City
no less. She also has been busy writing letters
on the militarization.
ANN DAHR'S new book, "Cleared for Landing", is
coming out in the spring with Dryad Press. A
long part of the title poem is quoted in F. Lee
Bailey's book on flying safety "Cleared for the
Approach". She's doing a collection of her work
(reading it herself on cassettes) for the Watershed Foundation called "High Dark". For those
in her area, she has a radio program on WAMU
Washington at 11:30 A.M. This past June and
July, she taught for the American Wind Symphony
Arts program in the Pittsburgh area and the past
winter and spring did several productions of
Poetry and Dance (choreographed to her work) at
the Washington Project of the Arts and the surrounding areas. She's managed to work on our
militarization and had just received a call from
h~r representative to have pictures taken with
him and other WASPs in the area. She, also,
mentions a l! yr. old grandson who is a "DOlJ..".
"JAKE" JACOMINI JESCHIEN sent a wonderful clipping
re the Powder Puff Derby. Last April her husband
suggested she enter. Daughter Ann said "me too"
and likewise did step-daughter Jody. Though
neither had a license they broke records and obtained their private just in time to make the
deadline and become the only mother and twodaughter team in the race. Jake and her daughters wore the WASP T-shirt and were met at Dallas,
Shreveport and Miami by other WASPs. By this
time said they were getting too big for their
hats to fit. Jake was tremendously impressed
by the organization and planning which had gone
into the race. Jake and husband Bruce went to
Alaska and enjoyed a cruise ship up the Inland
Passage. They visited a younger daughter in
Anchorage for the summer and Jake also flew a
float plane while there. She reported millions

of lakes with landing available anywhere. Hope

we can hear more from you at the reunion, Jake.
JULIE J.e;NNERSTEGE was on TV Channel 7 (ABC) for
the WASPs. She had an interview combined with
old pictures and a film clip to make a five minute segment on the news broadcast. She reported
the highlight of her year as being the fun of
doing the "Follies" in Milwaukee for 2500 people
nightly during the summer. An enclosed clipping
from the Milwaukee Sentinel had great things to
say a.bout the show which concerns show people,
veteran showgirls who return to their old theater
for a reunion during which old theatrical ghosts
are unleashed. Quoting from the article "The
audience was really turned on by .Julie Jenner's
tap dance " Julie is now back in Real Estate
but planned to attend the House Hearings in Sept.
in Washington.
CLARA JO MAHSH STEMBER attended the Senate hearings
in May and said Dora Strother's testimony really
made her proud to be alive. She is Assistant
Prof. of Art Therapy at the College of New Rochelle in New York, and has been consultant art
therapist on several child abuse programs. She
is working on her Doctorate in Art Therapy/Curriculum D~veloprr.entfor Higher Education. She
reports minor grumbling at geriatric doctoral
candidates and is giving thought to joining the
grey panthers. She has a son here in Phoenix 50
hope we will hear from you on your next trip this
way.
IShBi'LLE !'IicCRAE
HALE reports a joyous year outside
of some illness in the family. She and Bob, her
husband, toured India and Nepal with members of
the Ninety-Nines in Feb. and March. She said it
was one of the greatest trips she had ever taken.
She is an Honorary Life Member of the Indian Women Pilot's Assoc. and they entertained them royally. It'll probably be repeated in 1979 80 if
anyone is interested let Isabelle know. Bob and
Isabelle also flew their Comanche back to Nebraska
for a family reunion in Aug., enjoying unusually
cool weather and lots of rain. In July, they had
their six children and grancchildxen (14) all
home. Seven could not make it - - As Isabelle
reported, these belong to Bob, to me and to us.
She plans to retire next year and looking forward
to our reunion.
P1TA hljRPHY hISCHl'lliYER,
who we all knew as "Eddie"
reports nothing newsworthy except for basking
in the limelight of 6 daughters and 2 sons and
10 grandchildren.
One son having just graduated from Annapolis and a daughter presently in
the Physicians Assistants program at So. W.
Medical School in Dallas. She has been helping
with the WASP Militarization and getting together with the other 'rjASPsin the Dallas in
the Dallas area. She reported having seen
Hazel Sue Righter off on the plane to visit a
daughter in Tucson, Az.
"SISSIEII SIEBilt I do appreciate having your card
even though you say there's nothing exciting to
report from Oklahoma City. Hope you can make
our reunion and will be looking forward to seeing you then.
.
KRIS SWAN LENT could not make the Hot Springs reunion as a sister dying of cancer needed her at
home. She and &oily Chapin 0.4-10) made the

House hearings where she said she found that

wonderful spirit which has linked us all so
closely together. Kris reports a full life:
filled with volunteer work, gardening, bible
study, badminton, tennis and the church. She
has four children and three grandchildren all
living nearby with exception of one son in Redondo Beach, Ca. She , particularly, reque sts
information. about Bettie Scott (her baymate),
how she died and where she was stationed. Also,
says the welcome mat is always out should anyone be in the NYC area.
MARY WATERS HOLDEN has been busy as Co-Capt. in
northern Calif. with Cappy Johnson of Sacto.
Mary reports her life is a very happy one with
much time being spent with her husband Bob on
their boat in Sausalito. They have sailed her
to British Columbia and Baja, Mexico. They're
now building their dream house up in the hills
of Woodside, Ca. She recently met WASPs Dorothy
Davies of S.F. and Kay (Gott) Chaffey of Eureka
and hopes to make the reunion next reunion.
MERlEM ROBY ANDERSON says she will long remember
Hot Springs due to the many difficulties of getting home which started with having Ruth Shafer
Fleisher's airline ticket instead of her own.
She has had a couple of discs removed from her
baok and thinking of having a zipper put in since
she also had double fusions four years ago to the
day. Two Great Danes who are trying to prove
they are lap dogs have been added to their collection. Due to lack of help they have had to
sell 20 head of horses but says their Buffalo,
Beefalo and Cattlelo are doing fine. Roby made
the 99 convention where Ann Tucker Dula joined
her for a fun time. She's looking forward to
seeing us in Colorado Springs.
RUTH SHAFER FLEISHER stopped to see the WASP hdqs.
while on vacation in Washington and said the girls
were working "like dogs". She spent a couple of
days at the Air and Space Museum and reported it
wonderful. She I5 involved with the 99's and
flying some with Homestead Military Aero Club.
Ruth is planning on a round the world tour to
the 99 convention in Australia next year and,
of course, our reunion in Colorado.
BERYL ~iENS PASCHICH was at Hot Springs. At that
time she was in the construction business with
her son and getting ready to move into a new
home of Adobe construction in which they are
specializing. Had hoped to hear from her and,
also, MARY HELEN CRANE CHAPMAN who was going to
Russia last Dec., and VIVIAN GILCHRIST NEMHAUSER
who had bought some land in Vermont and was looking forward to getting her feet on the ground
after having been in New York City for 50 many
years. Maybe they'll all make Colorado City.
For my part, the year has been a quiet one. Enjoyed working on the militarization and meeting 50
many girls from other classes. It's wonderful
to find the bond of some )0 yrs. ago still exists.
Had a great evening with ALYCE ST~VENS ROHRER &
Jim while in Pasadena last spring. We were at
Perrin Field together. Talked with PAT PATTERSON
WELCH who seems to keep busy with volunteer work
at a local hospital and with our militarization
work. MARCELLA FRIED LUCIER lives not too far

away in Alpine. I talked with her last year.

She has children nearby and I had hoped would
call when in town, or down this way. Looking
forward to the reunion & hope as many as possible can come.

44-4 Secretary:

JEAN McCART
8678 Franklin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
21]-650-5586 (b) 274-8931

Our Class had a good turnout for the reunion:

17 came, of those, 2 were non-g~ads and 2 graduated with 44-5. Dorothy (Britt) Mann wrote a
nice note prior to the reunion and followed it up
by being there!
FRANCES (STANDEF~H) ACKER wrote that she couldn't
attend but brought u;, up to date, including her
thrilling ride aboard the Goodyear Blimp at a
Rotary Club Fly-in!
HARYBElLE (LYALL) ARDUENGA tells us she's been an
Air Force wife until retirement in 1968, stationed in France, Germany, Africa and Turkey. Her
husband now is entering politics.
We all enjoyed seeing BOBBIE (LEE) MOHRMANN and
LUCIlLE DINGLEY (non-grads) again after so many
years.
DELLA (GRf~~NG) TESSAW sent us a snapshot of herself and pooch and a nice letter, then surprised
us by attending the reunion. Della said she was
pleased to learn that OOF is not just another
social club and regrets not having participated
sooner!
FLORAB~
(S~ilTH) REECE didn't make it to Hot
Springs in time for our class picture but she
was ther and looking just great!
MARY HAGNEH GUTHRIE has been located, at long last,
and in time for the new directory, so that leaves
DOROTHY ALLEN, BETTY HAYES, JO ANN PARRY, ANN
UFER AND SUSIE WINSTON. So let's make an allout effort to find these gals. If you have any
leads at all, contact Ziggy Hunter or me.
ED note: Called Jean by phone and found she was
in the hospital, having just had gall bladder
surgery. Hope, by nOH, you're fully recuperated
or well on the way Jean.
Class Picture Identification from last Newsletter
as follows: 1 to r back row: Meriem (Roby) Anderson,
Ruth (Shafer) Fleisher, Jane (Dunbar) Tedeschi,
Lucille Dingley (non-grad), Della (Gremling) Tessaw,
Bobbie (Lee) Hohrman (non-grad), Peggy (Parker)
Eccles, Kay D'Arezzo, Florine (Phillips) Scaife.
1 to r front row: Jean HcCart, Marybelle (Lyall)
Arduengo, Doris Tanner, Mary (Burch) Nirmeier graduated with 44-5, Millie (Davidson) Dalrymple,
Jeanette Kapus, Dollie Sexton (graduated with 44-5),
Dorothy (Britt) Mann.

44-5 Secretary:

LORRAINE NELSON BArN

3161 Flowerdale Lane
Dallas, TX 75229

214-358-0325
Ed. note: Did not receive ~~y news of 44-5.
If news was sent I am sorry but I did not receive it. If not, perhaps because 50 many were
involved in D.C. hearings. Give us a big spot
of news for the summer Newsletter. OK?

44-6 Secretary:

BEVERLY BEESEMYER
Rte. 3
Grove, Okla. 74344

A big thanks to Gen North }L.hlbacher and Betty

Williams for their help in contacting you all and
getting together this 44-6 class news. Next, a
real cheer for our Patricia Collins Hughes of
Stars and Stripes who has kept us all up to date
and enlightened lots of us as to what the WASP's
did in WWII. Now, on with the news.
GIlMER, LAURA (RUTLEDGE): Been very busy helping
the horse crowd put on a four day horse show,
and her son says she's a horne bound gal, hard
to believe.
GENEVIEVE LEE SINKLER isn't well, has had double
ma3tectomy and receiving chemotherapy.
Howzabout a get well card or note to cheer her up?
WOODS, JUSTINE (FLETCHER): Busy, busy, enlarging
her home in Aspen, Colo. and will be at the
Colo. get-together.
Has had a visitor already
Milly Taylor Marshall of 44-5. Justine says t~
come see her now.
SMITH, BARRY (VINCENT): Not much to tell but since
Reno has been on some great trips Egypt
Spain, Portugal, India, and Nepal, plus a few
vi~its to family in Calif. and Fla. To top
t~~s off, she took an eight day horse back trip,
~t~ seven others, in July out of Cody, Wyo. and
up ~nto Yellowstone and Shononi Not Parts, reporting that the scenery is breath-taking and
well worth it. Her 18 yr. old son has his private license now and going for his cornm. license
at Vincennes Univ. Her daughter, Carolyn,
married a year ago to a Marine Corp Heli~opter
pilot, and Barb, the other daughter, is a senior
at Indiana U. in nursing school and spent the
summer as a wrangler at a dude ranch in Colo.
The oldest boy has three lovely grandchildren
for Barry to keep busy with.
PEDERSON, lvlARIE: My, what a busy time of year
this is, like schedules due, objectives due,
health cards due, etc., keeping her burning the
midnight oil. "PETE" has 51 little ones this
year and says they are all as delightful as
ever five little black boys in the Al-lclass
really keep things lively! Like when Tarvella
took Ton's truck, Tony informed him - "Say boy,
you better ask Jesus to forgive you, 'cause what
you done he shore don't like". As for Pete, her
free time is spent painting. Not one room at a
time mind you, no! , the whole thing at once.
WeIll Can you picture what confusion, and to
top off the confusion and mess, her mother came
visit. All worked out well for Pete as Mother
pitched in and made things risht with her marvelous sense of humor, thank goodness!!
McDA~~m, MARY (REINEBERG): Engaged to be married.
He s a gentleman whom she met 34 yrs. ago when
stationed in Naples, Italy, and he was Troop
Movements officer. They dated off and on whenever he was in the area, and has kept in touch
with Xmas cards, exchange of news about their
~hildren,etc. Whenever business brought him
~nto the city where we lived, held visit. In
Dec., he lost his wife and May he came back into
Mary's life. No date set, but planning to be

in Colo. Springs n<,;xtyear. Having both resided

in Denver, it will be a double barrelled gettogether. By the way, what do you think Mary
plar.s ~o wear fer a Halloween party?----- Yep,
that "n'+ "-"'lirt"
W:1i.S, E:'RY- (~,TlCK): From me a great big hug
for that op'm letter to Rep. Olin E. Teague of
Texas. lf you missed it, go back to the Stars
and Stripes, Sept. 8th issue; a must to read.
Sep~. 20t.h, Hary and JinlllYreturned from a week
in San Diego, golfing, sailing and having a ball.
Golfing .it!.:' s at Torry Pines, and others, then
afternoon, sailing and in the speedy catamarans,
a swim in the ocean, then thE' pool, then Jacusi.
Dinner on Tacos from a Taco factory across the
street & peaches for breakfast. A busy week.
Mary saY6~ '~t ~~ we have kept mighty busy;
BUCl\"YRlCH"rllJS, 43-4, runs a travel agency there
and flew back to the Ser,ute Committee meeting
and fcund it ouite interesting--the
way the
SenE.tor~ t.ore'dc~m the gal who the Prebident
assigned to over throw us. She said she spent
8 hrs. a day for a whole week investigating.
Now rea-a-lly. l1ar'yhas been in contact with
four congressmen from N. M. constantly} both
Senatore Domencici and Schmidt are Co-sponsorthe Senate bill. Schmidt was the first civilian to l~~d on the moon. She has lots more to
tell at Colorado Springs, so be there. Mary
had a mini-reunion with Lorraine Lasswell, Ola
Rexroat, Harriet Urban White, Mary Waters, and
Ann Noggle. They had a ball.
Mary didn't
enter the fair this year, said they wouldn't
mail the ribbons out, the traffic was terrible
~nd her roses were sick.
Br~SE}a~R,B~~ERLY: Have joined the CB mass or
mess and call myself "The HASP", not original,
but what else? Attending Arts and Craft shows,
selling a few things, getting a few commissions,
boati:1g, wri':.ingSenators, Congressmen, friends,
and aoing what one does when retired, nothingl
p;:;r.RJ N, .';V i'1.YN(McNULTY) : F or tho se who haven't
heard from Eve in years, she was stationed at
GrQnd Tsl~nd, Nebr. (2nd Air Force) flying
B-17's, 25's and 26's. Trips to Cuba and Puerto
R.i~(). After deactivation ferried ancient aircr~ft for the Reconstruction Finance Corp.
Boughtl80 acres in i'Jausau,Wise. and built an
aiJ'Dort. Taught (G.l. Bill), had charter trips,
et0~ Ended up h~th about 8,000 hours and all
licenses a.ir and ground, except ATC. Didn't
think she could live without flying, but is
doing very well living in Naples, playing
golf and tennis.
LMHY, llli:NE(McCONIHAY): "I have said it all when
I say I work as a secretary and play golf on
weekends. I enjoy what I'm doing, but it would
hardly fill a paragraph. II
lllilCH,SYLVIA (KII...LER):
"I'm still in the real
estate business in Vermont. We have just bought
a small complex of buildings and are having it
remodeled into stores, apartments and offices.
If anyone gets to the Mt. Snow Ski area or So.
Verwont area, give me a call at 802-464-5006.
HENNE, B.i':.TTE
(PHlLUPS): "Architecture has been
going ereat guns since Jan. and I have been busy
'pushing the pencil'. We do mostly residential

work and from the size and cost of building you

wonder where all the money comes from. Going to
visit Kay Portzline Anderson (44-6) on Catalina
Island the end of Sept. Maybe I'll regret this}
Here's an open invitation for any 44-6's to come
to Fla.. Have a guest room which is vacant most
of the time."
DAU."Y, EDITH (CRAGIN):
"I've been pretty involved with just family lately. Was deep in real
estate for some years until about 2 years ago.
Found it fascinating and demanding of time.
Weekends and evenings as well as days. A rewarding profession. Through the years have been
in some kind of sales contact with people - sales
r8p. or women's sales ~~.
In the long run,
family always seemed to come first, so these
periods were always interrupted. Have gotten
my letters & petitions off to Wash., hoping they
will do their bit in adding to a successfUl completion of the WASP effort to become militarized.
RAUSCH, GENEVIEVE (LANDMAN): "Hal I moved to Fla.
and one of the plusses (there are no minuses) I'va met up with a bunch of WASP s. All very sociable and great gals. Frankie Bretherick of
44-6 is the mainstay. But, there is Mary Nesbitt, same class, who had us to her lovely St.
Petersburg home where we had lunch with everlovin' guess who - D.D. I play golf a little,
swim in the Gulf less than that. Throw a line
for fish once in a while, but wouldn't be surprised if I found a job soon. Venice has more
flying than I've ever seen; young WOmaI1 across
the hall from me has jost managed her private
license. That do bring back memories."
MORAN, PAT (HOPKINS): III've done a lot of things
since 1944. At the moment, I'm the mother of
two grown daughters (and the wife of my original
husband). My present, and for some time past,
occupation is Instructor in English at Syracuse
Univ. I haven't done any flying for years, but
I recently tried soaring. It's so good to be
in touch with WASPs after all these years.
Until recently I didn't know about reunions or
anything."
NELSON, LOIS (THOMPSON). "My job, as the Executive Director, of the Downtown Norfolk Assoc.
continues to be very active. This is city is
in the middle of a great deal of BUILDING activity. We finished a mall in the retail area
in '76 and a new federal building is being constructed on the southern tip of the mall. We
begin a $100,000,000 waterfront housing program
in Nov. I purchased an historic house in the
restoration area of downtoYn. Old - 1898, three
stories - brick. All the high ceilings anyone
could hope for all the off-size window5 you find
in your worst dreams. Seven fire places. Onehalf block from the Chrysler Museum and walking
distance to my office. In March, I went to D.C.
for a meeting of the Nat'l. League of Cities
and the Intl. Downtown Executives Assoc.(I'm an
officer in IDEA). Had a chance to talk with the
people who are working so hard in our behalf.
Came back and got the full endorsement of our
Representative (2nd Dist. VA) G. Wm. Whitehurst.
He's on the Armed Services Committee - and a
good f~lend to our cause. This. spring 1 took.
over the chair of the Urban Ass~stance Incent~ve

Fund Committee for Va. Replaced the long term

chairman, Dr. Weldon Cooper, who also is retiring as the Dean of the Dept. of Govt. at the
U. of Va. Takes care of what 1 call my IIspare
timell - also means quite a bit of travel to
Richmond. Finished a stint as a member of the
Nat'l. Board of the American Adv. Federation
this spring. Very interesting.
Especially the
session at the White House; both the Ford and
Carter administrations are interested in the
aspect of IItruth in adverlisingll and are going
to the professionals.
Keep very active in the
cOll'.munity
aGove and l:eyond what is called for in
my job. On the boards of several organizations
and advisor to the Inst. of Management at Old
Dominion Univ.1I
BllliTHJiliICK,
FRANK1~ (LOVVOfu'l). 11 1 was Flower
Show Chairman of our Garden Club and put on a
beautiful and profitable show in March. Worked
on it for a year. In Jan. got news 1 was Regional Chairman to contact WASPs for militarization bill. Have written and called all known
WASPs in North and South Carolina, Ga. and Fla.
several tiI:leS- at least five. Every time 1
received a call or news from Bee Haydu - more
calls and letters. It's been quite a chore.
Never found more than J WASPs out of 15 at home,
so wrote letters. Wrote to all Senators & Reps.
on the Veterans Affairs Comnittees; sent a few
Mail-o-grams.
One thing this bill has done is
get the WASPs together and also let the public
know what a raw deal we got frem Congress. Also,
lets the younger generation know we existed.
Had good write-ups in Sarasota, Tampa and St.
Petersburg re the WASP in this area. IIIn the addresses Bee sent me was Eve McNulty Perrin, 44-6.
1 called her and was she surprised! Said she
wanted to go to the reunion but didn I t know anyone who was going. Next year should be a great
reunion. 11 In Jan. had a lunch with Roddy Rodriques McI.ean from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Then, we sat
in the car and talked until 7:00 (old WASPs just
never shut up). In March, Marilyn Miller Saunders & Joan Hichaels Lemley drove to Sarasota and
the next day we all drove to Naples to see Eve.
We were all bay mates in training. 1 wrote to
Irene McConihay Leahy to hop a plane and come
down but haven't heard anything from her. She
and Audrey Haxwell Ducote were our other two bay
mates hen we graduated.
Traced Audrey through
the retired officers section in San Antonio.
She is divorced and lives in Las Vegas. Teaches high school. 1 called her in Vegas and she
came to visit me in July for two weeks. In
June, 1 was hospitalized with Crohns disease
(similar to ulcerative colitis).
PAUL, ANITA (SISTER TEllliSA). IIWorked in D.C.
after that fateful Dec. 20th and ended up as
secretary to Cardinal O'Boyle, (then Archbishop
O'Boyle).
IIThen 1 decided the greatest thing
1 could do would be to give my life for people,
so 1 entered the cloistered monastery of Carmel
in Boston in 1951, thinking I'd never again
wave at a cloud! Well, in 1957 1 was sent to
Korea to our monastery there, so I flew the old
prop TWA way (21 hours non-stop from Anchorage
to Tokyol). 1 was there two years and transferred to our Carmel in Tokyo in '59. I was

sent to Kenya in '68, then to a Carmel in the

French West Indies on the island of Guadeloupe
(where, I'll have you know, they have a footprint monument at St. Marie where Christopher
Columbus set foot on his way here) in '71.
Finally, 1 was sent here to Maryland to reactivate the site of our first Carmel in the USA
dating back to 1790 and abandoned in 1831. So,
for one 'lihothought she'd never set foot on a
plane again, as a cloistered nun 1 literally
flew around the world. We have a very beautiful though austere life. Any of you with IItourist tendenciesll - we do have the two extant
1790 buildings outside the enclosure and 1 would
probably be able to find a minute to say hello .
at the turn building.
IlLove and prayersll
SINKLER, GEN.I!.'V1EVE
(u:E). IIHave been living in
Delray Beach for five years and love it.. Played a lot of tennis and golf until 1 had another
attack of cancer - it returned due to my 2nd
mastectomy in '75. I had a tumor eating away
my neck bones, cervical spine, and wore a neck
brace for three months day and night. That
ends my tennis, but hope to start golf again
soon. Swim /!IVeryA..M. for therapy, drive my
car around, and play bridge. Had more painful
tumors in July - pelvis and lumbar. Had more
cobalt treatments (40) which has relieved all
pain and am now on chemotherapy.
Sounds awful,
but it's over now and 1 am feeling in top shape.
Have been living alone now for ten years since
my husband died, but have many friends here and
thoroughly enjoy living here - compare~ to good
old Philadelphia. II
MAHLBACHER, GENEVIEVE (NORTH). After twelve yrs.
or so overseas \"dth the Foreign Service (Saudi
Arabia, Beirut, Cyprus, Yemen, and West Africa)
we have been in Va. for almost ten years. Went
back to work last year, almost enjoy it. Was
a rotten housekeeper any way.
STEBBINS, ELINOR (FAIRCHILD).
IIBless you for
keeping in touch. I'd like to join in thanking
those WASPs who have g::.venso much time & energy
to support the bills for recognition of the WASP
for their active participation in the military
effort during W1IJ1I. I'm married to a consulting
geologist, Bob Stebbins, and we have five children, mostly grown-up. Our eldest daughter lives
in N.Y. where she works as an editor. Three boys
away school, and our youngest daughter is at
school in Greenwich, ninth grade. 1 work out of
our house as a free-lance writer and book editor.
CULLEN, CAROLYN: Carolyn called from Martha's
Vineyard to say she was still running her Trade
Winds Airport there as she has for thirty years.
Lots of instruction, transit traffic and charter
work. She has taught Nancy Love's two daughters
to fly.
MARY HANSEN writes she and Vic plan to travel up
and down the Calif. coast to see if they prefer
any other section for retirement, other than
their lovely home in Palos Verdes. Mary is
planning to take early retirement next year
and Vic, two years later. They spent the weekend of Sept. 10th with Sue and Ken Wardle in the
S.F. area (we guess) and they're all planning
on attendins the reunion in Colorado Springs.

KAY Af\UiK-.ci', (PUHTZLINE) FIt. 1 trainee writes

she has kept busy with her art work ~d her
~"auty shop she usually enters the Big Fall
Art Fest~val in Catalina every year (this is
the 17th; <>.T,d has been selling some of her
\\ferk. Th:. s past spring she went to Milan
t'.l .,.
,.
'
'.. J01ne d a tour group on a ' 2l
I..'.,.~nere
sne
day.'.:r:raround Greece, Turkey and back to
Venlce, Italy plus a few days in Florence and
RO~le. ,Ihen she got back to N.Y.C., she met a
friend and they flew to Bermuda for a week
th
~ en to Cape Cod and Provincetown and on to
Cortland, fI:. Y. to visit farr.ilybefore flying
bac~ to Cat~lina where she operates "Kay's House
of Beauty" 1n ~rder to paint, live, fly and
travel. Drop 1n and say Hil if you're out that
way, sheld love to see you. Kay wrote that
bETHE"./!;.
Hi:NNE (PHILLIPS) \o[asflying in from Fla.
t..~le 16tn of Sept.. and they were going to do San
Dlego for a few days before hopping over to
Kay's.

!3~TTY JANE ,i::LLIAh3has been very busy with WASP

activities.
Spent Christmas & New Year holidays
as hou.sc!guest of HALLY STIRES and ALLAIIlli
Bvl~NJ1,'l~in Tt:cson, AZ also got together with
BYRD HCnELL GRi,NG":;R
on WASP re: Congressional
hearings. Since Betty (A.F.R.) is assigned to
the Secty. of the Air Force, Office of Information, requests re: WASPs are usually referred
to her. She reports shels had a conservative
30 - J5 .:alls aild letters from writers and film/
TV production people interested in telling the
;';ASF story. Thi s year she went to Denver twi.ce
once to hrite a film script for the Air Force '
(Reserve ~,ty) and while there in March went
with BETTY JO R.:.iliD
(41+-7) to the A.F. Ac~derny
~o. ~irrllup plans for the reunion in Colo. Sprin~s.
while there, MAR.Y H.t;LENGOSNELL joined them in
the Commanding General's office. They had a
short tour, lunch and then checked the hotels
in town to complete details. It promises to be
a very geod.reunion. Betty's second trip to
Denver was ln AUG. She went as a WASP representati ve to IT.eetwith delegates to the American
Legion Conv. to get their support for us in the
CO!1[ressional hearings. CHARLYNE CREGER BETTY
J0 ItaD, OOH.IS TANNER and BETTY JANE do~ed
wASP u:liforms and lobbied for several days
appeared on TV, radio and at the pertinent meeting discu~~ing the WASP Resolution. June 16th,
she was the guest speaker, on the subject of the
wASP, at a meeting at Mather Air Force Base
Sacramento, of the Order of the Daedalions 'resulting in a warm and appreciative respons~ and
an invitation from the COlJ]ffianding
General for all
WASPs to join the Daedalions, which is a most
p:estigious.pioneer organization of military
pllots, dat1ng back to Md. While in Sacto, she
was house guest of Cappy Johnson (Whittaker) of
43-6. Betty hosted Lt. Col. Jo Olmsted (41+-9),
the only WASP still on active Air Force duty
the week of Sept. 12th. Jo had just returned
from t.he Sept. 2nd graduation exercises of the
wGme~ Air Force officers completing pilot trng.
a~ Wliliams AFB, Arizona; she was a special inVlte? ~est to the ceremonies, and as such got
to VIslt and talk with the women pilots. They

were just as thrilled to meet and talk with Jo.

Betty adds that since this is her last year in
active Reserve, she is now pursuing a course of
study in real estate. Besides owning and maintaining her own home, pursuing film and sales
promotion activities, she keeps busy with professional organizations and when the money
starts coming in from real estate she hopes to
get back in the cockpit more frequently.
41+-7 Secretary:

ELEANOR M. GUNDERSON
6901 E. 2nd Street
Tucson, AZ 85710
602-885-1688

Bh"I'TYJO STREFF (REED) - As you can well see

by reading your complete Newsletter, B.J. has
been quite busy. Besides doing so much toward
helping our II causell, she made a trip to Europe
(Ed. note: At least that's what her housekeeper
told me when I tried to call her) as well as
going to the Academy to finalize arrangements
for our up and coming Conference there in Sept.
of '78.
BEE FALK (HAYDU) - Bee reports that she is about
to become a proud mother-in-law.
Daughter,
Diana, is engaged to Jeff Potter, they plan to
marry in September, 1978 and want to spend
a part of their honeymoon at the WASP Conference with the women they so admire. Joe and
1 are so pleased to have such a fine family.
BETTY PETTITI' NICHOLAS, between working at her
regular position, has been extremely busy with
all of the correspondence and figures which
being Sect./Treas. of this organization entail. She had a tremendous job putting together the new Roster plus the Roster update
which is enclosed in this issue.
BETTY ROTH (CROSS) - Though hospitalized at the
beginning of RED ~T
(strung up in traction)
1 managed to circulate petitions with the help
of ooms BOOTHE WANTY (44-8) and a friend of
my husband. This friend, Mr. Joe Burns, a past
VFW Post Commander and PR man for the American
Legion spoke for us at both posts and enlisted
the support of Congressman Sisk and others. He
did this at his own expense by phone, Mail-OGrams and even personal visits, as well as circulating petitions. My husband took petitions
to work, I managed quite a few at the Hospital
as well as at our Lodge and sending petitions
out of state to family, relatives & friends as
1 know so many of our organization did the same.
Upon getting out of the hospital, (contracted
Laryngitis (sp?) and when finally able to speak,
I arranged for our local newspaper to send a
reporter and photographer to my house. Doris
Wanty and myself were photographed, she in uniform, myself in my Flight Jacket (holding a picture of myself in white helmet and goggles)
depicting before & after. Along with the story
were also pictures of Doris, taken in front of
the planes where she was stationed, and myself
and others stationed with me at Moore AFB that
was taken in the ready room in flight uniform.
The result was a terrific editorial as well as
a letter to the Editor from the president of our

State College urging everyone to write their

Congressmen, Representatives and Veteran's
Affairs Committee, as he was doing, to atone
for this great wrone and Give us Militarization
and the Recognition we deserved. Thanks to Doris
and others, I managed to do my small part even
though incapacitated.
OLi, !.lLl:oit~D
H~XHC'i;r: Rexie had quite a nice letter sr.e'd ;.,rritt2n
to Stars & Stripes published
in tr,'~11-17-'77 issue. She wrote: "One of our
s:.ron.::;es':.
advocates is Col. Hal Bundy (Ret.),
fcr!!er C.l.. of Eagle Pass AA:F during ':/WIIwhere I
WH5 llssign<3dto-linc tareets.
He has just engincer(.d a reunion cf the WA.SPs assigned at Eagle
Pass A':'.F,
a.s'.'I<31J.
as number of the fellows in the
Gu~nery Group. SODe WASPs who came were not assigned at Eagle Fass, and even one nurse ca.I:le,
1rll~();:l
\'Ie a~_l welcG,:ed. (Ed. note:
I've published a le:ter I r0ceived fran Col. Bundy in this
Ne,,'3le-:-ter.)This wonderful event took place
at ;"ir Force Village in San Antonio, Eagle Pass
and Fi.edrCi.s
N';gras; ever:rone there had such a
geod ti.":l
tr:",t',Je are planning another for 1979.
iie "ant Ir.oreEd{;le Pass A.4.fpersonnel in '79,
so any and all personnel interested contact Col.
Et:.nd:r
ilt Ah' Force Villat;e, or even me.
Especiallv would like to hear from Jerry Greenfield
and Geose and Jur~oro ED. Rexie called me from
Albusuerque to make sure I ,~ote about the reunion.
Gundy! Never did. hear from you, so did the best
I cot:ld with what I knew. \'lriteour class and
have them send those letters in so \'1-7 will have
lots of news in the next Newsletter this summer.

4h-8 Secretary:

ANN~ HARlE DAlLi<~YtolARSHALL

2225 E. Whitton
Phoenix, AZ 85016

602-956-9574
Thanks to the determined efforts of Ziggy Hunter
and o~hers, all of Flight One Graduates of our
class have been located, but there still are a
fevlmissing from Flight Two.
";ULA "BiTTY" !'iORTONBROWN was at Hot Springs last
fall. After disbanding in '44, she went ba~k to
instructing at Columbia, S.C., then spent s~
months with Southern Airways, and another s~
six months as a stewardess for Delt~. Attended
Col~,nbia U., N.Y., then the U. Of So. Carolina;
receiving a B.A. in English. Married in '57 to
Francis Brown who is with the Dept. of Mental
Health in S.C. They have an 18 yr. old son.
She's scent the last seven years with Richland
County ~n.J.is currently the Dir. of Pub~ic Info.
I?LSrc:Li',JlSVAiJC, a trainee, became an a~rcraft
~ communicator in San Antonio, Corpus Christi,.
then Salt Lake City. She and her husband, B~l~,
have five children. Lives in Seattle now and ~s
working for a corporation in Stock Transfer &
Dividend Disbursment.
Her twin, ELVA L~iIS
EASTON also married a Bill and they have three
childr~n. She has a Masters in Education and
Counseling after having lived in the Phili~pines,
Hawaii, Texas, Calif., Md., Del., and Wash~ngton.

PAT SHKRWOOD has been an X-Ray Technician for the

last 25 yrs. and is with the Palo Alto (Cal.)
Medical Clinic. Spends all her free. time swimming or flying with the "gang". The "gang" includes MARGARET STANDISH of No. Hollywood, Ca.
who has been with Lockheed Aircraft, Burbank
and Sunnyvale for the last 28 years as an Engineer. She has a Cessna 180 with PAT THOMAS
GLADNEY.
PAT THOMAS GLADNEY is living in Los Altos and working for liThe Spirit of Palo Alto Aviation" as
flight instructor and office mgr. She has two
daughters, the oldest, 26, married and the youngest, 17, whom Pat has taught to fly. Pat, Margaret, Pat Sherwood, and Vivian Esler, a guest,
came to the Hot Springs Reunion from a vacation
in Fla. in their Cessna. Together, they have
flown allover the U.S., Canada, Alaska, Central
and South America, plus Mexico, having a ball
wherever they go. What a wonderful way to live
it up!

JOANNE BLAIR MARTIN's husband died shortly before

the Reunion, and we all joined in offering our
condolences.
She has four daughters: one is
married and 28, has two sons; the next is 26
and married; then one at 23, also married, and
the youngest is 19, living at home. Joanne has a
burro, 3 dogs, one cat, coaches a bobbysox softball team and flies whenever she has a chance.
Since this info is 1 yr. old, add a yr. to all
the ages above.
JOAN GOUGH FROST spends free time Skiing and volunteering her services for charit~ble work. She
and her husband took their three children motoring through Europe one summer, and had a wonderful time.
B.i:'.'VKRLY
DIETRICH VlILKINSON flew to the Reunion with
Isabell Tynon Martel (43-7) and Jean Parker Rose
(43-7) in a Cessna 180. She and her husband had
hoped to launcq their boat last Thanksgiving and
go up to the San Juan Islands off the west coast
of Canada. She has a son in college and a daughter in high school now.
JERI FULK CROOK is still working at Shaw AFB, has
been there for 18 years. One daughter living in
Chicago, and another was living in Cuba with her
husband, a Navy Lt. and a baby girl.
BONNIE DORSEY SHINSKI brought her lovely daughter,
Jan, to Hot Springs. Bonnie kept us all in
stitches, and poor Jan, after accepting a date
with one of the young men on the TV cre\'lthat
came to Hot Springs, had to listen to the opinions
and advice of our whole class as to what she
should wear, etc. on her date.
VIRGINIA "Tot" FISCHER WISE had plans to retire
last spring from the Real Estate business. On a
camping trip to the Nat'l. Park in the Virgin
Islands, she & Warren kept up a 24 hour battle
with the local "no-sees". Went snorkeling and
swimming every day and really enjoyed themselves.
They had planned to visit Belize, Honduras, also
spend a few months in their camper seeing the
Western United States, then off to Amsterdam.
However, I haven't heard from her lately.
PEARL BRtJMliiETT
JUDD write s from Calif.: ".... I
didn't realize until I read an article in the
Times last fall how active we were becoming

I was married in Dec. '44 to the sailor whose

instructor's certificate. Continued work and
picture I had on the inside of my locker door.
study, and earned the rank of Assoc. Master in
We were together 2 months in S.F., then he re1970.11 For the uninitiated, Ikebana is Japanese
turned to the Pacific and I returned to L.A.
Art of ~lower Arranging. 1IThen last Oct. '76,
Patricia BratL~ and Gertrude Dietz were stationed
I was glven the r~
of Master. (NOW, most of
with me in Bakersfield and were at my wedding.
the Ikebana schools, of which there are thousands
Ralph was discharged in the fall of '45 and we
have many "mastersll with all sorts of varying
,
started our family. One daughter, .31, lives
~egre~s
of rank -----not so with Ichiyo School
nearby with her 2 girls, ages 7 & 8. My second
In whlch I had my training and hold ~. certifidaughter is 27, lives in Alaska with her baby
cates --- they only award this rank to very few
girl. Next is a son, 21, who will be a senior
In the general field of ikebana there are lots
at U.C. Davis. The baby, a boy of 18, is a Soph
and lots of masters so don't get the idea I'm
at Cal State U. at Long Beach After years of
so exceptional" except with Ichiyo II OK, Lois
idleness (?) I started working 9 years ago at
~hat'
s what JlOll say, but I'm still very, very, '
the Ontario~~ontclair School District, Supv. of
lIDpressed. That's why Lois wasn't in Hot
the Payroll Office and the Employee Health &
Springs, she went to Tokyo to accept the award
Welfare Program 11
ANNE DAILEY ~HJJ..L:
liAsfor myself, Clarence
RUTH CLIFFORD HUBERT, another "lost" classmate is
~d I are stlll active in the Horseless Carrnow livine; in Largo, Fla. Thanks to superhuman
lag~ Club with our '28 Willys-Knight.
'tIe dress
efforts by LOIS NCMURDIE, Ruth wrote to me last
u~ In twenties clothes and tour around the state
Oct. Ruth married Pete Hubert in '47 who owned
Wlth the club. I have a granddaughter now, but
an aviation supply business. "We had great
she and her mother & dad have moved to Cleveland
fun for a nimber of years, traveling the state
My oldest son is with Pacific Airmotive in Bur-
drjmming up business, visiting all the air shows
bank, Calif. now, and the other two boys keep
and participating in some, and traveling around
me on my toes. I still sew a lot, substitute
the country to aviation conferences, etc. Howteach once in a while, and do a lot of volunever, Petels health gave out and he retired
teer work. Talked to MARGARET STANDISH on my
early; he died in 196). He had two children.
last trip to Calif., and she, PAT GLADNEY and
I worked at St. Petersburg Jr. College and "when
PATTY SHERWOOD participated in the Palm S;rings
the children were grown" went to the U. of So.
Ca. to.Tampa" Fla. Commerative Flight last July'
Fla. and received my B.A. degree in Science Ed.
4th whlch celebrated the 30th anniversary of
Taught for a couple of years, but decided teachthe Powder Puff Derby. They flew their Cessna
ing wasn't my bag and returned to office work.
180" ~aw,Joanne Blair Martin in Tucson, and
For a long time I was inactive in flying but have
came In ~21 out of a field of 140. Wonderful!
taken it up again. I've been very active in the
S~un~s l~ke,those three have it made. If I
C.A.P. and been on many search and rescue mised~dn t ment~on your name this time, you didn't
ions the past two years.1I Ruth's son is with
glve me news, so let's all get together in
the Nu',y, and married daughter has a 7 yr. old
Colorado Springs, and have a good time together
son. Ruth promises to keep in touch from now on.
It's really a fun time gals, so see you there
DORIS M~DZHSON DAVIEL located 5 lost WASPs last
JOAN FROST: III've just finished moving into a
year. She's still buyer for the store, and when
new home and my new address & phone number
winter comes, just Futs away the golf clubs and
(unlisted) is: 1454 Scrope Rd." Rydal, Pa.
gets out the cross-country skiis. One daughter
19046 Ph. is 215-884-21.30.
received her PHD last year, another is active in
gov't. in Mase. and her son graduated from high
school last year. Doris has really worked hard
on the WASP bill, in addition to trying to locate 44-9 Secretary: BETI'Y STAGG TURNER
6161 LeSourdsville
more lost l1ASPs.
W. Chester Road
l-'.ARGUERITE
"TY" HUGHES IQLLF.N, Dottie Swain Lewis
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
(44-5), and n~self flew to Hot Springs with
51.3-777-6161
VIRGINIA HASH (~.-10) in her Piper Comanche.
Most of us don't get the chance to do much flyJA~E FOHL has retired from teaching and , belonging any ~ore, so were thrilled to help with the
~ng to three golf clubs" is spending most of her
navigatine and - even take the controls from
time playing golf. She has done some traveling
time to tirr~. TY is still teaching in Lancaster,
to Alaska, the Caribbean and Hawaii and leavCal., specializing in Remedial Reading. Still
ing this month, Sept., for a golf t~
to
has her girlish figure too. I lost mine about
Hawaii.
20 yrs. ago, and haven't been able to find it
BETTY RIDDLE and husband just returned from the
since. Am trying hard to lose at least 25 Ibs.
Pacif~c N.W~ for the second visit this year.
before the next Reunion.
The flrst, In August, visiting relatives in
LOIS MCKURDIE returned to Flight Instructing in
Bremerton, the second trip included Vanc~uver
Spokane, Wash. after disbandment, then worked
spending an evening with Marjorie Osborne Nic~l
with the Air Safety District Office of CAA.
looking at Class book and pictures of past
Husband Dick was recalled to service in 1951
reunions. Betty was the first WASP Marjorie had
and they left f~r England. IIFollowing that we
seen since deactivation. Besides the trips"
.
went to Pa., from there to Tokyo, Japan, then
Betty
has
been
kept
busy
with
her
kids
and
reback to ~.J., and now Florida. While in Japan,
latives coming and goirig all summer. The young1 really studied hard at Ikebana and got my

est, Dan - 15, is active in ROTC and on the

rifle team. With art classes starting, the
winter promises to be filled already. Betty
has also "found" a "lost" WASP, 43-<J Elizabeth
L. Gardner, 280 Riverside Dr., N.Y.C. 10025.
PENNY FIERCb; GARR.;o;TT
is back in Colorado Springs
where she has a "small business", making porcelain dolls, called PENNY'S PLACE. They are authentic reproductions of 19th Century and "turn
of the cent.rry" period. She's also teaching
classes in the art of making them. Penny has
been in Colorado for about a year and is working on the up coming convention. Says the Airforce Acadew~ is working with the committee and
are being just great! ~e all hope to be there
NuT

YEAR.

LILLIAN Wfu,Y visited her sister Lila Hornsby of

Gilr..er,TX. who has been working for our Veteran cause there. Lillian's husband who has
worked for AAA 30 yrs., is recovering from a
heart condition and still has to take life easy.
Their youngest son was married May 7th, and
they have one son left at home. He1s t~(ing
flying le~sons. Hopes to see everyone at Colo.
NORhA DUiJULj,::i
quit her job as flight instructor
for the past 5 years at Douglas Aviation, Macconb, Ill., as the hours were long and the job
demanding; she just felt worn out. She spent
2 weeks in New Orle~ls and on returning home
hoped to go ir.to a selling business from her
home. Plans for Colo. in 178, her first convention.
"Jir-;P"HAHNAr, says "no news" except she is now
working as a Travel Agent for European World
Travel Bureau, Inc. and loving it.
"DU5TY" Hi\NSOH and husband spent sometime in
Jackson Hole again and, agrees with us, the
Tetons rrust be the illoStbeautiful mountains in
the 'dorld. She rafted the middle fork of the
Salnll>nRiver in Idaho in Jul:,'& Sept. in a
group including daughter Charlotte, canoed the
Buffalo River in Arkansas. Her first ~xperience
with sleeping bags and tents. She still teaches
aeronautical science, anthropology and advanced
nM;XXX
Placement American History and enjoys every second of it. Son John is still chief pilot for
Air Florida and daughter Char is teaching EMR
students.
JOHOTEY EST~P is now in her second year of working
half-tin',ea semester on and a semester off, at
SeL~reiB Union High School District in Redwood
City, whAre she's worked since 1945 and, since
1958, has been B. consultant in child welfare
and attendance. Her mother of 91 years died of
a stroke in July. She had been with Dorothy
since 1965. Dorothy would love to see any WASP
friends who may be in Redwood City at any tinle.
MICY~~ BROim's husuand is still a professor at
U. of Houston, Victoria Cam?us. Eldest son,
Robert, }.o;Jesto graduate this spring from U.
of Calif. at Santa Barbara and enter medical
school sOlilewhere.Son George expects to graduate frem Oklahoma State where he has been
majorint in horticulture. Daughter Ellie has
swit~hed from academic studies to matrimony and
is presently attending Austin Community College

brushing up on typing and t~ing a bookkeeping

course so she can support her husband while he
attends U. of Texas for the next 3 - 4 years.
Daughter Ann is attending U. of Texas in the
College of Engineering. Mickey is still employed with the Texas Rehabilitation COIIIIIlission
and
hopes she can last until everyone gets through
school. Mickey and Bob took an overnight trip
to the beach and camped in the sand in June and,
a second overnight to Bandera with her sister &
husband and a canoe trip down the Medina River.
For her friends who knew her parents in the past,
her father died last year but her mother at 88
still runs circles around them, and her house
continues to be the center of much activity.
ELAINE HARMON again sends in news of her flight
#1 that she has collected the past year altho
she has been very busy working on the Militarization efforts and visited a German penpal of
40 years in June. The first time they had met.
HARGARET CHA}IBERLAIN ~lITH has been going to
school and working on her masters degree.
JO BARDSLEY GERMAINE writes that BJiliBOSLEY (BARN1~) is living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Jo is very
ill and has applied for medical retirement.
ANITA BRONKEN MATTHEW's husband has retired and
they have moved to Litchfield, which Wr.S formerly their sumner home. JACKIE HUGHES P1'TTY
visited Anita in 1976 after the Powder Puff
Derby which she flew in. Then she flew commercially to Tahiti and joined her husband aboarr:.
a schooner which they helped crew to Hawaii and
elsewhere. This was to be a six month trip.
VIRGINIA SPEARS made her first reunion last fall,
thought it was great. Visited with Esther Stahr
Cuddington. Had a marvelous 3 weeks in England;
made with an old friend who she says made the
trip for her. Wants anyone who is interested
in a traveling companion to almost anywhere
to let her know. Living as she does in a sort
of the crossroads, she has visits from many old
friends as they pass from east to west or north
to south.
GINNY TRUMBULL and husband Fred "Derf", retired
from their accounting practice a couple of years
ago. She worked for him for 25 years. They
sold their condominium, the accountir~ business
and building, stored their furniture, and moved
into their 25' Airstream travel trailer to try
the footloose vagabonding life for a while.
They'll spend their time writing, photography,
recording - travel and wildlife subjects. Derf
may produce a wildlife record or two - he has
two out now, and they produce a lomm film on an
endangered species that BBC televised. They'll
wander and explore the country and be on the
lookout for a likely spot to "home base" again
some day. They joined an Airstream caravan
traversing the Pan American highway to Panama.
They and the Richeys (WASP "Peter" Showers) have
spent many vacations together, and will houseboat Lake Powell in Oct. They've explored the
Sea of Cortez in a leaky old Mexican craft,
rafted the length of the Grand Canyon and the
River of .No Return, put trailer and truck on a
flat car and crossed Mexico's Sierra Madre Mtns.,
and ice fished in Arizona's White Mountains.

"PETJill" SHOWERS
RICHEYwas appointed U.S. District
Court Judge - the first
womanin her district
50
honored.
Ginny attended the swearing-in ceremony---a proud occasion, and added a light touch
after all the judges and attorneys had given
glowing tributes
to Peter'e
legal skills and
~rowess, by recounting
some of the WASPexperlences of "groundloop Pete".
JOANOLMSTED
replrts
a wonderful trip to Williams
AFB, on Sept. 2, to represent
the WASPsat the
first
Cadet Class to graduate womenpilots.
As
the only WASPon active duty with the Air Force
our Chief of Staff felt it was appropriate
for '
her to represent
all of us.
It was a thrill
and
honor for Joan.
The ten gals were wonderful and
she had much fun swapping stories about the way
we flew in the old days and the way it's
done
today.
Joan said we had more fun.
General
Roberts, Commanderof Air Training Command was
guest speaker, and in his presentation
was' quite
complimentary of the WASPs. From there Joan went
o~ to t~e co~st where she apent many lovely days
Wlth VEE (NI.
U"Y) VANDELDEN
in her beautiful
home in Palm Desert, Ca. Also visited with BErTY
I'IILlJAHSand MARTY
BUELin the San Fernando Valley.
NewAddress for Joan:
400 Madison 1404
Alexandria, Va. 22314.
'
GAYLE
SNElL flew back to Colorado Springs over the
4th cf July holiday, and went allover
the Air
Academy grounds and thought about how it would
be next year when the WASPshave their reunion
t~ere.
Said it was pretty and they built it
rlght over the old airport where she learned
to fly.
Had a great 4 days in Colorado going
to all the places she used to go to when she
wa~ a kid.
Said she enjoyed it more than any_
thlng sheld done in a very long time.
NADINE
NAGLE
and husband are now grandparents of
a granddaughter,
Jennifer.
D~ughter Ann graduated from the Univ. and is now an Engineering
Psychologist,
at Wright-Patterson
AFB. Steve,
th~ youngest of four children,
is a scp~more at
Ohlo State.
Nadine says she continues to have
a feeling of joy and personal satisfaction,
each
year, as a teacher for her Kindergarten classes.
B.r..'TTY
TURNJill
wants to know, "l,fuere did the summer
go?~ In the spring, she took an enjoyable,
relaxlng three day trip with friends,
to Ky. visiting historical
places.
In Oct. spent a week
at Jekyll Island,
Ga., visiting
old neighbors
who retired
there.
Loved the beautiful
island
with its eleven mile swimming beach and three
?eautiful
~ol~ courses.
Spent most of the golflng and SWJ.mmlng,of course.
Betty and husband
Bill have a new and the first
granddaughter.
Nowhave three grandchildren.
With son Robin
away at school, Miami U., leaves them with one
still
left at home, Judy, a senior in high
school.
"COOKIE"JONES: "In Feb., Les' father died and
he was gone to Illinois
for two weeks which
initiated
ferI7 runs all summerto the Lockhaven,
Pa. and Vero Beach, Fla. Piper factories
through
the Calif. distributorship
with which he used
to be affiliated
with.
This gave hiJn the opportunity to visit
eastern relatives
and friends
and get together with Norma Boston and Esther

(Stahr) Cuddington.
Meanwhile, 1 was "going
bananas" at home with daughters #1 and #3 both
announcing they wanted to get married in May!
It was finally
resolved,
the youngest in May,
the oldest in June, but was immersed in wedding
activities
March 'through June, shopping, showers,
etc.
My yonngest daughter lives in No. Calif.,
a 3! hour drive away, and by the time of the
wedding we were sure tired of that trip!
Also
had my 9 yr. old granddaughter most of the summer, between 3 different
camping sessions.
Our
Irish setter had 1..3pups, was asked to serve as
Conmunications Co-Capt. with Cappy Whittaker
Johnson (43~) during all these months of publicity
and preparation
for the "cause"; I took
the coastal area, she the inland areas of No.
Calif.
What with TV appearances,
newspaper publicity
releases,
and dissemination
of WASP
Hdqtrs. releases
- little
else was accomplished
during June, July and August.
In Sept., Cappy
broke some ribs and was unable to deliver a
speech in Santa Rosa to the Retired Officers
Convention, so was asked to sub. for her that
week-end, and Sat. morning, while walking over
to deliver the talk and set up an AVdisplay of
WASPmemorabilia, fell and have had my right leg
in a cast ever since, hobbling around on crutches.
Also was in the midst of sub. teaching during a
local teacher's
strike and was unable to complete
that stint.
There are 103 WASPin No. Calif.,
and about 60 in the Bay Area and I have communicated re: the D.C. deal with most of them through phone and mail until my phone and postage
bills
began looking like the Nat'l.
debt.
Les
and I had planned a BBQhere for the Bay Area
gals, first
the end of Aug., then Sept. and now
with me on crutches I doubt that we can make it
before the cold weather sets in, and ~ am really
disappointed.
Was looking forward to a llfun"
time.
Cappy and 1 had dubbed a "C or e" affair
(Congrats or Condolences) - depending on how the
WASPdeal turned onto Did get to spe-nd a weekend in Carmel, attending a wedding of the son of
an old flying buddy of Les', and a couple of
trips to Lake Tahoe. Last week, Sylvia Barter
43-7 phoned to say her husband was having heart
surgery and would I sub. for her and give a
WASPpresentation
to the Mr. Diablo Pilot Assoc.,
50 we spent. Les' birthday
doing that (and mine
at the hosp.) - so WHEN
(7) things calm down we
plan on making up for it.
Talked to Maggie a
couple of times on the phone, had lunch with her
at Hayward Airport where we did a publicity
bit.
Definitely
want to make the Academy in Colorado hope it will work out 50 we can all get together
again.
The ranks keep thinning out."
Ed Note: In Dec. '76, Special Edition,
names of
class members shown in picture were not printed as
they were not sent in time.
Following are the
names as they were shown: Front. row 1. to r.
Elizabeth W. (Dusty) Davis Ransom - Betty F. Martin Riddle, Esther L. Stahr Cuddington, Rosa Charlyne Creger, Veda Mac Lum. Back row 1. to r.
Margaret Chamberlin Smith, Virginia M. Eatherton
Spear, Elizabeth M. Briscoe Stone, Lillian M.
Glezen Wray, Sarah J. Allhouse Gleeson. Not pictured - Kathryn J. Kleinecke.

44-10 Secretary:

CHARLYNE CREGER
3048 Sandra Drive
Shreveport, LA 71119
318-635-3446

ANN AT~ISON:
Was to have been in D.C. for the
Sept. Hearings; however, 1 hear that her mother
(a H-IO raascot-sort-of) is quite ill. Hope all
is well Rooney, and our be st
mHLY CHAPIN: "lith friend and motor home must be
setting some kind of record: Feb. to the Fla.
ever&1ades, Key Largo, Sausibal Island and
Plains, Ga. In May--to Washington for' the Senate he,:-ring~. July and August to Canada, Gaspe
an~ Pr~!ice Edward Island, ~nd in Sept., back to
D.v. H r casual conversat~on ,v.LthBee Haydu in
7
Hot S~rlnGs to agree to make a few phone calls
gr~w l~tc a captainship covering 95 people' how7ver, ln her '..Isua~
efficient manner divided this
~nto 11 co-captains, and they did a tremendous
job covering the N.E. U.S.
gLEANOR, GeLLINS (FAUST): Helped out in Vt. even
thOUg:l she had moved to NYC early in the campaign. How about a new address Ellie?
AILSA CONNOLLY (SIMONSON): Always writes with an
air of excitement, v;it, and mystery. Her four
dauGhte~s are married--one grandson. Her only
son gr~Quated from High School, and mom was the
?o~ence~ent
speaker. He's n~i in college. Now
15 the hme
to think seriously of politics.
After wat0hing them at the Hearings, 1 think
you are a perfect speciJrlenfor Congress?
CHARL~NE Cfu!.Glill:
"Hork has been interfering with
my pleasures and has to have been convenienced
around ,~ASP Affairs. Work is never dull though.
La~~ mont~ I had a rapist to put to sleep to debrlQe an lnfected leg from injecting spit intravenously (so that he had a chance to perhaps
escape from the hospital). The guard outfitted
in our sterile attire (complete with boot covers
for his cowboy boots), sat by the O.R. door with
~is gun on his hip--after handcuffing the patlent to the table. The man had been postponed
for 24 hrs. because of bastardly behavior and
it fell my lot to try to handle him. 1 h~d some
choice phrases like "take your choice 1 can kill
you easier than keeping you alive" which usually
taT~S the meanest. Doggone, he was as docile as
a lamb, and it was a little disappointing to not
get to use my speech. Anyway, we finished hilli
with no difficulty.
24 hrs. later someone
poisoned him. It's still under in~estigation,
~nd I hope they don't call me in to ask my opin~on of this kind of patient. That's one day-so many are equally as colorful.
DOROTHY DAVIS puts us all to shamel!l She person~y
~ot about 1700 signatures by sitting
out Slue vhe theater (STAR WARS) complete with
a lap robe, table, petitions, & a 2x3 ft. blow
up of page 47 of VIVA with the bottom part cove~~~ over and printed P~ASE SIGN PETITION FOR
V~H;RAN SThTUS FOR \'TOHEN AIRFORCE SERVICE
PILOTS. She generated publicity which caught
the. eye of William Randolph Hearst and got
Nat~onal coverage. How great to reach a hand
across the country. She was resplendent in
0

unirorm at the September hearings.

PATRICIA DISSTON (COLEMAN): Word from Dottie
Davis: Patricia's husband was killed in an
automobile accident. Sympathies seem so inadequate.
JUANITA DREIER HURLBUTT; As Chairman of Visalia
Planning Commission, she is busy trying to stay
ahead of the rapid growth of the city. Her
husband, Ed, is Sr. Partner in his own law
practice. Son Edmund is a Jesuit in his second year of Philosophy at Fordham U., NYC.
Son Tom is a Civil Engineer for G. Boswell Co.,
Bakersfield, Ca., Son Tom is in his first year
of Law at Berkely. Daughter Jacqueline is a
loan officer for the First Nat'l. Bank of
Chicago.
MAHG~"T EGER (T~ME) has donated her WASP dress
and flight uniforms complete with insignia,
purse, beret, shirts and ties. Only thing
lacking is wings. Anyone care to donate--to
the International Air & Space Museum.
FLORENCE EMIG (\'/HEJll.ER)
is still teaching Home
Ec at Healdsburg High and will probably do so
until her two kids complete college. Paula
is a sophrnore at U.C. Santa Cruz, and Keith
is at Cal Berkeley. Flo and husband play tennis
(Gad, who has the wind)? Flo also belongs to a
Santa Rosa flying club and gets in a little
cloud time.
JhWEL ESTES was among the Dallas gals kept busy
informing various groups concerning militarization progress. There were letters, interviews,
meetings, & personal contacts. Jewel, Pete
Gimble HcAdams, Ziggy Hunter, Marie Genero, and
Frankie Warms vlere on hand to greet 44-3 Alma
Jacomini Jeschien and her two daughters on the
last memorial flight of the Powder Puff Derby.
Loraine Bane and this same group accompanied
Hazel Sue Richter (44-3) to the D-FV airport for
a send off to visit her daughter in Tucson.
Tom & Jewel, Cliff & Dedie are getting to be
regulars on the latter's wedding anniversaries.
This was the 55th. They danced, laughed and
had a marvelously good time to live music at
the ~lintergarten. Dedie looks fitter than usual,
JOAN FRETER (UHALT) sent a copy of an article in
the Mexico City paper of an interview with Bill
Tischler. He and his wife were doing their
clown act "Jingles & Jangles" for Shriner Hospitals, orphanages and children's homes. Joan &
Joe vlere in Guadalajara for the summer, returned to New Orleans to remain until Dec. 1, then
back to Me..uco where their mothers may fly down
to join them for the holidays.
BETTY FULBRIGHT (iHITE)won the long-distance lady
motorcycle solo trophy. She & Omar have ridden
8 - 10,000 miles this year, and are now off on an
additional 5,000 mile trip. And that ain't all,
they belong to a Rambler Club, they canoe float
dabble in real estate, sell a few pine trees o~
a chick~n plant, and have a nice "little" ga:.den
-75
p~nts of green beans, tomatOes, and pinto
beans for the freezer. There's time to practice
on the organ. You make me tiredll111.
FRANCES GIMBLE McADAMS: Jewel tells me you are
alive. How about a 13 center?
RUTH GLASER (GUHS:r;): Now in CasablancaU
We do
get around. Ruth learned to use everyone and
everything for the causell Her daughter had baby

is a Lt. Col., and eligible). She did it well

sat for a gal TV reporter who ended up doing a
and quickly. The decision was changed to a spetelecast on Cappy Whittaker Johnson. And the
cial study for two months and the decision to be
architects for whom Ruth works had designed the
given in Oct. OK, they should not have given
local CBS studio and office. The mgr. put her in
tcuch with the news editor who had been on the
testimony in D.C. in Sept. Congressman HammerSenate Veteran Affairs Committee when the Bill
schmidt agreed with me. The D.A. V. did essentially the same thing. I had the whole of La.
came up earlier. He was "for" us and put on some
D.A.V., V.F.W., R.O.A., and the American Legion
film clips and publicity. Ruth obtained over 500
endorsed. This tells us that the men ARE FOR
signatures.
US, and if we can all get to our local chapters,
VIRGINIA HA3H: Grapevine news of a Coronary bywho will in turn take them to their State meetpass. Hope all is well.
ings, and on to National--with copies going to
THEl1'lAHE;'ICH(lULL~R): Looking just as young as
WASP HEAWUARTERS
to give to the IIFORIICongress
ever. we stayed with Marie Bray (44-5 t) for the
as fodder to show that National is wrong to be
Sept. Hearings and became better acquainted. She
speaking for these groups. These groups constiis still flying and works for a darned good Instute millions of women and men. I was told that
urance Co., Banker's Life.
this is the first time in history that every
ELLEN HO\LillD(GH.AFF): Found by Ziggy, but no ressingle Congresswoman agree on a single issue.
pcnRe to my letter, nor was it returned.
There just aren't enough women to be a majority.
VIRGINIA McPIKE (COA~~)
with her lovely sister
YOU CAN 00 A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK IS POSSIBLE.
Lee, ca:ne to the Sept. Hearings with Emily Chapin.
It is only a matter of educating the public, and
She ~ade the May one too. Y'all must eat tape
you would be surprised at how many do not know
Honas; you never gain an ounce.
we even existed, and how surprised they are that
I-,ARTYEld'tTIN(i"iYALL)
vias in D.C. for the executive
anyone could possibiby compare us with so many
'aec~ing but had to leave before the Hearings.
c,:..rpy ~lOR!USON now lives in Calif.---quite a change
civilian groups. You get to be a pretty fair
frcQ Hawaii to the desert. She & Pat have been
talker after awhile. I flew to Wichita Falls
to help Dedie in a display of "Women in the Air
dri-ving throught Vegas, Utah, Idaho, Montana,
Calsary over to Vancouver, dovm through Washington, Force". The young military stand with their
Gre~cn, S.F. and home.
mouths wide open and offer to do all they can.
SARA.H f'i>YNJ<:
(HAYj)~\j)made both Hearings in spite of
And this weekend past, the Confederate Airforce
personal obligations. TIUS IS TO REMIND ~"'VERYONE dedicated their Airshow to the WASPs and gave
THAT SARAH IS IN LIN.c;FOR ?R:!:SIDENT. LET'S SUPabout a 10 min. accolade while the crowd paid
PORT OUR CLAS~~ATE1!!1!1
She has been a quiet
tribute to us on the VIP stand and Sue Parish
force behind the machinations of the OOF.
taxied up in her pink P-40. There were no less
J"CKlE tULEY (ZERLAUT) apparently living the life of than 100,000 ~eople exposed to this information,
Riley. Her laugh over the phone is contagious and
sought us out to offer help, sign petitions, take
makes you want to be in close proximity to get in
more with them, and anything else such as contacting Senators & Congressmen. They were \-Ionderful.
on the ftill.
The Canadian Warship Heritage Society gave us a
N"HY VAN ~CYGC(Snj]'iONDS) is on a vacation nowwild grand ride in a B-25 buzzing Padre Island
notor ho:r.eand fishing dovm in Roaring River and
perhaps a couple more State Parks in So. l'.i.ssouri. at 50 ft. Marie Genero & Ziggy even got in some
co-pilot time. Their members all expressed dis'[!":anks
for :;.11 of ;rour help on the Red Alert when
belief at our lack of recognition.
I coulun't catch Francie.
Fi{NKlE Y;:;AR\'JUOD:
No news of changes in life style,
but thanks for the Arkansas help.
CHARLYNE Cfili(ii:R - SPECIAL llliPORTll1
I!Ny local A:nerican Legion took our Resolution to
thp.State meeting in New Orleans. I "guttsied" and
asked a local commercial airline to fly me roundtrip
free and gave my reasons. It so happened that they
(Royale A:i.rlines)were featuring us along with other
women fl:.ers in the In-flight n:2.gazine. They did fly
me, and I arrived in time--in uniform--to speak before the Resolutions Committee. It was unanimous.
I was then givp.n time to speak to the General AssemSept. hearines on Capitol steps.
bly--folloHing the Governor. I received a standing
ovation & 100% endorsement. The next step was Denver for the Natll. convention. I was met by Betty
Joe Rp-ed, Colo. who also endorsed our Resolution, and
Doris Tanner, Tenn. with another endorsement. Betty
J. \'iilliamsflew in from Calif. We were pre sent in
uniform for the executive meeting to reject or endorse our resolution. At first it was rejected. My
Lou~siana man requested that we be heard. We could
only be heard if the body of men--100-150 elected
100% to hear us--and then only if the WASP were a
Legionnaire. I am, but I turned it over to B.J. (she
PAT COLLINS HUGHES 44~

Following, in its entirety, is the Editorial

~~. Wm. Randolph Hearst published and is

Editor's report
It's time to right
a 33-year-old wrong
By William Randolph Hearst Jr.
Edltor-in-Chief,
The Hearst Newspapers
NEW YORK - Earlier this month a class of 10
women graduated from Air Force Pilot School at
Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix. They were hailed as
the first women to fly military aircraft for the U.s. Air
Force.
These young women richly deserve the congratulations of their country,the
plaudits
of their military superiors and
tbeir role in history as the first
"commissioned" women pilots.
But the truth is, these recent
graduates are not the first women
to pilot military aIrcraft for the Air
Force. Back when tbe Air Force
was caned the U.S. Army Air Corps
there were 1,074 women pilots who
flew every kind of military aircraft
then in existence. It was wartime,
.
and tbe young women belonged to
W. R. Hearst Jr. a unit formed by Gen. Hap Arnold
called Women Airforce Service Pilots - WASP.
Tbese courageous
ladies piloted figbter eraft
and bombers to all parts of tbe world. Tbeir role was
to relieve male pilots for combat duty because there
was a pressing shortage of rombat-ready
pilots in
tbe war's early days, and tbey - tbe women performed
their jobs with rourage, dispatch and
effirienry.
So dedicated were they that 38 of tbem
lost their lives.
WASP was activated
In September
1942 and
disbanded in December 1944, when there were enough
male pilots and the women were no longer needed.
They were simply discharged - decommissioned, so to
speak, without ever having been commissioned as
officers.

reproduced that all may read it, in the

event they missed seeing the article.

Now the ladies of WASP, no longer young, wonder

why they have never been given customary veterans'
benefits, and they are asking for them. There are 850 of
them still living, according to Col. Bruce Arnold, son of
Hap Arnold.
Tbe women of WASP believe they are en tilled to
the basirs
hospitalization
when needed
in
veterans facilities, G.I. insurance rights, time served
with WASP in tbe Army Air Corps added to <ivll
servite time served subsequently
as civilians to
rount toward pension programs and last, but not
least important
to many, the rigbt to burial in a
military cemetery.
A bill introduced in botb houses of Congress to
give veterans' benefits to the WASPs has met with
unexpected resistance, mostly from bureaucrats and
the Veterans' Administration,
which adberes to the
attitude: "We'd be opening a can of worms."
A Senate committee held a hearing on the bill last
May but did not put it to a vote. A House committee will
hear witnesses Tuesday and Wednesday of this week,
and there appears to be strong opposition building,
mostly as the result of lobbying by the government's
own agencies. Chairing the committee is Rep. Ray
Roberts, D.Tex.
Washington
correspondent
Marianne Means of
the Hearst Newspapers has reported tbat President
Carter is opposed to tbe bill and that Mrs. Carter
shares his opposition.
The total cost to the republie to provide full
veterans' rights to the bra\'c women "ho served
their country so well more than a quarter of a
rentury ago would be a measly $100,000 a ~'ear for as
long as the 850 sun'ivors live. Not a 100 million, nor
even one million, but 100 thousand.
To resist this on grounds of its cost is nothing
short of incredible
for an administration
that is
requesting $10.6 billion for the first year's budget for
its new Department of Energy. But more on that in
another rolumn.
We should regard the women of WASP as the
forebears of the 10 female officers who graduated from
the Air Force Pilot School this month - and we should
honor them accordingiy. It is simply not proper to
deprive. them of the military benefits that were
bestowed by a grateful populace on all other military
personnel.

Honorahle
Barry Goldwater

The members of WASP came for"ard at a time

wben they were desperately needed. Tbe idea of equal
rights lor women simply did not exist then. Tbe
problem was simple: There were too few men pilOts; tbe
women were eager to help win the war, and in those
dark days of 1942 and 1943 tbe government
was
grateful to get all tbe help it could.
Right from tbe beginning, members of WASP were
given to understand that if tbey proved capable, they
would be made an official part of the Army Air Corps.
Due to congressional
astray.

red tape, tbe entire plan went

It did not take long to demonstrate tbat WASP was

valuable to the war effort, but it was not until the
summer of 1944 that Congress voted against tbe bill
designed to make WASP par! of tbe air corps.
By tben, though, there was no longer a shortage
of male pilots, and the time had come to get the
women bark to the kitchens where, in the chauvinist
view of lhe day, they belonged.
Bitterly disappointed
at not being allowed to
remain in service until victory was assured, the WASPs
went their own ways.
Because these were, for tbe most part, highly
motivated young ladies, they did as well in civll1an life
as they did in the air corps. The did not raise tbe
question of veterans' benefits until quite recently. They
didn't need help, so they didn't ask for it.
The basic objection of the Veterans Administration
is that the granting of veteran status to WASPs would
set a p~ecedent and there would then be no way to
deny veteran status to the many groups that worked as
auxiliaries to the armed forces. The Civil Air Patrol is
named as one such group.
I contend, however, that they cannot be equated.
The CAP, also founded by Hap Arnold, was composed
of civilians who flew planes on their days off to sear~h
for submarines off the continental shores. It was as
social as it was military.
Are we to forget these ladies of WASP, now all
middle-aged, who gave so much and asked for so little
recognition? How ungrateful can a nation become?
Write your senator. Write
Write me, c/o the Examiner.

your

congressman.

Col. Bruce Arnold and

~larie Hountain Clark 44-1
set musical pace at
Hot Springs Reunion.

CROSS COUNTRY N~iS, Jan. 20, 1977 edition had a

note from George C. Martin, in the Sound Off Column, wishing all his \iASP students, classes W-2,
through W-10a Happy and Healthy New Year. Any
who wish to write him may do so at Suite 750, 101
Park Ave. Bldg., Oklahoma City, Okla. 73102.
Betty JoReed

& her King Air (Denver 8/22/t77)

ROSTER

LOST

(through October
FOUND (continued)

(AGAIN)

44-3
44-1(t)
Assoc
43-7
\.JAFS
44-5(t)
43-4
43-1
43-4

Frances Kenney Crowell

Alfred Fleishman
Eleanore Bryant Folk
Dorothy Flynn Fulton
Sarah Frances Potts Hudson
Doris M. Manuel
Eleanor Boysen Morgan
Dorothy Kocher Olsen

ADDRESS
44-2

45-1

Eleanor

Wagner
44-5

DECEASED
43-6
43-3
43-6

Rebecca Edwards Brown

Gretchen Graba
Nelle Carmody Klein

Assoc

FOUND
44-8

Ginny Webb Earnshaw

7110 - 45th Street
Chevy Chase, MD 20005
656-9546 (b) 452-4462

43-6

Elizabeth L. Gardner
208 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10025

44-10

Ellen Howard Graff

1018 S. Halladay Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

43-8

Doris Moffat Long

6311 E. Ensenada
Mesa, Arizona 85205
(John E.)
Fred D. Marshall
3306 - 27th Street
Lubbock, TX 79410

44-10

Patricia Houran Rideout

848 Filbert Streec
Eugene, O~ 97404

44-1

Mary Beecham Smith

4870 Somer ford Drive
Atlanta, GA 30338
404-393-1579

44-8

44-9

Katherine Willinger
35 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016

William Dickensheets
20401-606 Soledad Cyn Road
Canyon Country, CA 91351

43-2

Gini Alleman Disney

5904 E. 46
Tulsa, OK 74135
918-627-8108
(Wesley)

FAM

Ruth Adams
3664 Madrone Avenue
Oakland, CA 94619

Michael Dixon
1102 8th Ave., #601
Seattle, WA 98101

STAFF

Norma Sisler Anderson

71-837 Magnesia Falls Dr.
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

Elsie Pfuger Doerphinghaus

128 S. Candler St.
Decatur, GA 30030

44-6(t)

Sue E. Snedaker Durran

415 So. Bernardo, #2l1-L
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Joseph M. Azzato, Jr.

40 Tac Gp, Box 1223
APO, NY 09293

43-2

Pat Chadwick Erickson

Box 782, 527 Henkel Circle
Winter Pa~
FL 32790
305-647-3851
(b) 647-3591
(SH) c/o John Chadwick
99y, Green St.
Augusta, ME 04330
207-622-0754

43-4

Natalie Ellis Fahy

(change Area Code to 703)
Add:
(SH)
300 E. 4th St.
Rome, GA 30161
404-291-4998

STAFF

Kathryn Fraley
25535 Wingfield
Spring, TX 77373

44-8

Joan Gough Frost

1454 Scrope Rd.
Rydal, PA 19046
215-884-2130

Elizabeth Carsey Clark

(remove Florida address)
Permanent address is (SH)

44-2

Dorothy Hawkins Goot

7436 Gallant Cir.
Citrus Heights, CA 95610

Helen Mary Clark

176 Westervelt Avenue
Tenafly, NJ 07670

44-7

Eleanor Gunderson
859 N. June, #301
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Ann Pedroncelli Connelly

2971 17 Mile Drive
Pebble Beach, CA 93953

43-2

Ruth Thompson Hawkins

2400 Del Dios Highway,
Escondido, CA 92025
714-747-4197

Lois Bristol Young

1226 Los Robles
Pamona, CA 91768
718-622-1636
(Herbert)
(SH) Oceanside
714-722-1085
CORRECTIONS

43-4

Mary Louise Bowden

Miraj Medical Centre
Miraj, Maharastra, India

43-7

Nell Stevenson Bright

8350 E. McKellips Rd., #56
Scottsdale, AZ 85257
602-949-1883

SA

Eileen Ward Bristol

c/o Trollhill
New London, NH 03257

WAFS

Ted R. \.Jilliams
P. O. Box 6879
Jackson, MS 39212

INST

Bernice I. Batten
P. O. Box 14
Vader, WA 98593

43-6

Margery F. S. Taylor
6300 E. Holbert Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20034

5, 1977)

WAFS

43-5

Inst?

43-6

UPDATE

44-7
Ware
43-6

44-2(t)

INST

Sana Kierstead Wilson

The Hollow
43-5
Haddam, CT 06438
(July-Aug-Sept)
One University Pl., Apt. 8-C
New York, NY 10003 (Oct. to July 1)

Ann Baumgartner Carl

876A Heritage Village
c/o Tebbel
Southbury, CT 06488

Sp 22

Mimi Platter Cook

10 Olde Ivy Sq., N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30305

44-5

Lois C. Cutler
191 Presidential Blvd.#905
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004

Gloria W. Heath
One Island Lane
Greenwich, CT 06830

43-5

Geraldine P. Hill
15505 Nordhoff St., #214
Sepulveda, CA 91343
893-4188

INST

Hubert G. Hoogerwerf
700 Elm, 1/14

INST

Clinton L. Hubbard
216-Sandgate
Houston, TX 77061

Dayle Dayton
17860 Cold Springs
Reno, NV 89506

Rd.

Helen Fremd DeGray

(remove Arlington address)
P. O. Box 36
Port Isabel, TX 78578

ADDRESS
44-8

43-5

INST

44-6

44-10

43-5

44-2(t)

INST

INST

43-2

44-5

co

FAM

44-5

INST

44-9

43-6(t)

44-10

'.
I

CORRECTIONS

(continued)

Ruth Clifford Hubert

3900 50th St., N
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Celia M. Hunter
2141 N Street, N.W., Apt. 1
Washington, D.C. 20037
(b) 293-2732
Sam Huston
641 W. Shepherd Drive,
Mustang, OK 73064

Ann Kenyon Morse

Ministerial Road
Wakefield, RI 02879

44-1

Doris Burmester Nathan

131 Westwood Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49007

44-6(t)

111286 44-9

Lucy Dubiel Johnson

Box 2151
Merced, CA 95340

11307B

Nadja Gajdowski Kostuk

176 Shagbark Drive
Derby, CT 06418
Dorf E. Larsen
3016 Northmoor Tr.
Michigan City, IN 46360
Keith W. Lutz
12 Independence Pl., N.W.
Atlanta, GA 30318
Melvina K. Maier
475 Chelsea Ct.
Leisure Village
Lakehurst, NJ 08733

Lois Thompson Nelson

336 Fairfax Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23507

Curtis C. Scott
P. O. Box 1076
Clovis, NM 88101

43-6

Nancy Sendelbach
(add phone: 704-852-4292)

Barbara Fowler Norton

General Delivery
Okeechobee, FL 33472

43-6

Maxine Steward Smith

980 Agate Street
(rest the same)

43-2

Mary Tufts O'Brien

38 Sachem Road
Weston, CT 06883

43-5

Jean Mohrman Springer

(change zip to 45208)

43-4
44-7

Ann Cawley O'Connor

145 Osborn Road
Rye, NY 10580

Nancy Nesbit Staples

6370 Magnolia Ave., 11200
Riverside, CA 92506

INST

Gip Oldham
6008 E. University

45-lill

Virginia

43-6

Irma Story
829 W. Ave., J-12
Lancaster, CA 93534

43-4

Alice Jane Talcott

6113 Bellingham Ct, Apt. 1321
Baltimore, MD 21210

Blvd.

44-9

Joan Olmsted
400 Madison St., 111404

DISP

LeBecca Wills Paddock

4110 Cat Hollow Drive
Austin, TX 78731

Barbara Poole Shoemaker

2238-B Michelle Drive
Sarasota, FL 33581

Crawford

Steck

43-7

Wilhelmina Teerling
185 Steiner Road
Lafayette, LA 70508

FAM

Richard Townsley
2104 Woodland Ave.
(rest the same)

44-5

Barbara E. Truitt
P. O. Box 274
(rest the same)

Mary Louise Prine

407 W. Lafayette St.
Marianna, FL 32446

44-5

Margot Harvey Veal

6770 Hawaii Kai Drive, 11405
Honolulu, HI 96825

43-2

Nadine E. Ramsey
1926 San Francisco
Long Beach, CA 90806

43-4

Virginia Harris Watry

lIlA Pinewood Crescent
Hampton, VA 23666

44-l0(t)

Fern V. Richardson
(remove - she is listed under
Douglas)

44-10

Janis Gregg Wheatley

6240 N. 16th, 1144
Phoenix, AZ 85016

43-7(t)

Ann Maie Ross

1248 S.W. 127th Court
Miami, FL 33184
305-223-4930

Mildred Taylor Marshall

P. O. Box 211
Stanley, NC 28164

43-2

Avanell Pinkley
Leisure Lodge
Harrison, AR 72601

Landon E. McConnell
Route 1, Box 13
Alpharetta, GA 30201

INST

Hubert Pollard
P. O. Box 217
Hugo, OK 74743

R. G. Michell
7339 Red Ledge Dr.
Scottsdale, AZ 85253

44-3

Kathryn Boyd Miles

40 Angel Lane
Eugene, OR 97401
Capt. Glenn G. Miller
2010 Avenue of the Trees
Carlsbad, CA 92008
714-729-0157 (Mary)

Nina K. Morrison
37062 Weston
Barstow, CA 92311
714-256-8145

INST

43-7(t)

Harl W. Pinkard
P. O. Box 338 (rest the same)

Garland Jean Moore

S. 13th Street
Huntington, PA 16652

Martha Wegenseil Rupley

4650 Dulin Road, 1118
Fallbrook, CA 92028
714-728-5399

Ailsa Connolly Simonson

Box 937
Bismarck, ND 58501

INST

Wilma L. Miller
A-21 Lake Lotawana
Lee's Summit, MO 64063

43-2

Marjorie Osborne Nicol

WAFS
4491 Chaldecott St.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V65-2J9
604-224-0273
44-10
Betty LeVeque Niehoff
(change zip to 43215)

44-6

Dr. Janice Norton Kaufman

2 Fairfax Street
(rest unchanged)
Ann Karlson Kenney
2311 W. l83rd Street,
Homewood, IL 60430

44-8

43-5

Annabelle Kekic Rotbart

The Carlyle
12900 Lake Avenue, 111717
Cleveland, OH 44107

43-5

Barbara Hicks Runton

149 Village Green, 11131
(rest the same)

44-5(t)

Suzanne Sivade Whims

5905 Atlantic Avenue
(rest the same)

44-8

Beverly Dietrich Wilkinson

P. O. Box 42
Morro Bay, CA 93442

44-8

Virginia Fisher Wise

1122 Lothian Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32303

..

43-59t)

Hazel S. Wolf
5833 Royal Club
San Antonio, TX 78239

43-7

M. Winifred Wood
854 Wulff Road

44-2

Ruth Woods
(change 624 to 620)

44-10

- i'.

",I!'

CLASS SECRETARIES
WAFS

Remove Delphine Bohn - no new appointment yet

43-5

Remove Sylvia Clayton - replace with Jill McCormick

44-1

Jeanette Jenkins - correct address in this section to 716 Second Street

N.W.
Remove Mildred Dalrymple - replace with Jean McCart
1281 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90023
(and this correction was missed in roster update)

44-4

Frankie Yearwood
P. O. Box 769
(rest the same)

:'

: ... ~ "," )

---_._"------ -

Jane Wilson
,C1,3!l f~l. 2nd

Ge:rdi'.le.r

Crowde-

Thl:!'(:";~'~~'.,:,r1
Lodge,

44-8

Apt.

Dori3 Anderson
1!''':l,r.outh,

(vIA

,Iean F. McCart
1281 Westwood Blvd.
Los Anzeles, GA 90023

DB~iel
02540
44-1

(t)
j{1.1tIl
(c~la:n.:0. c::'ass

)")4-8

1. J.8. :3:"p; 'f) ~:3o\'1 c r

2~5 ~~8ar~~Jtr~et

.J

91.jJ)Y

/115-776-5009
Ethel ~eyer Finley
25 H2~t~or~e Pl.
S~~Mit, EJ 07901

44-1

~:)50

PiJl~.

'!i "'.-;'";,,

'f.

50 13elRr'lo,
Greenbrae,

44-3

Hazel

)\s~"::"An
~?, not

Tllc80n,

58801

\L4.F( t)

C"'- tlJerine

3J.o Cllm

Circle

Heno, NV 89509
43-7

l~oo d (' sruun)

Ann Mor:an

3tHple!3

(2cmovc this name-She :i.:J under flazzloJrd)

Lucy DuhiA1

Johnson
Ave.
CA 95~40

~Br30t Harvey Veal

P. O. Box 1240

E. Ghilds

~erced,

Berkeley,
44-9

43-6

1'12 F. Cart=r
~~r'1~ck-We8t A~t. ?58

Lomi ta:3
AZ 8570L;

] 3 Ave.

41-1-1.1, Gross off Carolyn 1"/00(1

Haumerson
(she is under Carclyn

2emove Alice Kierstead

(dee lois!?7 vpdate for
Jon8 (ierstead Wilpon)
~&r7aret
(Cilpm':p

33

95212

Sue Ric\It."l"

'Las

6]5 Canyon

S05-~>:\3-749)

:~1:1 ls

H.

':jilli.'3toYl,t'm

'~:'"l

J2net
S~na~

F~ances ~Olllstone Reeves

1404 N. Tustin, #0-3
Santa Ana, CA 92701

44-10 !vIart'J8Bla ir Gaunc e

514

~ucko11

44-'1

en 94904

:i:l~Ufer
>lS4 :21 Gc~:~ini to
J'm't'i Fe, llT:'[r~7SOl

Patricia Kenworthy
Old Tavern Road
Nest.on, VT 05J.61

Dodd Eppstein

Pat Chodwic~ Erickson

00\ Green St.
.4'J.iusta.Tv[E 04330

2259

4~)-3

Martha Wilkins Mit~b~ll

2601 Airlane
Phoenix, AZ 95034

750

;'Ju11eu
l!io. 15

:r.'~J.i. :? 3 b '2: t:1 :;';y r~: Taylor

""On th::) ~l) c: ~\ f~"
f~ 2l,j, ~<.~01259
Ii J. o_?:,.o_e1i' p
-;~~.lz.'3.b~t).l Eyr-c!
:~;'''

Dorothy

Ch 90210

no. to 44-5(t)

(no t Ep [ltei:'!)

A. ~cYinley

~lt~~ba~~
F,
('.
:.).':

Bevarlu

i~4 -

O()novan

H-5 Lillian Darlene Cal~ins Eno

1311 SAB Bawk Lane, The Dunes
Vera Beach, FL 32960
44-5

43-2

..

2'.:r ..l-..L:.....

'J

;~!=r0 ~1'r8.~1C~S(~O, Ctl

l: :z ". '

S]

Mildred Taylor Marshall

1517 Ehupua Place
Honolulu, HI 96821

.1\%85n03

Phnq~ix,

;:;::::
.'.~~:\
.,~:.::~i
- ._._.~
--

44-5

jIve.

4~-(

Helhurn
"'1)rivc"

94701

t\!Jth'floods
143 Robin Hood Way
Mabank, TX 75147

Kn~her
to

"Road")

An~ C~iswelJ. Madden

((]ha~~e town name

~ericn

41-1-2

CA

'3tn., ?a.

to

43-6(t)

late

find

G~a~8

V. All~y

RQd:c~3

4737 ~o. 69th St.

1-3'ir-nin::hmr.,

IlL 35206

3J.20 1~.:1. Expres:1',')ay

n~'a~o8a
City, OK 73Jl?

WASP MEMORIALS, Inc.

efo Mrs. Ted Nicholas. Secretary

125 W. 82nd St.

Indianapolis, In. 46260
Address Correction Requested
Return Postage Guaranteed

NON PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U,S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 312