Earning Their Wings: The WASPs of World War II and the Fight for Veteran Recognition

by Sarah Parry Myers

Established by the Army Air Force in 1943, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program opened to civilian women with a pilot's license who could afford to pay for their own transportation, training, and uniforms. Despite their highly developed skill set, rigorous training, and often dangerous work, the women of WASP were not granted military status until 1977, denied over three decades of Army Air Force benefits as well as the honor and respect given to male and female World War II veterans of other branches. Sarah Parry Myers not only offers a history of this short-lived program but considers its long-term consequences for the women who participated and subsequent generations of servicewomen and activists.

Myers shows us how those in the WASP program bonded through their training, living together in barracks, sharing the dangers of risky flights, and struggling to be recognized as military personnel, and the friendships they forged lasted well after the Army Air Force dissolved the program. Despite the WASP program's short duration, its fliers formed activist networks and spent the next thirty years lobbying for recognition as veterans. Their efforts were finally recognized when President Jimmy Carter signed a bill into law granting WASP participants retroactive veteran status, entitling them to military benefits and burials.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2023

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the topic, didn't love the writing. It felt a lot like reading someone's research paper rather than someone's passion. There was a lot of repetition in the information conveyed. I'd guess the book would have been about 100 pages shorter if the repetitive statements were removed. I did enjoy learning about the WASPs though. I will be looking for other books on this very interesting topic.

[Steven Minniear · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and well researched book. It has many important points to make about women in the military, as reflected in the history of the WASP. However, the writing is sometimes tedious to read. It needed better editing, especially in the first chapter. Nonetheless, I recommend this book.