Dorothy J. Allen
November 5, 1918 – October 1, 2006
Class: 44-W-4
Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.)
Planes flown: PT-17, B-13, AT-6, B-26
Assigned bases: Foster Army Air Field (Victoria, Tex.), Laredo Army Air Base (Tex.), Aloe Army Air Field (Victoria, Tex)
In 1997 Dorothy was interviewed by Texas Woman’s University as part of an oral history project. Below is a summary of that history, courtesy of TWU.
Dorothy Allen was born in Wellsville, Utah on November 5, 1918 to James J. Allen and Sarah Edna Maughan Allen. After graduating high school in 1939, Allen attended the University of Utah; however, she had a difficult time staying awake in classes and had to drop out because of severe tonsillitis. She then went to work for her uncle as a secretary. She decided that she was not making a lot of money and went to work for Remington Arms. Allen decided one day to start taking flying lessons, and to make the commute of lessons easier, she quit her job at Remington Arms and went to work at the airport. One day, Allen heard that Ethel Sheehy was in her town recruiting for the Women Airforce Service Pilots [WASP] program. She and another girl decided to go talk to her. Allen only had about 8 hours of flying time, but Ms. Sheehy told her to write her when she accumulated the rest of her hours. Allen finally finished accumulating hours and was accepted into the WASP class 44-W-4. Following graduation from the WASP program, Allen was stationed at Foster Army Air Field in Victoria, Texas and also Laredo Army Air Base in Laredo, Texas. After deactivation in 1944, Allen returned to Salt Lake City and began driving a yellow cab and then worked for an advertising agency. In 1949, Allen joined the Air Force Reserve. Then in 1954, she moved to California and worked for the Interstate Restaurant Supply Company from which she retired in 1985.
Sources:
Texas Women’s University, Denton, Texas. WASP collection
Findagrave.com
