Take a closer look at the lives and accomplishments of some of the WASP. New profiles are added regularly and will grow as the staff and volunteer of the CAF RISE ABOVE continue their tireless efforts to research and share the remarkable stories of these important American figures.

Francis Edyth Standefer Acker

Francis Edyth Standefer Acker May 9, 1920  – July 3, 1987 Class 44-W-4 Planes flown:  PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, BT-14, AT-17, AT-9, B-25, UC-78, B-26, AT-11 Assigned bases: Douglas Army Air Base (Ariz.) Yuma Army Air Field (Ariz.)

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Ruth Adams

Dr. Ruth Adams June 12, 1917 – December 16, 2005 Class: 44-W-2 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Planes flown: PT-19, BT-13, AT-6, BT-15, B-25, C-47, PT-17 Assigned bases: New Castle Army Air Base (Wilmington,

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Kate Lee Harris Adams

Kate Lee Harris Adams September 5, 1919 – December 2, 2002 Class: 44-W-2 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, P-40 Assigned bases: Napier Army Air Base (Dothan, Ala.) Adams was

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Adaline Alma Blank Adams

Adaline Alma Blank Adams August 17, 1917 – July 6, 2001 Class: 43-W-8 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Planes flown: PT-19, BT-13, AT-6 Assigned bases: Hondo Army Air Field (Tex.) and Dodge City Army

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Meriem Lucille Roby Anderson

Meriem Lucille (Roby) Anderson WASP Class 44-W-4 July 12, 1921 – January 5, 2018 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, BT-15 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Assigned Bases: Enid Army Air Base (Okla.) “I was crazy

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Edna B. Harrison Atkins

Edna B. Harrison Atkins Class 44-W-6 March 20, 1912 – Feb. 2, 2009 Planes flown:PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, B-17, B-24 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex) Assigned Bases: Shaw Army Air Base (Sumpter, S.C.). and Buckingham

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Lois Maxine Dobbin Auchterlonie

Lois Maxine Dobbin Auchterlonie Class 43-W-8 April 14, 1917 – March 24, 2013 Planes flown: PT-19, BT-13, AT-6, UC-78, B-26 Assigned Bases: Williams Army Air Base (Chandler, Ariz.) Lois Maxine Dobbin was born April 14,

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Dorothy A. Avery

Dorothy A. Avery Feb 12, 1917- Dec 29, 1999 Class: 43-W-7 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Assigned Bases: Mather Army Air Base (Sacramento, Calif.) and March Army Air Base (Riverside, Calif.) Planes flown: A-24,

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Mildred “Micky” Axton

Mildred “Micky” Axton WASP, Class 43-W-7 Axton was one of the first three Women Airforce Service Pilots to be trained as a test pilot and was the first woman to fly a B-29. January 8,

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Eloise Huffhines Bailey

Eloise Huffhines Bailey February 12, 1921-October 6, 2010 WASP Class 44-4 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-11, B-24, C-45, UC-78 Assigned Bases: Maxwell Field (Montgomery, Ala.) Eloise was a native Texan, born in 1921 near Richardson,

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Lorraine Marion Nelson Bain

Lorraine Marion Nelson Bain WASP Class 44-5 April 16, 1920 – May 23, 2014 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, AT-17, UC-78 Assigned Bases: Pecos Army Air Base (Tex.) One Sunday afternoon the coyote hunters were

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Susie Winston Bain

Susie Winston Bain July 21, 1922 – February 3, 2017 Class W-44-4 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Assigned Bases: Love Field (Dallas, Tex.) and Laredo Army Air Base (Tex.) Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6,

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Sylvia B. Barter

Sylvia B. Barter 1920-2009 WASP Class 43-W-7 Planes flown: BT-14, AT-6, UC-78 Assigned bases: Douglas Army Air Base (Ariz.) “Barnstorming pilots would land in my father’s fields and take us on exciting rides. Belted into

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Bernice Batten

Bernice Batten Class: WAFS “The Originals” April 14, 1913 – July 16, 2004 Planes flown: BT-13, At-6, A-24 Training Location: New Castle Army Air Base (Wilmington, Del.) Assigned bases: Long Beach Army Air Base (Calif.)

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Edith K. Smith Beal

Edith K. Smith Beal July 15, 1916 – April 24, 2013 WASP Class 44-W-7 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, PT-19 Assigned bases: Eagle Pass Army Air Base (Tex.) Edith was born on July 15, 1916,

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Beverly Beesemyer

Beverly Loyola Beesemyer August 25, 1918 – 2019 Class: 44-W-6 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Assigned Bases: Merced Army Air Field (Calif.) andLas Vegas Army Air Field (Nev.) Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, PT-22,

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Marcia Ellen Courtney Bellassai

Marcia Ellen Courtney Bellassai DOB – July 21, 2009 WASP Class W-43-3 Planes flown: AT-6, PT-19, A-24, A-25, B-24, C-47, UC-78 Assigned bases: Romulus Army Air Base (Mich.) Camp Davis Army Air Field (N.C.) Born

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Lovelle Richards Benesh

Lovelle Richards Benesh October 23, 1919 – April 20, 2008 WASP Class 43-W-1 Planes flown: AT-6 and BT-13 Assigned bases: Long Beach Army Air Base (Calif.) Graduation Details Dates: November 15, 1942-April 24, 1943 Number of

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Velta Snyder Haney Benn

Velta Snyder Haney Benn June 12, 1917 – December 1, 2010 WASP Class W-44-7 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, PT-22 Assigned Bases: Merced Army Air Field (Calif.) Velta was born in Vienna, Virginia, where she grew up

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M. Allaire Bennett

Madeleine Allaire Bennett February 15, 1918 – August 3, 2001 Class: 43-W-7 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Planes flown: PT-17, AT-6, B-25 Bases assigned: Mather Army Air Base (Sacramento, Calif.)  and March Army Air

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June Braun Bent

June Braun Bent WASP Class 44-W-3 March 1, 1913 – April 3, 2015 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, UC-78 Assigned bases: Merced Army Air Field (Calif.) and Minter Field (Bakersfield, Calif.) June E. Bent’s cousin

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Betty Lee Heinrich Berkstresser

Betty Lee Heinrich Berkstresser May 12, 1919 – July 1, 2018 WASP Class 43-W-4 Planes flown: B-13 and AT-6 Bases assigned: Love Field (Dallas, Tex.) and Hondo Army Air Field (Tex.) “Go!  Have fun!”   ~WASP

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Marguerite “Sis” Tuffin Bernhardt

Marguerite “Sis” Tuffin Bernhardt WASP Class 44-W-3 May 27, 1919 – May 15, 2013 Planes flown: BT-13, PT-17, AT-6, UC-78 Assigned bases: Perrin Army Air Base (Sherman, Tex.) and Bryan Army Air Base (Tex.) “We

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Edna Hines Bishop

Edna ‘Kitty’ Hines Bishop February 29, 1916 – October 5, 2008 WASP Class 43-W-4 Planes flown: BT-13, AT-6, A-25, B-17, B-24, L-5, C-47, P-47 Assigned bases: Long Beach Army Air Base (Calif.) and Liberty Field/Camp

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Betty C. Tackaberry Blake

Betty C. Tackaberry Blake October 29, 1920 – April 9, 2015 Class: 43-W-1 Training Location: Houston Municipal Airport (Tex.) Assigned Bases: Long Beach Army Air Base (Calif.) Planes flown: B-17, B-24, B-26, C-21, Cessna 170,

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Thelma Nadine Harris Bluhm

Thelma Nadine Harris Bluhm January 4, 1922 – April 7, 2005 WASP CLASS 43-W-7 Planes flown: PT-19, BT-15, AT-6 Assigned bases: New Castle Army Air Base (Wilmington, Del.) Childress Army Air Field (Tex.) Fairfax Army

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Delphine Bohn

Delphine Bohn WAFS, Class “The Originals” We will not again look upon a woman flying as an experiment. ~AAF Commanding General Henry “Hap” Arnold, 1944 July 5, 1913 – January 19, 1992 Delphine Bohn was

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Patricia Blackburn Bonansinga

Class 44-W-7 September 10, 1921 – December 2, 2006 Patricia Blackburn was born September 10, 1921 in Quincy, IL the daughter of Bryson and Margaret Smith Blackburn. When Pat was about 8 years old, she

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Caro Bayley Bosca

Caro Bayley Bosca March 29, 1922  – September 13, 2007 WASP Class 43-W-7 Planes flown: AT-11, B-25, B-26, P-47 Assigned bases: Mather Army Air Base (Sacramento, Calif.) and Deming Air Field (N. M.) Aviation legend:

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Margaret Ellis Kerr Boylan

Margaret Ellis Kerr Boylan February 6, 1921-October 11, 2010 Class 43-W-2 Planes flown: PT-19, AT-6, B-24 Assigned base: Romulus Army Air Base (Mich.) Margaret Ellis Kerr Boylan — she drove fast, played vigorously, loved life,

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Eleanor J. Patterson Brady

Eleanor J. Patterson Brady July 6, 1924 – April 8, 1963 Class 44-W-2 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, B-17, B-24, C-47, C-53 Assigned bases: Dodge City Army Air Base (Kan.) Gowen Army Air Base (Boise,

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Catherine Vail Bridge

Catherine Vail Bridge August 28, 1920-1922 Class: 43-W-2 Training Location: Houston Municipal Airport (Tex.) Assigned Bases: Love Field (Dallas, Tex.) and Palm Springs Army Air Base (Calif.) Planes flown: P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, B-17,

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Evelyn “Pinky” Pinckert Brier

Evelyn “Pinky” Pinckert Brier April 12, 1909 – January 20, 2008 Class 44-W-9 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, UC-78 Assigned base: Minter Field (Bakersfield, Calif.) Aviation Pioneer. In 1938 she became the first woman in

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Nell Stevenson Bright

Nell Stevenson Bright 1921 – Class: 43-W-7 Training Location: Avenger Field (Sweetwater, Tex.) Assigned Bases: Mather Army Air Base (Sacramento, Calif.) Biggs Army Air Field (El Paso, Tex.) Deming Air Field (N. M.) Planes flown:

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Frances Ellis Winter Brookings

Frances Ellis Winter Brookings July 2 1917 – April 12, 2018 Class 44-W-7 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6, AT-10 Assigned bases: Columbus Army Air Field (Miss.) Frances was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1917, the

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Aline Rhonie Hofheimer Brooks

Aline “Pat” Rhonie Hofheimer Brooks August 16, 1909 – January 7, 1963 Class: WAFS, The Originals Training Location: New Castle Army Air Base (Wilmington, Del.) Planes flown: PT-19, PT-26, BT-13, AT-6, A-20, C-60, P-38, P-51

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Blanche Osborn Bross

Blanche Osborn Bross 1916–2008 Class 43-W-6 Planes flown: B-17 and B-24 Assigned bases: Buckingham Army Air Field (Fort Myers, Fla.) Lockbourne Army Air Base (Columbus, Ohio) Blanche Osborn Bross was among 1,074 women who flew

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Eleanor “Mickey” McLernon Brown

Eleanor “Mickey” McLernon BrownNovember 3, 1922 – February 19, 2012Class 44-W-9Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6Bases served: New Castle Army Air Base (Wilmington, Del.) and Napier Army Air Base, Dothan, Alabama Eleanor “Mickey” McLernon was born

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Betty June “BeeJay” Overman Brown

Betty June “BeeJay” Overman Brown June 18, 1923 – Dec. 12, 2015 Class 44-W-7 Planes flown: PT-17, BT-13, AT-6 Assigned bases: Aloe Army Air Field (Victoria, Tex) “Follow your dreams!  You’re capable of doing it,

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Helen Jean Trench Brown

Helen Jean Trench Brown Class 43-W-4 July 21, 1919 – February 11, 2009 Planes flown: PT-19, AT-6, C-47 Assigned bases: Romulus Army Air Base (Mich.) “Flying became an obsession with me in 1941. Gas rationing

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