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 Air Field (Kansas City, Kan.)
Hondo Army Air Field (Tex.)
Long Beach Army Air Base (Calif.)
Thelma was born January 4, 1922 in Kansas City, Missouri to L.E. and Myrtle (Mills) Harris and lived in Alliance since 1967.
Mrs. Bluhm graduated in 1938 from Altoona High School in Altoona, Kansas and in 1940; she graduated from Chanute Jr. College in Chanute, Kansas. She did secretarial and drafting work for several local companies and retired from Nichols Field Services and the Dresser Company in 1992.
She also received flight training in 1943, and served with the WASP as a Women’s Air Force Service Pilot from 1943 to 1944.
She was discharged on Dec. 20, 1944 after serving with the Army Air Corps (Air Force). Mrs. Bluhm was a WASP civilian pilot, flying planes from factories to military bases. The WASP were granted military status after Vietnam. She followed her love for flying years later by being one of the founders of MAPS (Military Aviation Preservation Society).
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