Rosie the Riveters - America's Sweethearts
- Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs): Later renamed the Women’s Army Corps
- Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES)
- Marine Corps Women’s Reserve
A dedication to the ladies, who served in Uniform
American Women in Harms Way
WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of Marie Mountain Clark of the Women Air Force Service Pilots
Marie Mountain, of West Liberty Iowa, served with Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) and is noted as one of the the first female pilots to become initiated into the Caterpillar Club.
According to the Iowa Aviation Museum: “While studying music at Drake University in 1939, she joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), learned to fly at the Des Moines Flying Service, and taught navigation and meteorology in the military training courses at Dowling College.”
“Prior to joining the WASPs in August 1943, she had logged 76 hours. When her instructor was demonstrating spins in a Fairchild PT-19, Marie’s seat belt became unfastened and she was thrown from the cockpit. She was then inducted into the Caterpillar Club, a select group of pilots whose lives have been saved by parachutes.” – Iowa Aviation Museum.”
Following graduation in February 1944 Marie was assigned as a pilot with the US Army Air Force, accumulating about 1000 hours in military aircraft, including the PT-19, BT-13, AT-11 and AT-6 training aircraft, the P-39 and P-63 fighter aircraft and as a copilot in the B-17 and B-26 bombers. Her military service was at the Las Vegas (Nevada) Air Force Base where her duties included giving instrument flying instruction to male pilots, flying mock fighter attacks on the B-17 “Flying Fortress” and serving as an engineering test pilot for P-39 and P-63 fighter aircraft.” – Ann Arbor News
After the war, Marie worked for the Des Moines Flying Service and married John Alden Clark, a former WW2 bomber pilot in 1945. The couple relocated to Ann Arbor Michigan. Mary and John were married for 63 years and had two sons and a daughter.
In 2005 Marie published her World War II memoirs in the autobiography: Dear Mother and Daddy: World War II Letters Home from a WASP.
Marie Mountain Clark passed away on October 2, 2008 in Ann Arbor Michigan at the age of 93. She lies in rest at the Resthaven Cemetery in Des Moines Iowa. Lest We Forget.
“W.A.S.P” Pilot, Betty Blake flew War-Planes from their factories to the coast for shipment to Europe. She said her favorite of all the 36 different types of planes she’s flown was the P-51 Mustang. She also was a witness to the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was in the air with her husband at the time as she was a Tour/Ferry pilot before the war.
American Women during the Korean War
During the Korean War, American women primarily served as nurses in military hospitals, including Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) units, stationed both on the Korean peninsula and in Japan, with their roles largely limited to medical support due to the era’s restrictions on women in combat; approximately 120,000 women were on active duty during the Korean War, with a significant portion being nurses.
An Important Moment for Military Women
Before the Korean War, women serving in the U.S. armed forces did vital wartime work, but then went back to domestic life in peacetime. Based on the value of women’s World War II contributions, the Army asked in 1946 that women be made a permanent part of the military. The resulting legislation, signed by President Harry S. Truman on June 12, 1948, made the change for all branches, including the new U.S. Air Force. Women, while made permanent, were initially limited to 2 percent of the total force.
In USAF operations in the Far East, the only women permitted to serve in the Korean battle zone were medical air evacuation nurses of the USAF Nurse Corps. In the process of saving countless UN personnel, three USAF flight nurses lost their lives in Korea, and two received the Distinguished Flying Cross (one posthumously).
Women in the Air Force (WAF) personnel carried out numerous support roles at rear-echelon bases in Japan, including air traffic control, weather observation, radar operation, and photo interpretation. In June 1953 the number of WAFs serving in Japan peaked at about 600. By the end of the Korean War, the total WAF strength worldwide reached 12,800 officers and enlisted women.