By: Counts H.C.R. No. 120
73R8411 SDU-D
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-1 WHEREAS, The members of the Texas Legislature are proud to
1-2 honor the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, who will
1-3 reunite for a 50th anniversary and memorial dedication ceremony in
1-4 Sweetwater on May 22, 1993; and
1-5 WHEREAS, Even before the United States' entry into World War
1-6 II, the need for large numbers of experienced aircraft pilots was
1-7 evident, and as early as May 1940 Nancy Harkness Love, the wife of
1-8 a prominent Army Air Force officer and an excellent pilot in her
1-9 own right, proposed recruiting a select group of highly qualified
1-10 women pilots to supplement the all-male ferrying unit then being
1-11 organized; and
1-12 WHEREAS, In the fall of 1942, General of the Air Force Henry
1-13 "Hap" Arnold authorized the organization of the Women's Auxiliary
1-14 Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), with Mrs. Love as its director, as part
1-15 of the USAAF Air Transport Command; and
1-16 WHEREAS, Soon afterward, the Women's Flying Training
1-17 Detachment was organized at Houston's Howard Hughes Field under the
1-18 direction of Jacqueline Cochran, one of the preeminent women
1-19 aviators of the 1930s, to train novice pilots for service in the
1-20 WAFS; the unit received more than 25,000 applications, including
1-21 some from other countries; and
1-22 WHEREAS, Throughout their posting at Howard Hughes Field and
1-23 later at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, the intrepid volunteers who
1-24 had been accepted for the training program were obliged to put up
2-1 with skepticism and resentment on the part of some male pilots, as
2-2 well as the ambivalent attitude of the USAAF itself; and
2-3 WHEREAS, The WAFS were initiated into the rigors of military
2-4 life and subject to military discipline, but because they were
2-5 civilians, they had to pay their own travel expenses and find their
2-6 own billets wherever they could; they had no uniforms, and they
2-7 were ineligible for hospitalization, insurance, and veterans' and
2-8 death benefits to which military personnel were entitled; and
2-9 WHEREAS, The women's dedication and enthusiasm carried the
2-10 day, however, and of the 1,830 admitted to the program as trainees,
2-11 1,074 won their wings; on August 5, 1943, the WAFS and the
2-12 Sweetwater trainees were merged into the Women Airforce Service
2-13 Pilots (WASP), which went on to compile an enviable record of
2-14 achievement; and
2-15 WHEREAS, The WASPs flew a total of 60 million miles for the
2-16 USAAF and delivered 12,650 aircraft of 77 different types,
2-17 including the B-29 Superfortress, the jet-propelled YP-59A, and
2-18 fully half of the high-speed pursuit planes ferried in the United
2-19 States; they laid smoke during exercises, engineered test flights,
2-20 simulated gas and low-level strafing attacks, trained radar and
2-21 searchlight trackers, and performed the especially perilous job of
2-22 towing sleeve-shaped muslin targets for student antiaircraft
2-23 gunners; and
2-24 WHEREAS, In performing the demanding, and often hazardous
2-25 duties assigned to them, the WASPs lost 38 of their number in fatal
2-26 accidents; and
2-27 WHEREAS, The WASPs were discontinued on December 20, 1944,
3-1 and though their exemplary record inspired passage of a law in 1948
3-2 permitting women in the newly independent U.S. Air Force, the role
3-3 of these proud and courageous women as aviation pioneers and their
3-4 sacrifices in the service of their country have gone unsung for
3-5 many years; now, therefore, be it
3-6 RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas
3-7 hereby commend the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II on
3-8 the occasion of their 50th anniversary and memorial dedication and
3-9 extend to these gallant veterans heartfelt and grateful
3-10 appreciation for their vital contribution to the American war
3-11 effort.