TODAY WE REMEMBER SHIRLEY SLADE
This photo, taken in 1944, at Harlingen Army Air Field in Texas, shows Shirley Slade, a beautiful young woman, WWII WASP pilot who takes the controls of B-26 Marauder.
She was one of more than 1,000 women who was trained to fly the B-26 and B-29 bombers and that got her put on the cover of Life magazine in 1943 at age 23.
During her time in service Shirley was stationed at three different bases (Love Field, Dallas, Texas; Dodge City AAF, Kansas and Harlingen AAF, Texas) and primarily flew Bell P-39 Airacobras and B-26 Marauders, both were notoriously difficult aircraft to fly.
In 1942, the United States was faced with a severe shortage of pilots in World War II which led to the recruitment of women into the Air Force.
By recruiting women, the Air Force could maintain delivery of aircraft, ferry supplies, and perform other non-combative functions that fueled the war efforts.
The group has become known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots — WASP for short.
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