Nancy Harkness Love was one of the most influential women in aviation history. Born in 1914, the Houghton, Michigan native was the daughter of Dr. Robert and Alice Harkness. She studied at Milton Academy and Vassar, and had had her pilot’s license since the age of sixteen, while in high school. When at Milton Academy, a school that was strict about driving policies but did not have any rules against flying, she flew through a boy’s school’s campus as a prank, and got into trouble for it. When she left college, she took jobs in Beechcraft and Waco selling aircrafts before working for Inter-City Air Lines, owned and run by a young Princeton and MIT alumnus named Robert Love, whom she later married. Love’s marriage shot her into fame in society and the world of aviation. It was known as something of a love story, and put her in a perfect position to campaign for a woman’s flying squadron. Robert and Nancy built up an aviation company that was based in Boston, and she was allowed to be a pilot. She flew for the Bureau of Air Commerce doing things like testing three-wheeled landing gear, which was later standardized, and marking water towers with town names as a navigational aid for pilots. Her first proposal was seriously considered due to her qualifications, but they were later rejected. In May of 1940, Love wrote to Lieutenant Colonel Robert Olds, who was in charge of setting up a Ferrying Command for the Army Air forces. She offered him the assistance of forty-nine expert female flyers. The suggestion was made to General Hap Arnold, who turned it down temporarily. In spring if 1942, Robert Love was taken out of reserve duty, and was made into deputy chief of staff of the American Ferry Command. He mentioned to Colonel William ... ... middle of paper ... ... and photographs of each of the women who had died under her command” . Also, she and her women got into less moronic accidents resulting from not following rules, directions, and proper procedure then most male members of the Air Force. In fact, they often were used to prove to misogynistic men, who thought that they could do anything women could do better, and were motivated to surpass WASP and WAFS due to these demonstrations. In a largely sexist country, Love and her comrades were able to succeed and pass barriers in a profession considered purely masculine without shows of brute force and only through skill, finesse, and proof of their worth. Nancy Harkness Love was a truly remarkable woman. Works Cited "Nancy Harkness Love (1914 - 1976)." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. "Nancy Harkness Love." National Aviation Hall of Fame. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Stewart R. W. (2005). American Military History (Vol. 1). The United States Army and the
In January 1965, Caputo, now an officer, is sent to Okinawa, Japan with men in the Third Marine Division. While waiting for the call to join the war, the young men start getting antsy and discouraged by the long delay of battle. Two months later, on March 7, 1965, Caputo’s company, along with many others, are assigned to a war location, D...
The U.S. Navy nurtured into a challenging power in the years previous to World War II, with battleship construction being revived in 1937, commencing with the USS North Carolina . It was able to add to its fleets throughout the early years of the war when the US was still not involved, growing production of vessels both large and small. In a conflict that had a number of amphibious landings, naval superiority was important in both Europe and the Pacific. The mutual resource...
Hester, Tom. "Maj. Gen. Charles Lee's Division Retreats in Disorder." The New Jersey Star-Ledger, 5 August 2001
Canadian Air Force Office of Public Affairs. (1996). The Flying Career of William Avery Bishop. [WWW Document] Retrieved May 2nd, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/comment/bishop.html
Cameron, R. S. (2003). The army vision: The 4th AD in world war II. Military Review, 83(6), 59-68
July 24, 1897, a belligerent war against the norm of society is interrupted by the birth of one Amelia Earhart. From the time of her birth in Atchison, Kansas, to her disappearance in the Pacific Ocean at the age of 39, Amelia Earhart was venerated as a beacon of hope for women aviators around the world. She is recognized as the first woman aviator to set multiple records and some acclaim that Amelia Earhart is “perhaps the most effective activist of her time.” Acting upon a simple yearn for flight, Amelia Earhart managed to alter the public view on women as workers as a whole, and provided a hero during the ubiquitous devastation caused by the Great Depression.
Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr. (Bull) (American Naval Officer who led vigorous campaigns during World War II, 1882-1959)
Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, through dedication to his mission and the welfare of his marines, was a visionary leader even by today’s standards. In his youth, Chesty attempted to join World War I before he had reached the required age. He attended Virginia Military Institute, but dropped out after one year to satisfy his urge to experience combat. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as a private and remained enlisted for only a year before his commissioning as a lieutenant. Unfortunately, the war ended before he was able to experience combat. When a force reduction ensued after the end of the war, Lt Puller was sent to the reserves and given the ...
Blair Jr., Clay, (1975). Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, p. 78. p. 1072. Buell, Thomas B. -. (1987)
“We will not again look upon a women flying as an experiment”, said by General Henry H. Arnold during the last graduation in 1944. He believed in the Women AirForce Service Pilots. After the WASP program General Arnold knew that a woman flying an aircraft is and will be a normal thing for everyone. He agreed to form two groups designed to help meet the needs of American WWII pilots to ferry aircrafts over to other military bases.
5. Margiotta, Franklin D., Ed. “Brassey’s Encyclopedia of Military History and Biography”, Washington: Brassey’s, Inc. 1994
"Women in WWII at a Glance." The National WWII Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
In 1942, according to Goldin (1991), women were inducted into the armed services. A bill was presented to the House of Representatives to establish a women’s auxiliary in the Army. As a result, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was formed. The Navy had the (WAVES) Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the Coast Guard established the (SPARS) Semper Paratus – their motto meaning “Always Read”, and the Marines accepted women. IN 1943, two other groups were formed giving women the opportunity to fly airplanes. The (WAFA), Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) and the WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) who tested planes and ferried them from one American coast to the other.
“The Captain” America in WWII. America in WWII, Web, 2013. Retrieved on February 11, 2014 from http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/the-captain/