Margaret 'Peggy' Werber Gilman, 44-W-10 May 29, 2014

Margaret Werber Gilman died May 29 at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. She was 90.

Margaret Werber Gilman enjoyed a comfortable Great Neck youth with horseback riding and ski vacations, but she soon sought a new challenge.  She found it flying planes with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.

Gilman died May 29 at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. She was 90.

In a statement, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who honored Gilman in 2010 when the female pilots, known as WASP, received Congressional Gold Medals, called Gilman "a pioneer who forged a new path for future women aviators here in New York and beyond. . . . Her legacy will continue to inspire generations of women."

Gilman's role as a female flier occurred after American pilots were in short supply in the war's early days. One answer was found in more than 1,000 women picked by Army Air Corps officers from a pool of 25,000 applicants. They were trained and assigned duties ranging from aircraft transport to aerial target towing.

Gilman was one of the last to enter the program before it was disbanded in December 1944, arriving for training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, in May at the age of 20. She'd learned to fly not long before.

In Texas, "she would fly targets that the men would practice live fire on," said her daughter, Jane Gilman of Garden City. Sometimes their bullets missed the target, embedding with a ping in her aircraft.

By 1944, said Katherine Landdeck, a historian at Texas Woman's University and an authority on the WASPs, "American men were able to do the jobs women were doing. It was OK to have women releasing men for combat duty but not to have women replacing them."

Gilman married the veterinarian Manny Gilman, a pillar of American thoroughbred horse racing, and stayed home to raise their children. He died in 2011. 

WASP were not officially designated military veterans until 1977. Gilman felt the slight most when it came to the 38 comrades killed in wartime service. "She used to say how sad and pathetic it was that when the men died, they would ship coffins home to their families, treat them with such reverence," her daughter said. "And when women died they had to get together and get their own money to ship their bodies home to their families."

In a 2002 oral history now archived at Texas Woman's University, Gilman looked back on her service not with bitterness but satisfaction: "Learning to take orders and criticism and not explode, you know; I probably still don't like it. But I can cope with it. I can hang in there."

Besides her daughter, Gilman is survived by her son, Charles Gilman of Plandome. She lived most recently in North Hills.

Burial was on Monday at All Saints Episcopal Church in Great Neck with an Air Force Honor Guard in attendance. A flyover followed.

Originally published: June 5, 2014 8:07 PM
Updated: June 5, 2014 9:52 PM


By NICHOLAS SPANGLER  nicholas.spangler@newsday.com

WASP Josephine Keating Swift, 44-1

Josephine (Jo) Swift passed away on Saturday, August 28, 2010,  less than a month before her ninety-first birthday.  She will be missed, and she will be remembered with joy,  for she was a gift to all who knew her -- a WASP with a shining spirit that touched so many lives, including mine.
_____

Jo was born in Great Falls, Montana on September 24, 1919.  She called Great Falls "a hotbed of stunt fliers, crop dusters, barnstormers and flight schools”.  She and her brother paid $2 and took a ride in an airplane that changed their lives.  (Jo later said it may have been the goggles and scarves.)

After  successfully soloing and flying enough hours to get her pilot’s license,  Jo  then completed the required minimum of 35 hours and applied for, and was accepted into,  the WASP’ flying training program as a member of class 44-W-1.  After completing 7 months of training, she, along with 48 other young women pilots, graduated,   received their silver wings, and became WASP!     Class 44-1 was the first class to wear the Santiago Blue WASP dress uniform!   They also wore gloves at their graduation.  Jo’s graduation day was one of the coldest February's in West Texas history!

After graduation, Jo was sent to Dodge City, Kansas to the Army Air Base to learn to fly the B-26 Martin Marauder.  After successfully completing the transition training, she was stationed at  Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, a combat training base.  There, she flew both the B-26 & UC-78.  She ferried cargo,  personnel,  and aircraft; towed targets,  and flew simulated dive-bombing runs at B-24's.

After the WASP were deactivated, Jo applied to several airline companies for a job. They were not hiring female pilots.   Without success, she returned to Billings, Montana, where she was an instructor, flew,  and typed her way to her next job: wife and mother.

Jo married a ‘bush’ pilot from Alaska named Ken Swift.  She and Ken had three children.  When Ken passed away, Jo worked six years doing market research at Boeing.  She then opened an IFG Leasing Company in Anchorage, Alaska.

Eventually, Jo returned to Seattle,  later moving to Port Townsend, to be closer to her family. 

Jo is survived by her three children, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
(There is no  information available regarding services.)
_______________

Tech Sgt. Normand and WASP Josephine Swift in front of the Capitol

The last time I saw Jo was in Washington.  She was smiling from the inside out, wearing her WASP beret as only she could--just a little taller than most!

Jo had come to DC to attend the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony.   I was looking forward to seeing her, because, just a few months before, she had called my cell at just the right moment.   I was waiting in Sen. Hutchison's hallway between meetings regarding the Bill to award the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal.   I had never met or talked to Jo before, but  I was thrilled to be able to tell her first-hand  'what was happening'  in Washington.  I could hear her smiling!

Although I didn't get to spend much time with her at the ceremony, I was honored to know her.  Her sparkling spirit was contagious.  Perhaps this article says it better than I ever could:   http://www.northwestmilitary.com   

A very special moment happened after the ceremony was over, on the steps of the Capitol, when Jo's escort, Tech Sgt. Heather Normand, presented Jo her replica Gold Medal in front of 17 members of her family! 

Respectfully written and posted by Nancy Parrish
Sept. 2, 2010


More
M2W First Women Award

WASP Henrietta Sproat, 44-10

Henrietta Speckels Sproat

"I think of the WASP as young, daring and dedicated women of honor."

Henrietta Speckles Sproat, p. 545, "Out of the Blue and Into History" by WASP Betty Turner

_______

Henrietta Speckels Sproat was one of those extraordinary young women, just as she has described as ‘daring and dedicated women of honor’. Her life was about serving and sharing, and her spirit lives on through those whose lives she touched in so many different ways.

She died just 4 days after being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal as one of the pioneering Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII. It is the highest honor Congress can bestow on a civilian.

Henrietta was a Texas girl, born in Coupland and later moved to the San Antonio area, where she was surrounded by military air bases. She joined the "Texas Wing of Women Fliers" and took classes from Air Corps personnel. In WASP Betty Turner's "Out of the Blue and Into History," Henrietta remembers: "Jackie Cochran talked to us one evening about the WASP. I applied and entered the class of 44-10."

Her assignment after graduation was to Aloe Army Air Field, Victoria, Texas. Even though the WASP were disbanded just 13 days after her graduation, she calls it "a time of challenge and determination, of fun and fear, and of molding lifelong friendships. We called ourselves, ‘The Lost, Last Class’, but our graduation day was most memorable, with General "Hap" Arnold handing us our wings."

After the WASP’ deactivation, Henrietta married William Sproat. They raised their family in California, but Henrietta always took the time to also help her community. "I was available for work with the Girl Scouts, charity fund-raising, and church school, where I taught for twenty years."

After her husband died in 1976, Henrietta volunteered at ‘Video Outreach’, where she helped distribute Christian videos to the world. She traveled extensively, seeing much of the world, and finally settled in Oroville, California, close to her daughter and family.

She is survived by daughters, Kathy and Debby, and son, David.

(MORE INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED as soon as it becomes available.)

SPECIAL ARTICLE FROM THE CHICO ENTERPRISE RECORD

MARCH 20, 2010

By HEATHER HACKING - Staff Writer

'DAY AFTER SEEING MEDAL, PIONEERING AIRWOMAN FROM OROVILLE DIED.'

Click photo to enlarge

In this photo taken July 20, 2009, Henrietta Sproat of Oroville looks over a picture of herself...

• 1
• 2
• »

OROVILLE -- Henrietta Sproat of Oroville was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 10 for her service during World War II as a Women's Airforce Service Pilot, WASP.

Because of recent hip surgery, she was unable to reunite with other pioneering female fliers at the Washington, D.C., ceremony. However, her daughter Debby Henderson of Oroville delivered the gold medallion to her mother's bedside March 13.

She died the next day at the age of 90.

The award is the highest honor a civilian can attain in the United States.

Last August, the announcement was made that Sproat and 1,074 other female fliers would receive the honor, many posthumously. Of the 300 survivors, about 200 attended the ceremony.

Although Sproat was not able to travel, her daughter said she enjoyed sharing her stories with many reporters last summer when the awards were announced, and cherished the friendships she made with other women who also served their country.

"It was very important to her," Henderson said.

Sproat was among a select number of women who earned her wings during the program, which many regard as opening the doors to women in the armed services.

The WASP program began in 1942 when there was a shortage of male pilots. More than 25,000 women volunteered, but only about 1,800 were accepted. Even fewer, such as Sproat, completed the rigorous program.

She was among the last class of graduates, and the program was deactivated soon after she finished her training in late 1944.

The WASPs delivered approximately 12,650 planes and flew more than 60 million miles, stationed at 120 Army bases in the United States.

The fliers transported planes overseas, tested military aircraft, taught aerial navigation, provided target towing and transported personnel and cargo.

The women were given veteran status in 1977.

Sproat's daughter said the camaraderie of the women was among the highlights of her mother's life.

Her mother spoke of her service and the work of the other women in the program as "something they could do for their country."

"It was not just that they were 'fly girls'," Henderson said. "They were very focused and concerned about helping with the war effort.

"They believed they were fulfilling their obligations to their country."

Last August, Sproat (born Henrietta Speckels) recalled that she was in her mid-20s and living in San Antonio, Texas, which was surrounded by air bases.

In 1942, she worked at Kelly Field and later San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, and attended a class of the Texas Wing of Women Fliers, which met after her work.

During the course, Jackie Cochran, who later became the first woman to break the sound barrier, gave a talk about the Army Air Corps training program for women.

Sproat applied and was among the small percentage of those accepted.

She lived with other female fliers, sleeping on cots and subject to military inspections, marching to meals and training during the day.

Their flying needed to be perfect for graduation, and many "washed out," Sproat shared last summer.

Over the years, she kept in touch with her friends from that time of her life, including reunions every other year, the most recent of which was in 2008, her daughter shared.

When Henderson was in Washington, D.C., to receive her mother's medal, Deanie Parrish, a WASP and leader of Wings Across America — www.wingsacrossamerica.us — made an acceptance speech on behalf of the women.

Parrish said the best thing about this ceremony and receiving the award was the coverage by the news media and "that more people would hear about this story and these women who flew," Henderson said.

Henderson said when the media interviewed her mother, she was "overjoyed" at the recognition of the women's story.

"They were from every walk of life, every kind of occupation — from homemaker to engineer," Henderson said.

After the women's flying program ended in 1944, "they went back and became America again. Every time they were together they were sisters and they were bonded by this experience.

"It's a wonderful experience to be able to be a part of and observe the regard they have for each other," Henderson said.

Her mother was looking forward to the event in Washington, and asked about it every so often, she said.

Henderson, her husband, and several other family members were there to accept the award at the Capitol.

With more than 1,700 RSVPs, the assemblage was too big for the capitol rotunda, where it was originally planned, and was held in the Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center, Henderson noted.

Staff writer Heather Hacking can be reached at 896-7758 or hhacking@chicoer.com.