Flora Belle Smith Reece, 44-W-4 | December 1, 2014

   

 "God is the center of everything I do.

That's who I am."

WASP Flora Belle Smith Reece, 44-W-4

October 21, 1924 - December 1, 2014

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Article below respectfully reposted with thanks to Rebecca Amber, Edwards AFB 

and the Antelope Valley Times, Lancaster, CA.

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W.A.S.P., 90 years well lived

by Rebecca Amber, Edwards AFB • December 23, 2014    

EDWARDS AFB – Antelope Valley residents said ‘goodbye’ to World War II-era Women Airforce Service Pilot and Congressional Gold Medal recipient Flora Belle (Smith) at the age of 90. Reece died peacefully in a UCLA medical facility after being removed from life support.

Those who knew Reece well will remember she had three priorities in life: God, family and aviation – in that order.

Reece was born Oct. 21, 1924, in Sayre, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression. She had three siblings James Evan, Mary Lea and LaWanda. Her parents, Robert and Agnes Smith were sharecroppers.

As a toddler, Reece would ask to hold her baby sister LaWanda and when she’d had enough, she’d stand up, “dumping LaWanda unceremoniously on the ground.”

WASP Flora Belle (Smith) Reece spoke at the W.A.S.P. memorial dedication
at Lancaster Cemetery in 2011. (Aerotech News photo by Rebecca Amber)

According to her daughter Connie Fox, Reece “Kept the adults watching her closely. She basically did as she wished and everyone around her scrambled to make sure all was okay.”

Her father was a Southern Baptist preacher and her mother a homemaker. Before she entered kindergarten, Reece was assigned regular chores like keeping the kindling box full for the cast iron stove.

Her son, Russell Reece, remembers hearing stories about a cow that had to be milked three times a day. The cow would come as close to the house as she could and bawl for Reece’s father to come milk the cow.

Later on, she was assigned to plowing the fields.

“She would guide the horse to the end of a row, wait for her older brother Evan to turn them around to start the next row,” said Fox.

And as she plowed, she would look to the skies, watching the birds as they effortlessly soared by. She knew that like the birds, she wanted to fly.

When she told her father, as a young girl, that she wanted to fly, he would respond, “Flora Belle, that isn’t something girls usually do, but if you can figure out a way to make it happen, more power to you.”

In school, when Reece was told to write down what future career she would like to pursue, she would write “pilot.” This resulted in being called into the office and told that girls could not be pilots and that she would need to choose something more practical.

“Never once did her enjoyment of or her desire to fly waiver,” said Fox.

During her senior year in high school, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed by the Japanese.

Young Flora Belle (Smith) Reece is shown between fellow classmates 

after graduating from B-26 school in Harlington, Texas. Reece was younger

 than her classmates because she entered the service at 19 

when the minimum age was 21. (U.S. Air Force photo)

After graduation, she responded to a notice that  Jacqueline Cochran had placed in the local papers looking for 21-year-old women to fly military aircraft for the Army. She sent for her birth certificate, knowing it would be a few years before she was old enough to join. However, someone in the county clerk’s office mistakenly put her older sister’s birth year on the document, making her eligible right away.

After being interviewed and given a physical, she was told she would need 35 hours of flight time logged in order to join the W.A.S.P.

Reece once mentioned in an interview that it was as if he’d asked her for the moon because the cost of flying was so high. Her older brother, an Army lieutenant, was the answer to her problems when he agreed to lend her the money for private flying lessons.

As a W.A.S.P. trainee, Reece was assigned to a bay with five other women at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. She was often teased about looking young by the other women who did not know she was only 19.

“After about six weeks, she couldn’t stand that she’d entered W.A.S.P. illegally and went to the commanding officer,” recalled Fox.

Since the age requirement was set to be lowered and she was doing well in her training, the issue was dropped.

On the day that she soloed in the North American T-6, Reece forgot to pick up her instructor and bring him back to the hangar. She ran out to meet him, offering to carry his parachute, although he declined.

Then one rainy day, that same instructor allowed her climb through an opening to fly above the clouds because “Flora Belle never gets lost.”

The wide open space was wonderful for practicing her acrobatic maneuvers. But, after rolling and spinning, her hole in the clouds was gone and she was lost. As she had been instructed, she found a farm with phone lines and prepared to land, worried that she would be sent home if any damage came to the airplane.

She was met by local farmers who helped her call the base and put on an impromptu potluck. The next day, she was picked up by her instructor and a mechanic in a cattle truck. The most embarrassing part of the whole experience was carrying her parachute in that morning, because everyone could see she didn’t make it back in time to turn it in the day before.

For weeks, Reece thought she would wash out of the program, and when she could not stand it any longer, she asked her instructor about it.

As it turned out, he had known for weeks that everything was fine.

When she asked why he waited so long to tell her, he said, “Remember my having to walk back to the hangar carrying my parachute? Now we’re even.”

Of the 25,000 women who applied, less than 1,900 were accepted and only 1,074 earned their wings. Reece graduated with hers in May of 1944 with Class 44-W-4 and served until the W.A.S.P. was disbanded in December of that same year.

W.A.S.P. Flora Belle (Smith) Reece and Dorothy Allen
put on make up in the reflection of a P-38. (U.S. Air Force photo)

It wasn’t until 1977 that the W.A.S.P. were granted full military status for their service. Prior to that, they had been considered civilian pilots. In 2010, they were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal for their distinguished achievements. Both Connie and Russell were in attendance at the ceremony in Washington D.C.

Though she appreciated the gesture, Reece once remarked that she would have preferred to have been given military status at the time, so she could have continued flying.

Reece spent the majority of her time as a W.A.S.P. flying the North American AT-6 “Texan,” which she called a “beautiful airplane.” Her assignments usually involved transporting non-flying officers, photographers for the newspaper and chaplains wherever they needed to go. She was later trained to fly the B-26, known as “the widow maker,” which she used to tow targets for gunner’s practice.

Her dream though, was to fly the P-38. She was never given the chance, but she was certainly ready for it. When ace pilot Maj. Richard Bong toured a base she was stationed at, she convinced the ground crew to let her sit in the cockpit so that she could memorize the instrument panel.

She was finally afforded the opportunity to ride as a passenger aboard a P-38 in Burbank, Calif. at the age of 79.

After leaving the W.A.S.P., Reece returned to Oklahoma in 1945, where she married her high school sweetheart Ralph, an Army Air Force mechanic. The two moved to California and had their first child, Connie. They were married for 62 years before Ralph’s passing, and they gave birth to two more children, Cherryl and Russell.

“Mom taught us to help others. She stressed this particularly in regard to including unpopular school mates in activities,” recalled Russell. “At one time a school [administrator] commended Connie because Connie had included a minority student in some activity in the face of considerable peer pressure.”

Years after moving to California, Reece went to school, got her credential and became a teacher. She taught math at several schools, including Park View School in Lancaster. At that school, she started the first computer lab using Apple IIe computers and attempted to recruit the support of other teachers. Only one of those teachers would allow her students to turn in type-written homework assignments. The rest insisted that computers were “just a fad.”

In their retirement years, the Reeces spent two years with the Peace Corps in Malaysia, India and Thailand.

Even after Ralph’s death, Reece continued to find ways to serve others. In 2009, she went with a group from Faith Community Church to the Philippines.

For years, she presented photographic slides from her W.A.S.P. days to military groups, schools and community organizations. She was an active member of the Antelope Valley 99s, the P-38 National Association, and participated in many W.A.S.P. functions.

At a 2014 Veterans Day ceremony at Lancaster Cemetery, attendees signed a “Get Well” card
 to be send to Reece. Less than a month later, Reece died peacefully in a UCLA medical facility
after being removed from life support.

Reece also stayed very connected to Edwards AFB.

“I recall young men assigned to Edwards coming to the house after church or for church-sponsored activities for many years,” said Russell.

Reece was one of four W.A.S.P.s who lived in the Antelope Valley. The other three were Margaret (Castle) McAnally, Irma “Babe” Story and Marguerite “Ty” Hughes Killen.

A memorial with pictures of all four women is in the Lancaster Cemetery Veterans Court of Honor.

Reece is survived by her daughter Connie, her son Russell, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

“God is the center of everything I do,” said Reece in a former interview. “That’s who I am.”

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Florine Phillips Maloney, 44-W-4 April 3, 2013

“If I had my ‘druthers’,  I’d rather be in an airplane, but sailing is very close to it.  I like to say that I traded my wings for sails.”    Florine Phillips Maloney

On April 3, 2013,  WASP  Florine Phillips Maloney (WASP, 44-4)  traded her ‘sails’  for her final pair of ‘wings’.   

Florine was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 14, 1920, the second of three children.  She described her childhood as a happy one, raised by a single mother and surrounded by an extended family of cousins. 

During high school, Florine became interested in journalism, working on the school paper and her high school yearbook.  Following graduation, she entered the University of Chicago but soon transferred to a business college. Upon  completing the coursework there,  she became a steno typist and eventually worked for American Airlines as a reservation agent on the midnight to eight am shift. 

With just a little encouragement from her brother, who was in pilot training with the Army Air Forces following his attendance at West Point,   Florine began taking flying lessons at a small airport near her home.  Eventually,  American Airlines transferred her to Love Field, Dallas, Texas.  It was there that she heard the word “WASP” for the first time.  After discovering what it meant, she immediately applied to enter the flight training program required to become a WASP and was accepted. 

She arrived at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas on November 1, 1943, together with 103 other hopeful young women pilots.  Less than 2 months after arriving for training, she was granted leave for 48 hours to travel to Love Field to marry Lt. Robert Mancib.  

After seven months of Army Air Force flight training, she and 51 of her classmates graduated on May 23, 1944 and received their silver WASP wings.  Proudly in attendance at her graduation: her mother, her  brother (an Army Air Force pilot), and her sister, Rosalie, marching in review as a member of class 44-W-9.  

Florine’s Army orders sent her to Love Field, Dallas, Texas, where she was assigned to fly with the Fifth Ferrying Group.  She ferried AT-6’s from the factory to training bases and points of embarkation. She was transferred to Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, where she primarily flew AT-10’s as an administrative pilot.   Her most vivid memory of her flying assignments there was flying a Norden Norseman,  fitted out as a hospital transport,  to San Antonio with a soldier in traction, attended by nurses and doctors.  

After the WASP were deactivated, Florine, now divorced, joined her sister, Rosalie,  and applied to the American Red Cross for duty overseas.  The two sisters spent almost two years in Naples, Italy, running the American Red Cross Club Division.  

 After returning to the States, she met and married Tom Carley.  As Florine later remembered, “We had a lot in common.  He had an airplane and I had wings.”    They had two children:  Keith Maxwell Carley and Laura Phillips Carley.  Soon after their tenth anniversary, Tom passed away.  While raising their children and finishing the house they had started building, Florine married Howard Scaife and became a step mom to his two children.  Following Howard’s death,  Florine became quite a sailor, sailing to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Tahiti, and eventually to Guatemala.  

After returning to the States, Florine  fell in love and married another sailor, Mac Maloney, who was a retired Marine Colonel and successful author.  She spent many of her last years copy- editing  Mac’s book,  “Chapman’s Piloting”,  the ‘Small Boater’s Bible’. 

The last few years found Florine and Mac living near the water and enjoying  trips on their  38’ trawler named ‘Leeway.’   

Surrounded by many challenges in her life, Florine always remained positive:   “I guess I’ve always known that God was gonna take care of me...and He has!    When I think of some of the scrapes I’ve gotten through, it’s a miracle!”

Florine was a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in both  Illinois and Florida.  She was also the proud holder of Ham Radio License N4CGG.

In May of 2003, we were privileged to interview Florine in her home in Pompano Beach, Florida.  During our brief visit, we took a picture of she and Mac in front of their beautiful  boat, which was less than a block from their home.  This picture truly represents  how we remember her:   holding Mac’s hand, happy, smiling, proudly standing as tall as she could, despite the physical challenges.  

Florine Phillips Maloney:  a unique, one-of-a-kind sailor/WASP is now truly flying higher than she has ever flown before.  

God bless all whose lives she has touched and will touch.  

v/r written and posted by Nancy Parrish

from the video interview with Florine Maloney,  May 4, 2003

*Photos from the Wings Across America archive

WASP Peggy Parker Eccles, 44-W-4

WASP Peggy Parker Eccles passed away on May 9, 2009, the day before Mother's Day. She had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and was fighting the good fight. Our prayers go out to her family.

Peggy's story is posted below--in her own words.

I was born on February 16, 1921, in Oregon City, Oregon. My inspiration and love of flying came from my father, also a pilot. I was a junior at Mills College when I got my pilot license in 1941. The Civilian Pilot Training program (CPT), was offered at Mills College, in California's San Francisco Bay area. When I began college at 16, I intended to head for medical school. I also wanted to fly to get the feeling of the third dimension.

After I finished the CPT training during my senior year of college, I was interviewed after spring vacation, I was asked to become a WASP right away. I opted to wait until after I graduated from college in June of 1942. I passed the required physical, but somehow my papers got lost somewhere at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas. After inquiring about the delay, I got my orders to report to Sweetwater, Texas.

I was upon graduation, assigned to the Air Transport Command in Romulus, Michigan. I mostly ferried the B-24 anf B-17 to point of embarkations, which included Great Falls, Montanna, the San Francisco Bay area and Newark, New Jersey. I also flew several Norsemen to Montreal, Canda, which were crated and sent to England. Then I was sent to the Second Air Force Training Command, and assigned to a B-29 base near Alamogordo New Mexico, where I acted as a taxi service for four physicists at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I would fly the men from New Mexico to Edwards Air Force Base in California, on to Washington, DC. The entire project was very hush-hush! I even had to carry a gun while I transported those men.

After deactivation, I continued in aviation one year with other WASP at the Palm Springs Airport in California for awhile. I also taught flying and continued to ferry planes. I married Julian Eccles. We have three children: Ted Eccles, Ralph Eccles and Jill Frodsham. All of whom presented me with seventeen grandchildren.

I continue to fly whenever I get the opportunity. I sold my Klamath Falls residence and now spend part of the year in Palm Desert, California, and part of the year at Lake of the Woods in Oregon, which I believe is the best of all worlds at this point.

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Peggy's story reprinted from WASP Betty Turner's "Out of the Blue and Into History"

SEE PHOTOS OF PEGGY

More will be posted as information changes.

God bless you all,

nancy

WASP Ann Ufer, 44-W-4

WASP M. Ann Ufer passed away in Santa Fe, New Mexico sometime in February, 2009.

The news came in from a note, penned by the executor of Ann's estate.
There was no obituary and there were no listings of any articles or information online about this WASP from class 44-W-4.

I've spent the last few hours trying to find out more information on who Ann was--and how she spent her life. I looked in my usual standby--Betty Turner's "Out of the Blue and Into History". It is a fabulous book, because it carries with it the words WASP have written themselves. Ann didn't write anything.

What a shame. What a shame I can't find even a notice of her life and death--nothing.

However, Ann was in my mom's class, 44-W-4. I do know that she entered WASP training from Berkley, California, in November of 1943. She and the rest of her class spent a cold winter at Avenger Field, learning to fly 'the Army Way' during one of the most severe snow storms in West Texas history.

Because her last name put her 'at the end of the alphabet,' she was in 'FLIGHT TWO"-which was half of the class. Her baymates were Doris Tanner, Shirley Tannehill, Jean Taylor, Alma Velut and Nella Mae Ward. From Doris Tanner's "ZOOT SUITS AND PARACHUTES," there is a record of those first days when the girls arrived for training. According to Doris Tanner, "Ufer ... staked a claim to the corner opposite the john door" when the baymates picked their cots on that first day in training.

Doris writes "Ufer ... was taller than any of us and slouched a little. The long, lanky frame and cropped, curly, born hair resembled Amellia Earhart, who resembeld Charles Lindbergh. But most noticeable was Ufer's smoking. She didn't just smoke; she smoked one right after another, lighting the fresh one from the burning butt of the old one. It was enthralling to watch. I'd never seen a chain smoker."

"Where are you from?" I inquired politely."
"Berkley, California--just graduated from Stanford." Her tone indicated no further information would be given. She was not snooty, but reserved and somewhat detached from the rest of us.

Ann Ufer became Group Commander -- Group One. At the graduation of class 44-W-4, Group Commander Matilda Ann Ufer was given a special award for her outstanding record during training. Her first assignment was to Douglas Army Air Field in Douglas, Arizona. At this base, Ann would have flown BT-14's, AT-8's, UC-78's, AT-17's; B-25's as utility and administrative pilot and as an engineering test pilot.

Her second assignment was to Yuma Army Air Field, Yuma, Arizona. Yuma AAF was a Flexible Gunnery School and Radar Observer School, where WASP flew missions as co-pilot in the TB-26, AT-11 and BT-13.

There is no record of where she went after the WASP.

She died in Santa Fe, NM, not too far from the Army Air Base where she had been stationed in WWII.

I'm sorry I never met her. Mom said she always came to the WASP Reunions, but she didn't see her at the last one. She made a difference for our country -- and for the free world.

God bless her...and those whose lives she touched.

WASP Margaret E. Twito, 44-W-2

WASP Margaret E. Twito, Class 44-2, passed away on January 3, 2009.

Margaret was born in Centerville, South Dakota, the daughter of Lutheran Pastor Ehlers and his wife. The family lived in Centerville until 1922 and then moved to Bloomington. Margaret lived with her grandparents during high school, later attending a local business college

After graduation, Margaret became a bookkeeper. One of the men at the company took her for her first airplane ride in his Piper Cub. It was love at first flight. She was so thrilled with the experience, she decided to get her private pilot's license.  She quickly earned the hours she needed to enter the AAF experimental flying training program to teach qualified female pilots to fly military aircraft. She applied, was accepted, and entered training as a WASP trainee, Class 44-2, in September, 1943.

After graduation, Margaret was assigned to Palm Springs Army Air Base, CA and later transferred to La Junta Army Air Field, Colorado. 

After deactivation, she worked at the reservation desk at the Nocollet Hotel. It was there she first met her future husband, Wayne Twito. Wayne had been a Marine pilot and had never before met a WASP. While making arrangements to stay at the Nicollet, he asked Margaret out to dinner, and they started dating. After they married, Wayne was hired by Northwest Airlines, where he worked until 1991.

Preceded in death by her daughter, Rinda and two brothers, Margaret is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, Wayne; sons, Dr. Randy Twito and wife, Mary Kay, and Rev. Roger Twito and wife Cathy; grandchildren, Kristina, Andrew, Nicole, Sarah, Caleb, Anna, Daniel, Nathan, and Michaela. Memorials may be directed to Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation or the MN Masonic Home.

Funeral services for Margaret were held Wednesday, January 7, at Mount Olive Lutheran Church.

WASP JEANNETTE "Jan" KAPUS, 44-4

Jeannette "Jan" C. Kapus

Lt. Colonel, USAF/WASP WWII
January 14, 1920 - January 8, 2009

Jeannette was born on January 14, 1920 in Milwaukee, WI. to Viola and James Kapus. She attended Civilian Pilot Training courses at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa and took her flying lessons at Cram Field in Davenport.

During WWII, she applied and was accepted into the Army Air Force flight training program as a member of WASP Class 44-W-4. After completing training, she earned her silver WASP wings, graduating in May of 1944. She was assigned to Courtland Army Air Base, ALA, as an Engineering Test Pilot, testing BT-13's, ferrying PT-17's, PT-19's and BT-13's to boneyards and on occasion co-piloting the B-17 on maintenance runs. She also flew the AT-11, UC-78 and UC-64.

FROM HER OWN WORDS--P. 366, WASP Betty Turner's "OUT OF THE BLUE AND INTO HISTORY"

"After deactivation, I returned to Milwaukee and went into Civil Service, working at the Prisoner of War Camp at General Billy Mitchel Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as Secretary to the Maintenance Officer. When the POW Camp was closed down, I worked in the Federal Building as Secretary to the Commander of the Wisconsin Intelligence Agency, which gathered data from our Wisconsin veterans for the Nuremberg Trials. This was followed by my assignment as Secretary to the Adjutant of Wisconsin Military District."

"I continued flying by attaining my instructor's rating and teaching flying nights and weekends at Curtiss-Wright Airport, now called Timmermann Airport in Milwaukee. At the request of AMVETS, at their airshow convention in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, I broke the record of spins by setting a new record of 64 spins that, as far as I know, hasn't been broken to date. This was witnessed and corrorborated by an FAA official and two AMVETS officials. I had gone on to break my own record unofficially by spinning a light aircraft 73 spins, at the South Shore Water Festival here in Milwaukee."

"In 1947, when the Army Air Force became the United States Air Force, I accepted a commission as 2nd Lt. and became active in the Reserves. In 1952, I applied for active duty. I served as Personnel Officer for 20 years, retiring on August 31, 1972, as a Lt. Colonel. My overseas assignments were: Prestwick, Scotland; Chaterous, France; and Perhawar, West Pakistan."

"After my retirement, I worked as a real estate person for eight years, then travel agent for five years. I have been working one day a week as a volunteer in the Retiree Activities Office, 440th Airlift Wing at General Billy Mitchell field here in Milwaukee, for 18 years. I work part-time as Secretary/Treasurer for the Wisconsin Military Retirees Alliance."

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Jeannette retired in 1972 from Little Rock AF Base, AR. and returned to Wisconsin. She was a member of the past Chapter Commanders of Chapter 23, Reserve Officers Assn., Milwaukee Chapter of The Retired Officers Assn., and Milwaukee Chapter of the Military Order of World Wars, the past State Commander of The Retired Officers Assn. and the Military Order of World Wars. She was a member of the Billy Mitchell Chapter of the Air Force Assn. and American Legion Post #449.

Her WASP uniform is on display in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jeannette has been mentioned in the publication "Wisconsin's Role in World War II" commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II, published by the Wisconsin Department of Veteran's Affairs. In 1981 she was the recipient of the Billiy Mitchell Award given by the Billy Mitchell Chapter, The Air Force Association in Milwaukee.

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In July of 2001, we had the privilege of interviewing Jeannette for Wings Across America. Jeannette and my mom, WASP Deanie Parrish, were in the same flight of class 44-W-4. The bond between these 2 WASP was unmistakable and heartwarming. Jeannette's memories were so clear, and her laughter was contagious as she remembered that special time in her life.

Jeannette had recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration, and used an overhead projector and big screen to read. Thinking back on her quiet grace under what must have been great pressure, I'm still inspired. For her, it seemed to just be another challenge to overcome. She was determined not to let it get to her, and eventually, she attended blind school and graduated "WITH HONORS". When I called her to tell her about the "FLY GIRLS" exhibit, even though she knew she would never see it, she was excited to hear that WIMSA would be honoring the WASP. I'm grateful that I had a wonderful picture of her to include on the WASP filmstrip. It is a permanent part of the Fly Girls exhibit, wherever it may travel, but for now, it will be on the wall at WIMSA until November of 2009.

Jeannette was a true patriot with a gentle spirit and a sweet, sweet smile. Her deep faith and patriotism were an inspiration to everyone she met, and she will be missed by those touched by her kindness over her many years of service to her country and her community.

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Preceded in death by her loving brother, the late James F. (Shirley) Kapus, Jeannette is survived by her beloved nephew James D. (Sharon) Kapus; nieces Linda Barborich and Michael Olkowski and Nancy (Steve) Dodder. Great-aunt of Dan Barborich, Douglas Kapus, Charlotte (Lenny) Nesta, Tony (Nora) Burlo and Nick Burlo. Further survived by 1 great-great niece, 3 great-great nephews and her special friend Francis Buss.

Visitation Tuesday January 13 at St. Boniface Catholic Church W204 N11940 Goldendale Rd. - Germantown from 3:00 PM until time of Mass of Christian Burial at 5:00 PM. Private burial.

submitted by nancy parrish, Jan. 12, 2009