Elizabeth L. Remba Gardner
| Elizabeth L. Remba Gardner | |
|---|---|
| File:Elizabeth L. Remba Gardner, Women's Airforce Service Pilots, NARA-542191.jpgFile:Elizabeth L. Remba Gardner, Women's Airforce Service Pilots, NARA-542191.jpg Gardner in the pilot's seat of a Martin B-26 Marauder | |
| Born | 1921 Rockford, Illinois |
| 20112011 | |
| 💼 Occupation | Pilot |
Elizabeth L. Gardner (1921 – December 22, 2011) was a female pilot during World War II, who served as a Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). As a WASP, she was one of the first American female military pilots.[1] In 2009, the 300 remaining living WASP pilots, through a unit citation, were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.[upper-alpha 1] She was the subject of a iconic photograph at the helm of a Martin Marauder B-26.
Early life and family
Gardner was born in Rockford, Illinois[11] in 1921. She graduated from Rockford High School in 1939.[12] She was a mother and housewife before the war started.[13] After she married, she took the last name Remba.[12]
Military career
After enlisting as a Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), Gardner had two days of aviation training with Lieutenant Col. Paul Tibbets.[13] She was the subject of an often-reproduced historical photo [see image above] with the original held at the National Archives.[14][15][upper-alpha 2] She 22 years old in the photograph. Gardner recalls: "When I first started learning, I was eager and nervous and also had two days of training under Lieutenant Col. Paul Tibbets who later commanded the B-29 that dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima."[11] Her photograph became emblematic of the place of women in the service of their country.[17]
Before getting her training,she had been steadfast in her pursuit to learn to fly. She did not think of herself a "trailblazer", but did believe she was very fortunate.[18]
She flew AT-23s[1] and Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers.[upper-alpha 3] [21][22] One of her stations was in Dodge City, Kansas.[23][24] Gardner was trained as a test pilot and flight instructor.[11] She also flew aircraft that towed aerial targets.[11]
After years of fighting for recognition of their military service,[25] Women Airforce Service Pilots were recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.[3][26]
Later life and legacy
In December 1944, the government disbanded WASP and Gardner returned to the private sector. Like some other WASPs, Gardner was a commercial pilot after World War II, flying for Piper Aircraft Corporation in Pennsylvania.[12][27] In that capacity she became involved in public relations, using her piloting skills to ferry Piper customers, meeting with the Department of Defense, and writing all of William T. Piper's speeches.[27]
Gardner worked as a test pilot after the war, including for General Textile Mills, which was working on an aircraft parachute that was intended to safely land aircraft that became disabled in-flight. She participated in at least two tests with the experimental device in December 1945, both of which forced her to bail out of the aircraft when the parachute became tangled in the test aircraft. During the second incident, the aircraft jammed its elevators with the parachute and entered a dive, and after Gardner escaped from the cockpit, she was only 500 ft (150 m) from the ground when her own parachute opened.[28]
She died in New York on December 22, 2011.[12][29]
In 2019, Rockford, Illinois held a mural festival downtown and included a mural by Ohio artists Jenny Roesel Ustick and Atalie Gagnet based on Gardner's time as a WASP.[12]
References
Notes
- ↑ After a prolonged legislative battle, in 1977 they were granted "veteran's status."[2] After years of fighting for recognition of their military service, Women Airforce Service Pilots were recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009. They were also given the long-denied right to be buried in Arlington Cemetery.[3][4] In 2002, by an Act of Congress created that right.[5] However, the Secretary of the Army thwarted the expectation; President Barack Obama had to intervene to reinstate Congress's will.[6] History suggests that WASP pilots have been treated as 'second class' — despite logging more than 60,000,000 miles (97,000,000 km) transporting, with 38 reported casualties —from their inception until recently.[6][7][8] The medal was designed by sculptor Don Everhart II.[9] The medal is on display at the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.[10]
- ↑ The photo was taken at Harlingen Army Air Field.[16]
- ↑ The B-26 was infamous for being a 'hot' high performance (for the time) and temperamental aircraft, with a demanding learning curve and an earned reputation as a "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high accident rate during takeoffs and landings.[19] Indeed, the regularity of crashes by pilots training at MacDill Field — up to 15 in one 30-day period — led to the exaggerated catchphrase, "One a day in Tampa Bay."[20] Apart from accidents occurring over land, 13 Marauders ditched in Tampa Bay in the 14 months between 5 August 1942 and 8 October 1943.[20]
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Merryman 1998, p. photo 9.
- ↑ "WWII Female Pilots Honored With Gold Medal". All Things Considered (Transcript). National Public Radio. March 10, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Obama awards WWII-era women pilots congressional medal". CNN. July 1, 2009. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ↑ Blakemore, Eric (May 23, 2016). "Female WWII Pilots Can Now Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery Seventy-five years later". Smithsonian.
WASPs have won one last battle.
- ↑ Dvorak, Petula (March 14, 2016). "Deny her 95-year-old grandma burial at Arlington National Cemetery? No way". The Washington Post.
But that changed last year when then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed their eligibility for burial or even simple inurnment – to have their ashes placed in the niche wall in the cemetery.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tritten, Travis J. "Obama reinstates burial rights of WASP pilots". Stars and Stripes.
- ↑ "Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)". Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ↑ Johnson, Caroline (August 5, 2018). "Women with Wings: The 75-Year-Legacy of the WASP". Smithsonian.
- ↑ Everhart, Don. "Congressional Gold Medals Don Everhart II". Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ↑ "Congressional Gold Medal Women Airforce service Pilots". Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Hultgren, Randy (February 17, 2016). "Female WWII Pilots Deserve Full Recognition".
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Mason, Derrick (May 18, 2019). "Muralists rediscover female Rockford pilot history nearly forgot". Rockford Register Star. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Gordon, Kelli D. (December 28, 2014). "Veteran of the Week". WASP – Women Airforce Service Pilots – World War II. Texas USA. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09 – via web.archive.org.
- ↑ Erdrich, Ronald W. "WASP history one of stings, buzz and perseverance". Abilene Reporter-News.
- ↑ "Women's Airforce Service Pilot Elizabeth L. Gardner | DocsTeach". docsteach.org.
- ↑ "Teachers's Classroom Study Guide" (PDF). George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ↑ Fanelli, James (May 4, 2017). "Women members of the Navy, Army explain what their service means to them". Daily News. New York. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ↑ Yazmín (July 2, 2010). "Fortune Favors the Brave". StoryCorps. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2019 – via Web Archive.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- ↑ Ethell 1995, p. 242.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Scutts 1997, p. 9.
- ↑ Brown & Foreman 2015, p. 129.
- ↑ Radeska, Tijana (November 23, 2016). "Beautiful women and extraordinary pilots awarded 65 years after their service in WW2". The Vintage News.
- ↑ "WASPS Get Set to Sting – Enemy". The Courier-Journal. January 22, 1944. Retrieved May 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- ↑ "Women Become Pilots of 5-26 Marauder Medium Bombers". Detroit Free Press. January 22, 1944. Retrieved May 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- ↑ VanWagenen Keil 1979, pp. 307–316.
- ↑ Bohn, Kevin (May 22, 2009). "Unsung World War II heroes finally get their due". CNN. Archived from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Douglas 2013, p. 110.
- ↑ "Parachute Test". Life. January 7, 1946. pp. 30–31.
- ↑ "Paid Notice: Deaths GARDNER, ELIZABETH (LIBBY)". NYTimes.com. January 6, 2012. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
...WASP aviator during WWII, brave and caring social justice activist, writer, computer programmer, autodidact with a vast range of curiosities and pursuits.
Bibliography
- Brown, Norman Wayne; Foreman, Jim (November 9, 2015). "W. Sheppard Air Force Base". Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4396-5453-8.
- Douglas, Deborah G. (November 30, 2013). American Women and Flight Since 1940. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8131-2625-8. Search this book on
- Ethell, L. Jeffrey (1995). Aircraft of World War II. Glasgow. Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-470849-0. Search this book on .
- Merryman, Molly (1998). Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-5568-6. OCLC 37418189. Search this book on
- Scutts, Jerry (1997). B-26 Marauder Units of the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Botley, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-637-X. Search this book on
- VanWagenen Keil, Sally (1979). Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines: The Unknown Heroines of World War II. New York: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc. pp. 307–316. ISBN 978-0-89256-066-0. OCLC 4491705. Search this book on
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