Clipped wings : the rise and fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II /

Merryman, Molly,

Clipped wings : the rise and fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II / Molly Merryman. - NYU Classics Edition. New York University Press Classics [edition]. - xx, 239 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

"With a new preface."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-226) and index.

List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Preface to the NYU Classics Edition -- Introduction -- The development of the Women Airforce Service Pilots : from guarded experiment to valuable support role -- Becoming soldiers : tracing WASP expansion and plans for militarization -- From praise to rancor : media opinion changes as men return from battle -- No allies for the WASPs : Congress responds to male public interest groups -- They'll be home for Christmas : the WASP program disbands -- On a different battlefield : the WASP fight for militarization after the war -- Recognizing the gendered warrior : history and theory intersect with the fate of the WASPs -- Coda.

In Clipped Wings, Molly Merryman draws upon military documents, many of which were declassified only in the 1980s, congressional records, and numerous interviews with former WASPs to trace the history of the hundreds of pilots who served their country as the first women to fly military planes. Importantly, Merryman examines the social pressures that culminated in their disbandment in 1944, even though a wartime need for their services still existed, and documents their struggles and eventual success - in 1977 - to gain military status and receive veterans' benefits.

9781479805785 1479805785


Women Airforce Service Pilots (U.S.)


World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Female.
Women air pilots--History.--United States
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American.

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