Dorothy Olsen. She was 103 when she passed away on July 23rd.
You’ve probably never heard of her, but she was one of the WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). The WASPs ferried military aircraft from manufacturing plants to points where they could then be flown overseas.
Transporting and testing the latest models, towing targets and transferring captured enemy planes, the WASPs collectively flew an estimated 60 million miles from 1942 to 1944. Thirty-eight died in accidents during training or on duty.
From her base in Long Beach, Calif., Mrs. Olsen flew 61 missions for the Sixth Ferry Group in nearly two dozen models, including P-38s, P-51s and B-17s. She flew them to West Coast airfields to be deployed in the Pacific, or to Newark to be deployed in Europe.
The WASPs were initially considered to be civil service employees and not military.
According to the paper of record, Ms. Olsen’s death leaves 38 surviving WASPs.
Henri Belolo, co-founder (with Jacques Morali) of the Village People.
I love the caption on that first photo.