Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Ok.. I'll admit it.. I'm a book SNOB... yup... well.. maybe I'm more of a "publishing company" snob. I tend not to read books unless they are by a certain publishing company. I'm going to be honest... I don't like books with swears in them, murders, or sex. It doesn't intrigue me one bit. By checking the publishing company I know what books are safe for me to read.

I went to the library this week and picked up a book that looked interesting... you know the old saying don't judge a book by it's cover... well.. I do it all the time. I found this book. I was going to put it back on the shelf but I was glad I didn't.

It's actually only about 150 pages long but it's FULL of history... I love history that is no surprise.. but I'll be honest... I never knew OR didn't pay attention to the history of WASP--
Women Airforce Service Pilots.

In the 1940's during WWII a woman by the name of Jackie Cochran founded this group. These very few selected women were the FIRST women ever to fly American military Aircraft.

The Training all took place in Sweetwater TX... hence the name of the book. The girls were fed like Movie Stars..for some the first time in a long time due to war rationing. They wore MENS hand-me-downs for their Zoot Suits... so NONE ever fit the women properly.

The WASP had a mascot that they presented on their uniform that was drawn by non other Walt Disney himself. Walt intended to use Fifinella as a character in a movie he was thinking about "Gremlins" By Roahl Dahl.. but handed over the design to the women.


Here is a picture of a group of WASP and if you look closely you can see the patch on their "bomber" jackets.

Each woman had to already obtain a student pilots license.. Some obtained extra jobs in the factories so they could pay for them so they too could make more of a difference for our country.
If then they were selected by Miss. Cochran they could go to Sweetwater and train to be a WASP..many failed and were sent home.

In the book I'm reading.. of course it's based on fictional characters but it has many of the historical facts during this time. I know personally I could NEVER have done this.. so I think these women were VERY BRAVE!!

This is an EXCELLENT web-site to peek at and learn more about these women. If I'm understanding the site correctly 38 women lost their lives for our country during the war flying the aircrafts. WINGS ACROSS AMERICA is the site... It has games, facts, interviews, posters and more... I think I could spend all day looking through the site... but... daily duties call!! My tiny little history lesson for the day.. Ü I will be learning more that's for sure!


And just for more info.. this is the book I just finished reading!! It's book two to a series.. and it was GOOD!!

9 comments:

Tam said...

YOU so make me want to go check it all out...when I do not have kids pulling on me...maybe at like 2 or 3 am I will get tooo!! Have a great great DAY!!!

Mere said...

Those look GREAT! I wish I had even a morsel of time to read :( I used to LOVE to read ALL the time!! Now...I have NO time!!

Miss and Love you!!

Mere

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

I'm going to have to check that one out, too!

scrapperjen said...

Dear Fellow Snob - :D JUST KIDDING!!!!! That sounds like a great read - thank you for suggesting it - I will check it out.
Have a GREAT day!
HUGS!
Thanks for stopping by my blog.

mborrero said...

WOW fascinating! you rock!

Cris said...

Wow, it definitely sounds like a great book. Sounds like it might make a good movie too. i will have to check out the website. :)

Tanya said...

Great-another book to add to my list. I'm always looking for book recommendations. I'm a bit of a snob too. If the writing is crappy or the story too hokey, I don't bother wasting my time finishing it.

Right now I'm on a kick reading Lisa See's books. I just loved the first one I read and can't wait to read more.

Tam said...

HI HI just wishing you a Happy Friday and hoping that you have an amazing WEEKEND!

Tam said...

HI my flip flop friend! Just wanted to leave a HELLO to let you know I stalked by today!