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Summary and Reviews of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

The Women with Silver Wings

The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II

by Katherine Sharp Landdeck
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (26):
  • First Published:
  • Apr 21, 2020, 464 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2021, 464 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II--only to be forgotten by the country they served.

When Japanese planes executed a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Cornelia had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Cornelia was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army's rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings.

In The Women with Silver Wings, historian Katherine Sharp Landdeck introduces us to these young women as they meet even-tempered, methodical Nancy Love and demanding visionary Jacqueline Cochran, the trailblazing pilots who first envisioned sending American women into the air, and whose rivalry would define the Women Airforce Service Pilots. For women like Cornelia, it was a chance to serve their country--and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled and able as men.

While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight of them would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran's social experiment seemed to be a resounding success--until, with the tides of war turning and fewer male pilots needed in Europe, Congress clipped the women's wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they'd forged never failed, and over the next few decades, they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were--and for their place in history.

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

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How fortunate for us and for Ms. Landdeck that she was actually able to interview these women of various backgrounds. Through these interviews, we learn of their personal difficulties and sacrifice (Diane T). This is truly an untold story. You're brought into the details of these women's lives and suddenly you're right there with them (Jeanne W). While there have been other books written about the WASPs, what sets this one apart has been the exhaustive effort by the author to meet and interview these women and become a trusted part of their WASP community. Highly recommended (Jeff M)...continued

Full Review (683 words)

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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).

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Beyond the Book



The WASPs Fight for Recognition

WASP pilots in flight jackets walking in front of military aircraftKatherine Sharp Landdeck's The Women with Silver Wings chronicles the experiences of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) that flew planes across the U.S. during World War II, bringing aircraft and supplies to military bases and even training male pilots that would later fly in combat. They also tested out new bomber planes when the male Air Force members refused, judging these assignments to be too dangerous. Yet when the war was over, these brave women were not granted the recognition and respect they deserved for their service. Because they were not official members of the military, they were not granted veteran status, not at the time of the war and not for decades after. Thirty-eight WASPs died in service and these women were not ...

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Read-Alikes

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