Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Military - Women Airforce Service Pilots - Oklahoma Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Between 1942 and 1944, an elite corps of women called Wasps played a vital part in America's war effort. The women air force service pilots were a civilian corps attached to the military. Pilots like Betty Smith and Betty Riddle of Tulsa became the first women ever to fly military aircraft. Barely in her 20s, Betty Smith was among the first women in the program. I was in the third division and I was Texas at Lifefield. She delivered more than 20 types of aircraft to military installations on both coasts. Today, each of those aircraft are woven into an Afghan detailing the history of the Wasps. That's the basics that we all love to handle. The Wasps did much more than ferry airplanes from aircraft manufacturers to military bases. Others did things like two-tired? The weather flying, testing the airplanes after they were going through maintenance. That was Betty Riddle's job in Alta's.

I believe he was in the test pilot off the airplanes after they were paired. And at a time when many thought it was crazy to let women fly at all, Betty found herself living in Alta's psychiatric ward because it was the only empty bed space on base. Here on this Veterans Day, the Betty's looked back fondly on their time and service to their country. However, at that, Ted no military benefits. It wasn't until Jimmy Carter was president that the Wasps finally were given Veterans status. In Tulsa for the Oklahoma News Report, I'm Capitedom.