Women answered the call of duty with the outbreak of world war in so many unique ways. They left their homes to join the workforce, they raised Victory Gardens, they rationed and conserved necessities…But there was a group of women who followed a different path. They took to the skies.

These women, the original “fly girls,” received little recognition in their time, and weren’t granted military status until the 1970s. More than 1,100 women served as Women Airforce Service Pilots, flying non-combat missions so the male pilots could fly overseas.  Thirty-eight women lost their lives for their country during the span of the WASP program.

Sixty-five years later, this group of extraordinary women have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

NPR recently did a spectacular story on the women pilots who flew during WWII, the WASPs. Click here to read their incredible story!