Airport display salutes WWII WASPs
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
From left, Laurel Highlands High School students Kayla Yingling and Leah Nicklow join airport manager Mary Lou Fast in looking over the items they are planning to use for the WASP project that will hang in the terminal building of the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.comcom
Laurel Highlands High School student Leah Nicklow hangs a photograph that commemorates the contribution of women during World War II. The photograph is part of a collection that will be on display in the terminal building at the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport.
DUNBAR TWP. — A wall in the lobby of the terminal building at the Joseph A. Hardy/Connellsville Airport is being transformed into a permanent memorial honoring members of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) who ferried military aircraft during World War II, including Connellsville native Florence Shutsy-Reynolds.
A 1940 graduate of Connellsville High School, Shutsy-Reynolds was the first woman to receive a pilot’s license at the then-Connellsville Airport through the government’s Civilian Pilot Training Program.
“I think it’s long overdue for the airport and long overdue for Shutsy,” said Mary Lou Fast, airport manager.
Fast, along with local author Ceane O’Hanlon-Lincoln who featured Shutsy-Reynolds in her series “County Chronicles” came up with the idea for the memorial as a way to commend the WASP for their contribution to history and Shutsy-Reynolds’ tie with the airport.
The memorial includes photographs and other WASP memorabilia provided by Shutsy-Reynolds being placed on the wall by Leah Nicklow, a senior at Laurel Highlands High School and member of the school’s junior Air Force ROTC program, who volunteered to help with the project, along with fellow senior Kayla Yingling.
Nicklow said Shutsy-Reynolds is a remarkable woman and a great role model for women who know her story.
Shutsy-Reynolds also is contributing an official WASP flag she designed and has requested the names of 38 members who died to be included on the wall.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by your peers,” said Shutsy-Reynolds.
The WASP formed in 1943, with Shutsy-Reynolds one of 1,830 women accepted from a field of 25,000 applicants and one of 74 that earned wings.
Shutsy-Reynolds said the organization now has fewer than 200 surviving members.
“One person doesn’t make a difference, it’s the group,” said Shutsy-Reynolds.
As a WASP, Shutsy-Reynolds not only flew planes, but also towed targets, flew tracking missions, simulated bombing missions, gave instrument instruction and flight-tested aircraft, as well as other duties.
The government disbanded the WASP program in December 1944, with few people ever knowing it existed.
Because the WASP were established by the Army Air Force, members were led to assume they would be receive full military rights, but instead were left behind for three decades.
Shutsy-Reynolds said the women who lost their lives were denied flags on their coffins.
The WASPs were not given military status until 1977, while the pilots were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
Earlier this year, Shutsy-Reynolds presented the medal to the Connellsville Historical Society.
“They (WASP) really opened doors for women in aviation,” said O’Hanlon-Lincoln.