PLEASANT HILL, Iowa — A Vietnam Veteran is honoring two Iowa World War II Veterans with a bike ride from Iowa City to Sweetwater, Texas.
The ride is lasting 26 days spanning over the entire month of September. The bicyclist’s name is Larry Ritland, and he’s bringing recognition to two Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Ritland had discovered the two Iowans who died in WWII while visiting the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, TX. He saw the two names: Beverly Jean Moses and Gleanna Roberts.
“I thought I knew a little about World War II, but I’ve never heard of this program or the women who died,” said Ritland. “…so I decided to start asking people and nope, hadn’t heard.”
WHO 13 News caught up with Ritland at the Oakwood Cemetery where Moses is buried. Ritland and his wife placed 38 flags around her burial grounds to honor the 38 WASPs who died during WWII.
“She was 21 when she died. She was flying out west, she’d been finishing her training, and she was based out of Las Vegas. She was doing a training flight with a lieutenant that was the pilot, and she was the copilot, with four other crew members on board. But the flight never came back.