GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — In so many ways, winning World War II was a collective effort. Every allied military played pivotal roles. It starts with the millions of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, but credit for the victory goes deeper than that.
Communities across the world cut and scrimped to maximize the war machine’s output. People from every walk of life stepped up. They took on new responsibilities — or were given the opportunity to highlight the societal norms that held them back.
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Among those groups were the members of WASP: Women Airforce Service Pilots. Women weren’t allowed to fly in combat roles, but under the scale of the massive battle, U.S. military leaders found a way for them to serve.
In all, 38 WASP died during the war effort, including Michigan’s Mabel Rawlinson. Sunday marks 83 years since her final flight.
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Mabel Virginia Rawlinson was born in 1917 in Delaware, growing up in a small town and experiencing both the Roaring ’20s and the Great Depression. Her father was a minister and her mother worked as a schoolteacher, allowing Mabel to stay in school and earn her high school diploma in 1935…