WWII pilot Millie Young flew target-toting Texans
Congressional Gold Medal WASP recipient died at age 96
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Millicent Young was enthralled by aviation after a pilot who landed on the family’s farm admonished the 6-year-old not to touch his aircraft. “That was the wrong thing to say to her,” recalled her son Bill who added that the Nebraska farm girl went on to fly target-toting North American AT–6 Texans during World War II.
Young, known to her family and friends as Millie, died Jan. 12 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at age 96, the Associated Press reported.
A Colorado Gazette article about Young said she gathered 1,000 signatures to help the group of war veterans who joined the armed service as civilians attain their full military status, which occurred in 1977.
A group of WASPs received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor presented by Congress, during a 2010 ceremony in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Air Force noted that many of the 300 WASPs alive at the time attended the event wearing their World War II uniforms.
The Air Force added that WASPs “flew every fighter, bomber, transport, and trainer aircraft” in the service’s inventory during the war.
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