Monday, Oct 6, 2025 |
My interview with a Woman Airforce Service Pilot, Adeline Wolak Ellison in class 6, 1943 at the standing-room-only event on September 19, 2009, was hysterically entertaining.
I found my previous interview with Betty Budde, Class 43-3 a hoot, but “Addie” really topped the cake with her funny true stories as a WASP and was candid and delightfully expressive.
Please enjoy Addie Wolak’s interview:
“It took a lot of work to be a WASP, but we did manage to have fun and had many crazy things happened to us. One of the funniest was when ten of us flew our brand-new BT 13’s from Texas and were scheduled to stop in Blithe, California overnight to have our instrument ratings checked and then fly off to deliver them to an army base.
We got there and went to dinner then went to bed to be ready for our flight.
In the morning, when we went to the flightline and much to our shocking surprise there were ladders at each of our planes with GI’s disassembling them by taking out the nuts and bolts.
We screamed at them, “What are you doing? We gotta fly our airplanes out of here to another army base for the men to fly them into combat.”
One GI answered, “Well, we thought if we disabled them you could come to a big dance we are having tonight, and we only have ugly nurses to dance with!”
“I said, oh sure we can call back to our base and tell them GIs disassembled our planes and have to stay one more night!”
Thank goodness that scared all the GIs to put them back together again!”
This outrageous story caused a burst of raucous laughter from the audience.
Addie continued, “Another time I was flying a plane alone to an Army base in Midland, Texas which I was looking forward to eating steak that I heard was wonderful there.
After I landed a GI asked me if I could bowl. I said sure but I only bowl a 135.That day at the bowling alley I surprised myself and bowled a 250!
This event caused all the locals to come over and watch me bowl again thinking I was a top bowler, but then I only bowled my usual 135! After the game the GI’s and I went out to steak dinner. There was a huge group of us and a big Texan at the table announced when the bill came, “Kids, the bills on me!”
The next day one of the GI’s asked if I wanted to fly in formation with a group of them.
I answered, “Sure but only if I could be the head pilot!”
We all flew up in our planes, and the GIs purposely went up 2 at a time as the tower started screaming, “One at a time, one at a time!”
They ignored the tower and hemmed me in the middle! After 15 minutes the “stinkers” peeled off wiggling their wings at me and flew away!
Another crazy event was when a bunch of us gals were flying in a bomber and one of the gals wore uncomfortable large of pants and decided to take them off and folded them up and put them in the back of the plane. We were about to land when she opened the hatch and her pants flew out!
She called to the tower, “Send a lady mechanic to bring me pants because mine flew out.”
By the time the plane landed there were a huge number of male mechanics “knee deep” waiting to see a girl pilot in her underwear!”
A female mechanic brought out a surplus male size 44 coveralls for her to wear. She came out of the plane wearing the coveralls that had the crouch down to her ankles and the GI’s burst out laughing!”
Addie continued, “I hate to brag but during basic training my instructor told me that I flew better than 95% of the male pilots that he did check flights on.
The WASPs were suddenly disbanded on December 20, 1944, 8 months before the war was over and the male pilots were returning and wanted their jobs back. The WASPs were so disappointed they offered to keep flying for $1.00 a year but were still rejected. Furthermore, they were sent home without being able to celebrate the glorious end of the war together.
I married an Airforce pilot and had two children and decided to join the Airforce Reserves as a 1st Lieutenant. I was the only woman in a class of 35 men. One day I was chit-chatting with a colonel after class and I happened to mention my children to him.
He asked me, “You have children”?
I answered, “Yes, I have two.”
The colonel asked, “Is that on your record?”
I answered, “No there was nothing on the forms.”
The colonel raised his voice, “I’m sorry but you can’t be in the Air Force reserves if you have a family unless you put them up for adoption!”
A wave of laughter rolled through the audience.
The colonel continued, “Since the class is half over, I will give you an honorable discharge.”
“He broke my heart, and I knew I surely would have become a colonel just like him if he had let me stay.”
Clapping broke out from the audience.”
As MC I said, “Addie’s daughter Andrea is in the audience and I’m sure she’s glad that she was not put up for adoption.”
The interview of the six WASPs concluded with Q & A from the audience.
Nancye Crout listed all the many planes she got to fly.
Florence Emig Wheeler attended all the yearly reunions that continue to happen. Last year’s reunion had 100 WASPs attending.
Florence Wheeler was a pilot instructor and flew until she was 72 and had taught her 56-year-old father to fly and get his pilot’s license.
I had heard on the radio that the WASPs were to receive the Gold Medal of Honor on March 10, 2010.
I called up Florence Wheeler and asked her if she was going to Washington for her Medal of Honor.
Florence answered, “I’m thinking about it.”
I asked, “Will they pay for your trip and hotel expenses?”
Florence answered, “No.”
I responded, “That’s terrible.”
Florence replied, “This is nothing new and has always been this way in the army.”
Adeline Ellison added, “It was one of the highlights of my life to travel to Washington, DC to receive the Gold Medal of Honor.”
In 2012, a Cessna 172 was named “ADELINE,” was unveiled by owner Ralph Sauceda in a special honor given to Addie at the Commemorative Air Force, Modesto, California Airport.
Adeline Wolak Ellison was born on September 26, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois. She Died on June 10, 2017, at the age of 97 1/2 years old. On her gravestone it reads, “Two Hot Pilots Together at Last.”
This concludes the last interview of six WASPs. An amazing DVD was filmed by the Cmedia Lab in Santa Rosa is available to buy from my web site: www.jeaneslone.com/shop.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025 |
The amazing adventures of Alice Jean May Starr (A.J.) serving in the Women Airforce Service Pilots during WW II class 4, 1943 and the tragic death of her classmate, Hazel Lee.
“As a young child my farther took our family to the airport in New Jersey to experience the joy of watching the airplane take-offs and landings.
I was fortunate to live during the time of Charles Lindbergh’s flight in 1927 then Amelia Earhart’s solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932.
As a young woman I attended a lecture by Amelia Earhart at my local New Jersey high school and waited for Amelia to come out of the building and asked her for her autograph.
In 1940 while I was in art school, I was so inspired by Amelia that I was determined to learn how to fly and joined the Women Flyers of America as a charter member in New York where I earned gold wings after 7 months of training. I was the first student of the WFA program to solo! Then flying was cut out in the East Coast due to the upcoming war and I read about the WASPS in Life magazine and applied but there was no room so I joined the US Navy station in Atlanta, Georgia and trained as an instructor in the use the link trainers (see blog of Florence Wheeler) and tested other pilots.
At last, I was called to join the WASPs, and I took a cattle train to Sweet Water, Texas and went to Pursuit fighter plane school and learned to fly the P-40, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-51 Mustang.
One day at Sweetwater, I let the cat out of the bag that I could play the bugle, so I got slapped with the job of playing Reveille at dawn and Taps at the end of the day ordered by Director Jackie Cochran. There was a woman who worked in the hangars at night, and wept every time she heard me blow taps, as she had lost her husband in the war,”
Jeane Slone, MC at the Santa Rosa Vets building event gently asked A.J. Starr: “I know one of your classmates died in a tragic accident ferrying airplanes from the factories to the army bases for the men to fly into combat are you willing to talk to us about this?”
Alice answered, “Yes, Hazel Lee was one of my classmates, the first Chinese American girl who graduated in the WASPs in October 1943. She was flying a P-63 King cobra from the factory to Great Falls, Montana, and did everything correctly to get there. We flew many Pursuit fighter airplanes for the Soviet Union 588th all women night bomber regiment to pick and then bomb the Germans.
A male pilot’s radio conked out and he should have stopped his plane which was required by the regulations. Hazel made a long final approach, but the male pilot took a short final approach. Hazel pulled up and crashed into the other pilot. She lived for two days, as a burn victim. Because WASPs were classified as civilians, the military did not cover her funeral expenses, and her family had to pay to transport her body back to Portland.
It was so unfortunate that her death was only a month before the WASPs were disbanded. I was given the opportunity to drive her car back to her relatives.
After the WASPs were disbanded for returning male pilots to take over in December 1944, eight months before the war was ended, I worked for a surplus aircraft company, ferrying out worn bomber airplanes.
Every day I had in the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots was an adventure, and I would’ve missed it for the world. I had the chance of a lifetime to fly many pursuits plus cargo planes, and Bombers and my favorite airplane the sleek P-51 Mustang.”
The audience exploded into applause as A.J. Starr finished her lecture.
Alice Jeane Starr was born on 7/17 /1920 and lived to the long well-lived life of 102 on 6/28/2023.
To hear all the stories collected of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, you can purchase the DVD audio of their stories in our shop!
Click the image below to shop now!
Friday, Sep 5, 2025 |
The interview at the standing room only event at the Santa Rosa vets building with pioneer aviator Betty June Deuser-Budde Class 43-3 at age 89 is a real hoot!
Please enjoy her stories as a WASP.
“I became fascinated with airplanes as a young girl when my father often took my family out to the local airport in Alameda, CA to watch the airplanes take off and land.”
“In 1941, I earned my private pilot’s license thanks to a scholarship awarded by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. I trained at an airport in Concord, California and obtained 50 logged in hours.”
“I joined the third class of WASPs in January 1943 in Sweetwater, Texas. After graduating I was one of only three WASPs who were called to Washington, DC to meet with Director of the WASPs Jacqueline Cochran and General Hap Arnold. We were told that we were not going to be ferrying planes, and were reassigned to Camp Davis, NC to be the first group to tow targets for anti-aircraft troop training.”
“We flew the planes from the front cockpit while an enlisted man sat in the rear cockpit to control reeling out the 36-foot target sleeve behind the plane. We would wait for direction from “Sugar Charley”, the ground control officer, and fly back and forth perpendicular to the artillery range to allow the gunners the opportunity to hit the target behind the aircraft. This could go on for hours with occasional changes in altitude to accommodate the firing from the ground of many different weapons including machine guns and 90 MM cannons at our target sleeve!”
“One of my baymates, 26-year-old Mabel Rawlinson died as her plane crashed during a night training flight at Camp Davis. She was one of 38 WASPs who died during the war.
A second WASP at the Camp had her plane crack up after landing. It made me sick to think of both deaths.”
In September 1943, I joined a secret radio-control program flying PQ-8 drone-targets and assisted with aircraft modifications, such as installing override systems for pilot safety. The PQs were used for targets, and we learned to fly them remotely.
During one of my test flights, the pilotless radio-controlled PQ-8, was hit by shrapnel but continued to fly. I lost control of it, and it eventually crashed. A farmer saw the crash and organized a search party to look for the pilot. Of course, they never found one!
I also logged time with the A-24 Douglas dive bomber, A-25 Curtiss Helldiver, B-34 Lockheed bomber and various Beechcraft ATs. I learned to fly a variety of aircraft including the PT-19, BT-13, BT-14, AT-6, PQ-8, and UC-78.” The audience had a look of amazement as Betty quickly rattled of all the aircraft.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were unhappily disbanded on December 20, 1944. This was eight months before the official end of World War II. We had to make way for returning male pilots.
I was one of only 180 WASPs who went to the capitol in Washington, DC for a ceremony to receive the Congressional gold medal of honor we wore our WWII uniforms. There were only 300 living out of 1,078 at the time.”
Applause was heard from the audience.
Betty June Deuser-Budde Class 43-3 was born on 8/15/1920 and died at the age of 94 on 10/13/2014
Thursday, Aug 28, 2025 |
The second presentation of former WASP Florence Emig Wheeler at the Santa Rosa Veterans building was very comforting for me. It was wonderful to have her on the panel as she had edited my book, She Flew Bombers. I introduced her saying, she was born on April 6, 1922 in Santa Clara, California, to William J. Emig the sheriff of Santa Clara County.
Florence spoke with enthusiasm, “My interest in flying was sparked when my father encouraged me to join the San Jose State College flying club in 1940. Before I went into the service, I was a flight instructor in Reno, Nevada and Alturas, CA where five of my students were accepted into the WASPs, I felt very proud of that accomplishment. I joined the last class of WASPs in Sweet Water, Texas in 1944. I arrived on the base, and I was overwhelmed as well as excited to see the many beautiful, tanned WASPs marching two by two to training classes wearing tan slacks and white shirts instead the first issued surplus GI size 44 mechanic uniforms which had to be rolled up and fasten by a belt to fit.
One of my assignments to graduate from the Sweetwater training classes was a timed cross-country flight. I climbed up to 5,000 feet from Garden City, Kansas and was to land in Lincoln, Nebraska. Well, I was a California girl and was used to flying in a state that had marvelous mountains, valleys and hills which were easy markers to show where I was.
I flew from Texas to Kansas and became completely lost! Here I was as an accomplished pilot and instructor with 1,500 hours logged hours and I never got lost! Kansas is completely flat with no obvious markers. At last, I saw a railroad down below and I immediately flew down to read the railway station sign which told me where I was!” Laughter erupted from the audience.
Florence continued, “Fortunately, I found the town on the map and made it to Nebraska four minutes late but luckily the instructor passed me.” The audience applauded very loudly.
Florence finished her story; “The WASPs were deactivated in December 1944 and I returned to San Jose to complete my degree and resumed flight instruction at Reid-Hillview Airport, San Jose.
“I received my degree in Home Economics at San Jose State College and taught at Healdsburg High School for 30 years where I met and married my husband, Marshall Wheeler, a history teacher.”
I sewed and improvised this WASP uniform I’m wearing for speaking events such as this one. Here is my original hat made of the traditional Santiago Blue material used for graduation uniforms. That material was discontinued but as you can see the colors are close. Also, my uniform does not have a drop seat which had been necessary when there were no bathroom facilities available.” More laugher was heard from the audience.
“One of my most satisfying events was teaching my father, Sheriff Emig to fly to get his pilot’s license in 1950 at the age of 74. This made me feel so proud!”
I added to Florence’s story, “On March 10, 2010, Florence attended the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in Washington, D.C., honoring the entire WASPs in service during the war. President Obama presented the medals to each WASP.
I called Florence up after hearing about the ceremony on the radio and asked her if she went to the ceremony. She said she went there with her son. I asked her if she was paid for travel and hotel expenses.
Her simple answer was, “No.”
I replied, “That’s terrible.”
Florence answered, “That’s the way it is!”
Florence Emig Wheeler passed away of a heart condition in Santa Rosa, California, on March 30, 2015, at age 92.
I attended Florence’s touching remembrance ceremony at the Unitarian Church in Santa Rosa. It was a wonderful slide presentation of her life and was well attended. It brought tears to my eyes and felt very grateful that I met this amazing powerful woman who had a great spirit of determination.
Next time: Stay tuned for the third amazing and powerful WASP’s interview from Betty Deuser Budde!
