She was startled when she heard Jenna’s voice over the radio, “Hey, WASP Liddy Hall, wait for us would ya’?”
Liddy hadn’t realized she had tapped-in and gotten ahead of the others. “Oh, boy, sorry. Guess I’m just a little bit jazzed. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yes it is.” Jenna smiled at the delight in Liddy’s voice. “Enjoy the view, but let’s keep it tight up here.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Liddy teased.
When the WASP arrived at their refuel, they exploded from the cockpits as soon as the planes rolled to a stop and made a mad dash toward the buildings.
Two enlisted men watched the scene and one of them asked the other, “Where’s the fire?”
Every day that followed was a series of transports, pick-ups and deliveries. Flying as a WASP in the military was like being a pioneer in a new land. Liddy knew what they were doing was important for the war, but it was also important for the country and all her American sisters. The war was tearing away at the boundaries that had kept women and minorities from living bigger than the culture had been comfortable with.
Women were working in ever-increasing numbers, doing factory work that was oftentimes dirty and dangerous. Old ways were being tested and the results couldn’t be denied. Women were capable and it was now on the record. Whatever happened after the war, steps had been taken forward. Still, constantly on the minds of those in the march was the lingering hope that the steps forward would not be taken backwards in the future.
Beat-up Warhawks were delivered by the WASPs to Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. Liddy hopped down from the pit and reflected on the times she was living in. As she walked across the TAAF, she looked into the faces of some of the first black men who would fly for the Army. The men looked at the WASPs, and the trailblazers acknowledged one another with a nod and a smile.
Liddy wished the planes they had brought to these men didn’t have so many miles on them and were not in such a worn state. But flying planes other male pilots didn’t want to fly, or in some cases refused to fly, was just one of the things a WASP had in common with a Tuskegee Airman. And the WASPs had a lot in common with these men.
Both had to deal with the opinions of people who didn’t think they were either smart enough or brave enough to be military pilots. Both had to deal with prejudice, but these men dealt with the prejudice every day, in every corner of their lives—not in the air, though. There they would be free and Liddy was happy they had that chance.
One qualified black female pilot did apply to the WASP program. Jackie Cochran interviewed her and explained that a great deal of opposition faced the idea of women flying for the military. Cochran didn’t deny her entry, but the woman graciously withdrew her application, rather than bring more scrutiny on the program.
It would take over thirty-five years for the landscape to begin to level for all Americans. It would always be a teeter-totter, though. It’s a weakness of humankind to want to be on the top of the pile and many people don’t hesitate to step on others in order to stay there.
When they were in Alabama, Liddy and Jenna saw Bet. Liddy liked how Jenna took Bet under her wing. Anything could happen and she knew the little HP couldn’t have too many mother hens. It seemed Liddy and Jenna were more alike than they were different and the two women got on pretty well. But it was still Louise who Liddy confided in.
Every once in a while Jenna would drop some information about Reid from the letters Captain Ellis Charles, now Jenna’s husband, sent to her. The two men had been friends since basic and had flown two tours together abroad. Although they flew in different fighter squadrons now, they were both in Europe somewhere and crossed paths frequently.
Jenna didn’t know anymore than Liddy did about the missions they flew. A husband wouldn’t want his wife to take on that worry, but she would share when Ellis wrote about seeing one of the officers or instructors that she and Liddy had known at Avenger. Liddy tried not to show extra interest when Reid was mentioned. She didn’t know exactly what they were to each other, and didn’t want to discuss it with anyone but Louise.
On one of their ferry runs, Liddy and Jenna stayed in California and spent a three day leave with Marina. Joy Lynn flew in and a big party was thrown. The great Jenna Law mixed right in with the crude and proper sisters, but like Liddy, Jenna couldn’t keep up with them either. “I don’t know how your bay made it to graduation.” Jenna said to Liddy as they flew home after the weekend.
“Sometimes I don’t either.” Liddy chuckled. “It must have been the will of the sky gods, I guess.”
“Or the Fifinella.” Jenna laughed.
Liddy was being flown out with two other WASPs to move three AT-6s from one training base to another. She scribbled frantically to finish the letter she was writing to Reid when the assignment officer called out to her, “Hall, let’s go.”
Liddy folded the letter, stuffed and licked it, then asked Teresa Hinton. “Hey, drop this for me, will you?”
Teresa took the letter and read the address, “Major Reidburn Trent, what’s the story, Hall?”
“Just drop it, please,” Liddy pleaded as she rushed out the door.
The women climbed into planes and out of planes, then into bed and out of bed and sometimes they were so exhausted they didn’t know which was which.
Liddy and Jenna were standing in line to receive their mail and Liddy asked, “Hey, Law—sorry, I mean Charles, in the letters you wrote, you never wrote about this pace. We’ve averaged four to five flights a day or cross countries since I got here. Avenger’s looking pretty sweet.”
“Can’t compare most of these ships to the beat-up buckets we trained on, though. We’re part of it now, Liddy Hall.”
Liddy took her mail from the clerk and walked to the corner of the room to sort through it. Jenna snuck-up behind her and stole it away. She flipped through the letters and read the return addresses, “Woman’s writing, woman’s writing, definitely a man’s writing.” Jenna held the letter up to the light and grinned.
Liddy calmly took the envelope back and turned it over to read the address. It wasn’t from Reid and Liddy’s disappointment washed over her face.
“Not from Major Trent?” Jenna returned the other letters to Liddy who looked back at her with questioning eyes. “Hinton told me she posted a letter for you addressed to a ‘Major Reidburn Trent’. Let me ask you something. The night I graduated, you seemed surprised and then thrilled when I told you I was engaged to Ellis. Did you think it was Reid I was marrying?”
Liddy tightened her mouth to one side and offered Jenna a weak admission.
“How did this come about? The two of you must have been really sneaky.”
“It wasn’t like that. We started writing letters after I graduated. That’s all.”
“That’s all, is it? Does Ellis know about this?”
“I don’t know.”
“If he does, and he didn’t tell me, he’s gonna get an earful.”
“If you need to talk to Ellis, fine, but don’t spread it around, okay?”
“What are you hiding from? You’re not a trainee anymore. He’s an officer, you’re an officer. It’s… what does Bet Bailey say? It’s ‘Open Season’.”
“They’re just letters. Please, Jenna.”
“Okay, Hall, I’ll keep it quiet.”