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Finding Your Characters

Posted on March 11, 2023 by PatriciaMarch 13, 2023

I am Kellea Sullivan. Really, my name is Patricia La Vigne. So where did the name Kellea Sullivan originate? When I began to put my story of Wind-Free together, I had no problem finding the name for the horse who … Continue reading →

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Effect of Music

Posted on February 22, 2023 by PatriciaFebruary 22, 2023

She loved classical music, especially when she listened to Van Cliburn’s magic with the ivory keys or Doc Severinson’s fluid tones from his trumpet. Music raised her emotional level to almost incredible. Her mind began to visualize scenes. Working on … Continue reading →

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The Birth of Nighthawks

Posted on January 30, 2023 by PatriciaJanuary 30, 2023

For a number of years I have been working on a novel which I titled “Nighthawks: The Diner.” I do have a first draft of the basic story; but since it is actually five short stories as told by five … Continue reading →

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Beginning of Researching Diners for Blog

Posted on October 17, 2022 by PatriciaOctober 18, 2022

Darkness, the color of pitch, wrapped itself around the empty street in the town of Hope, Illinois. The beam of a lone streetlamp shone eerily through the foggy mist. Inside the building on the corner of Main and State Streets, … Continue reading →

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Laudato si’ and How We Respond

Posted on September 1, 2022 by PatriciaSeptember 1, 2022

Today, September 1, has been designated by Pope Francis as a day to pray for what I call the Salvation of the World. I was just viewing part of a documentary on the encyclical composed by Pope Francis in 2015 … Continue reading →

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What was Your First Full-time Job after Graduation?

Posted on August 20, 2022 by PatriciaAugust 20, 2022

What was your first full-time job after you graduated from high school if you did not plan to go to college? When I graduated in 1954, there were not many choices open for women. Nursing, teaching, and business office jobs … Continue reading →

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Recognition at Last

Posted on June 20, 2022 by PatriciaJune 20, 2022

By 1944 the WASPs had firmly established themselves as well-trained pilots able to fly most, if not all, models of planes used in the combat overseas. There was no reason, we felt, not to continue in the air industry doing … Continue reading →

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Action in the Air

Posted on March 20, 2022 by PatriciaMarch 20, 2022

Although the women trained by both Nancy Love and Jackie Cochran were experienced pilots, airborne accidents still happened. Cornelia Fort was assigned to deliver a BT-13 Valiant from California to Texas accompanied by six other planes piloted by male pilots. … Continue reading →

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WASPs Don’t Always Sting: The Early Days

Posted on December 22, 2021 by PatriciaDecember 22, 2021

WASPs Don’t Always Sting: The Early Days

Our yearning to fly the big ones remained just that. We had to go through rigorous training. The job would be tough, so we had to measure up to doing what was demanded. Up at six o’clock, breakfast leading into a morning of hands-on learning about every aspect of flying we had to know, afternoon classroom sessions, dinner at seven followed by time for study and homework, and lights out at ten. We lived and breathed airplanes.

Our actual flight training took place in the smallest planes. Barely room in them to breathe. These were the trainers. But the thrill of hearing the engines turn over and watching the propellers spin almost took my breath away. And this was just the beginning!

This excitement made the fact that we were not really considered Army personnel bearable, although we were required to follow the same rules that the soldiers were held to. But there were no benefits (insurance, pension, military honors, burial in a military cemetery) afforded to the women. Our job was to ferry planes from certain bases to other bases throughout the United States—a job that used to belong to the men. But the soldiers were needed overseas to fight.

In 1940, Nancy Love had the same dream as Jackie Cochran—to assist the army by allowing women pilots to fly planes to locations where needed. Nancy sought to obtain permission from the Army to organize qualified volunteers from all over the United States into pilots who could bear some of the burden of the war. In 1942 her dream became a reality, the same year as Jackie Cochran finally received the authority to found her own group.

A pilot in her own right, Nancy was successful in finding women who would fly (or “ferry”) planes. She formed her women volunteers into the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Their sole mission was the successful transporting of planes from base to base as the Army needed.

Jackie Cochran’s vision was to form her recruits into a new segment of the Army, not only flying planes from base to base, but learning everything there was to know about planes and the mechanics behind their performance. Of the nearly nineteen hundred women who applied, close to one thousand women completed Jackie’s demanding requirements, the first of which was that no woman would be considered unless she was already a licensed pilot. This was to our advantage because it meant that we could graduate sooner and get on with the business of why we were there.

Although first based in Houston, Texas, Jackie eventually asked for and received the “go-ahead” to move her training grounds to Avenger Field at Texas Women’s University in Sweetwater, Texas. By then, Nancy Love’s WAFS and Jackie’s WFTD (Women’s Flying Training Detachment) merged to become the world-famous WASPs (Women’s Air Service Pilots). Their mascot? A cartoon rendition of a Wasp named Fifi.

Note: From 1943 until December 20, 1944, the WASPs served the Army’s needs for transporting planes, training new pilots, and participating in “war games” as preparation for men facing the real dangers overseas. Actual flight instruction took place every weekday with weekends free for relaxing, going into town, and other recreational pleasures. Those days were a far cry from pre-WASP days at home. Sweetwater at that time was still mostly desert with very little to offer in the line of entertainment. Everyone learned to relax just being together and getting to know each other better. (Next month: Action In The Air )

 

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WASPs Don’t Always Sting

Posted on November 18, 2021 by PatriciaNovember 18, 2021

WASPs Don’t Always Sting By Patricia La Vigne Every Wednesday morning a writing group called Whatchamacallit meets via Zoom. We do a variety of writing exercises or just plain discuss the ins and outs of writing, problems we may be … Continue reading →

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Awards

graphic of 2016 first place award for East Texas Writers Guild Book Awards historical fiction category
graphic of 2015 finalist award in East Texas Writers Guild Book Awards

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