JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Dorothy Olsen was one of the first women in history trained to fly American military aircraft.
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A 100th birthday celebration Sunday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state was held in her honor.
Olsen primarily flew fighter aircraft from 1943 through the end of World War II, her son Kim said for an interview with the U.S. Air Force.
"She was qualified on everything the Army flew, as well as some Navy planes," Kim said. He noted her favorites were the P-51 and P-38 fighters. "She felt bombers were like driving buses.”
According to the Air Force interview, Olsen wanted to fly since she was a child. She took lessons in a Piper Cub and signed up to serve with the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, as soon as she heard about the program.
"I loved every minute of it," she said.
Dorothy was born in Woodburn, Oregon, and attended air shows at the Oregon State Fair, according to HistoryLink.
After the war ended, she returned to the Pacific Northwest, married a Washington State Patrol officer and moved to University Place.
She shared one of her favorite memories during the Air Force interview: flying a P-38 at night over Coolidge, Arizona.
She caused a stir when she buzzed the field and "woke the whole town up."
Only around 1,000 women were fighter pilots during World War II.
The state of Washington was well represented in the effort, according to HistoryLink.
Thirty-eight pilots in the WASP program were killed in training or on mission flights. Since the women pilots were not actually in the military, they had no benefits, not even burial coverage. For a number of those killed, fellow pilots contributed to ship the body home for burial. Often another pilot would accompany the body to the deceased pilot's hometown.
Information from HistoryLink and an essay made possible by the Cultural Resources Program, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is included in this report.