10 DEC 2021 · Millicent Young was one of the earliest members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. The WASPs were a civilian group of women pilots created in the 1940s to perform tasks like ferrying bombers and towing targets for gunnery practice to free men up for overseas combat.
Young's dream of flying airplanes began at an early age after an airplane landed on her family’s farm in Nebraska. She took her first airplane ride at 14 and eventually learned to fly in Ogallala, using funds she earned growing wheat on leased land from neighboring farmers. She was one of 300 female pilots awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010, the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress.
Young passed away in January 2019.