Join the La Crescent Public Library and presenter Frederick Beseler to learn about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of WWII. The WASPs were organized in order to provide pilots, replacing the male pilots being sent overseas and into combat. The WASPs flew more than 60 million miles in every type of aircraft in the Army Air Forces inventory, from biplane trainers to four-engine bombers and transports and 400-plus MPH fighters. The primary role of the WASPs was delivering the thousands of new aircraft from the factories to airfields around the United States — including Alaska — where the male pilots trained on those aircraft before taking them overseas.

This program is part of our Visible Veterans series, and made possible thanks to a grant through SELCO and the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. This grant is a collaboration between the La Crescent Public Library, the La Crescent Area Historical Society, the American Legion Post #595, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #11542, and the City of La Crescent.