Jul 12 2020 30 mins 1
Chuck Yeager didn't have anything on Lillian Yonally. Sure, Yeager was a record-setting test pilot, the first to exceed the speed of sound. But Yonally broke through a different barrier: gender stereotypes. Yonally, a World War II pilot, was one tough woman. She served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. The WASP picked up the slack at home when all the male pilots went overseas. Yonally's main job as a WASP was flying B-25 bombers with a target in tow, while new recruits on the ground fired with live ammunition at the target. More than 25,000 women applied to the WASP program. Only 1,830 were eaccpeted and 1,074 completed the training. At age 98, Yonally is one of the few WASP still alive. Katie speaks with Yonally's daughter, Lynn Yonally.
