United States. A Women Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) Group to Lieutenant Colonel Helen Marie Schaefer, 5th Ferrying Group

Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) Badge (in sterling silver, maker marked "JOSTENS" and marked "STERLING" on the reverse, measuring 69 mm (w) x 21 mm (h), both push pin points intact); Air Corps Ferry Command Civilian Pilot (Air Transport Command Ferry Division) Badge (in sterling silver with red, white and blue enamels, maker marked "ROBBINS CO ATTLEBORO MASS" and marked "STERLING" on the reverse, measuring 21.5 mm (w) x 73.5 mm (h), horizontal pinback); National Association of Air Force Women Badge (in sterling silver with blue and white enamels, maker marked "AMICO", marked "STERLING" and "NAT'L. ASS'N. AIR FORCES WOMEN" on the reverse, measuring 51 mm (w) x 10.5 mm (h), horizontal pinback); Air Transport Command Lapel Badge (in sterling silver with red, white and blue enamels, marked "STERLING SILVER" on the reverse, measuring 29.5 mm in diameter, vertical pinback); Lieutenant Colonel Rank Insignia (1/20 silver filled, marked "1/20 SF", maker marked and marked "GI" on the reverse, measuring 26.7 mm (w) x 28.5 mm (h), both push pin points intact); Army Aviation Prop and Wings Collar Insignia (two-piece construction, in silvered and gilt bronze, measuring 28 mm (w) x 19 mm (h) each, dual push points slightly bent but intact); Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) Membership Patch (in yellow, light blue and gray embroidery, with black threading giving definition to the wings, on an ultramarine blue embroidered base, measuring 140 mm (w) x 86 mm (h)); WASP Name Plate (illustrating the WASP badge, inscribed "WASP WWII / 43-4 / HELEN M. SCHAEFER", blue face plate, with white text, white plastic base, measuring 83 mm (w) x 38 mm (h), horizontal pinback and manufacturer's label affixed to the reverse); WASP Business Card (illustrating the WASP badge, inscribed "WASP / Helen M. Schaefer / LT. COL. USAF (RET) / 107 Elm Ave / San Bruno, CA945066 / (415) 588-1874", printed in black ink, on a thin off-white card stock, measuring 85 mm (w) x 50 mm (h)); Promotional Postcard for the Book "Out of the Blue and into History" (addressed to Mary DuPre of Millbrae, California, the sister of Helen M. Schaefer, postmarked March 14, 2001 at Cincinnati, Ohio, with 20 cent stamp, printed in four-color inks on a card stock, measuring 152 mm (w) x 102 mm (w)); Christmas Card (addressed to Helen M. Schaefer of San Bruno, California, from author Byrd Howard Granger, printed in four-color inks on card stock, measuring 204 mm (w) x 150 mm (h), with an accompanying letter from the author, and its addressed envelope, postmarked December 22, 1988 at Phoenix, Arizona, with 25 cent stamp); along with copies of her Department of Commerce Civil Aeronautics Administration Airman Identification Card, Love Field in Dallas Texas Identification Card, Aviation Enterprises Limited at Avenger Field in Sweetwater Texas Card, Pilot Qualifications Record Card, Officers Mess 5th Ferrying Group A.T.C. at Love Field in Dallas Texas Membership Card, along with assorted research papers.

 

Footnote: Helen Marie Schaefer was born on May 15, 1915 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended Clifton Elementary School and Hughes High School in Cincinnati. She began working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cincinnati Branch, in 1937. Schaefer had been fascinated with flying since she was a girl, but it was not until 1940, when the government established a Civilian Pilot Training Program, that she was able to realize her ambition, at the age of 25. Ten scholarships were issued in this program but only one female was eligible in the top ten. Schaefer came in second with a grade of 98, finishing second out of 55 in her ground training class, thereby winning a scholarship, which entitled her to free flying classes. She managed to achieve her private pilot's licence in three months' time. With only one hundred hours of flying time to her credit, she volunteered for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) program on February 20, 1943, and after applying, was accepted in class 43-4. It was the first class that began training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas and was the only all woman military flying training field during the Second World War. She received primary, basic and advanced training at Sweetwater and after intensive training, she graduated. After graduation, she was assigned to the 5th Ferrying Group at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, where she transported planes from factories to training bases and points of embarkation. During her sixteen months stationed in Dallas, she flew fifteen different types of aircraft. Schaefer took her pursuit training at Brownsville, Texas, where a P47 was the first fighter type aircraft she flew. Her first flight was an eventful one, taking place in a beat up aircraft, as she could only get one wheel up, and after twenty minutes, when she was able to get both wheels down, she went back to the airfield and landed the aircraft. Schaefer was a member of the elite group of female fliers who flew military aircraft during the Second World War, and was one of 1,074 woman civilian pilots who flew for the United States Army Air Corps as Woman Air Force Service Pilots. Upon deactivation from the WASPs, she returned to work with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cincinnati Branch. She moved to California in 1947 and took up residency in San Bruno, where she would live for the next fifty years. While living in California, she accepted an Air Force Reserve Commission in 1949, receiving a direct commission as a First Lieutenant, spending most of her reserve time with the 349th Troop Carrier Wing and 349th Fighter Wing. Schaefer retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1975 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-five years' service. She worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco until her retirement in 1960, completing twenty-three years' service with the Bank. After retiring from working with the Bank, she worked as a dispatcher for the San Bruno Police Department, again to her retirement from that organization in 1977, after seventeen years' service. Helen Marie Schaefer died after a brief illness at Seton Hospital in Daly City, California, on Friday, April 25, 1997, at the age of 81. She was survived by her two sisters, Mary DuPre of Millbrae, California and Dorothy Rogalsky of San Bruno, California. Her funeral service was held at the Chapel of the Highlands, followed by her burial with military honors in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, San Mateo County, California, Plot: Garden, Section 5, Unit 4, Tier 1A.