Residents of the Dominican Oaks Retirement Home didn’t realize that they were living with a war hero. Violet Wierzbicki, an unassuming woman in her nineties, hardly looks the part. But she will soon be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest decoration awarded to an individual who performs an outstanding act of service to the country’s security, prosperity and national interest.
Residents of the Dominican Oaks Retirement Home didn’t realize that they were living with a war hero. Violet Wierzbicki, an unassuming woman in her nineties, hardly looks the part. But she will soon be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest decoration awarded to an individual who performs an outstanding act of service to the country’s security, prosperity and national interest. Wiersbicki did that during World War II, when she served as a pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPS.
Between 1942 and 1942, Wierzbicki towed airborne targets behind her plane so that male pilots who would soon go off into battle could hone their sharpshooting skills. She also served as a test pilot and ferried planes from their factories to air force bases around the country. Ironically, she could not get a job as a pilot after the war because of existing prejudices against women. Instead, she found work as a secretary for GM and U.S. Steel. In the 1970s, she lobbied Congress to recognize the WASP’s contribution to the war effort.
She is currently working on her memoirs. Read more at MikeEynon.com.
