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Cornelia Fort's Daring Life as a Pilot Was Both Inspiring and Groundbreaking (1999)

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Cornelia Clark Fort

On February 5th 1919 in Nashville, TN , Ms.Fort was born into a very wealthy family because of her father , Rufus Elijah Fort who according to the text “ Was the founder of the National Life and Accident insurance company “. She showed a strong interest in flying at a very young age . According to the text “ in 1939 she graduated Sarah Lawrence Flying College and became the second woman to get her commercial pilot license and became the first to get her instructors license  . She applied to different places and was finally accepted at Colorado while she was there she was offered an position in Hawaii .

According to the text “ While she was working as a civilian pilot instructor in Pearl Harbor she became one of the witnesses to see the Japanese attack , On December 7, 1941, Fort was in the air near Pearl Harbor teaching takeoffs and landings to a student pilot in an Interstate Cadet monoplane. Hers and a few other civilian aircraft were the only U.S. planes in the air near the harbor at that time. Fort saw a military airplane flying directly toward her and swiftly grabbed the controls from her student to pull up over the oncoming craft. It was then she saw the rising sun insignia on the wings. Within moments, she saw billows of black smoke coming from Pearl Harbor and bombers flying in. She quickly landed the plane at John Rodgers civilian airport near the mouth of Pearl Harbor. The pursuing Zero strafed her plane and the runway as she and her student ran for cover.The airport manager was killed and two other civilian planes did not return that morning.” She wanted to help protect her base even while risking her life , she kept her student safe as well.

After the Pearl Harbor attack she returned back to the States or the Mainland where according to the text “  She made a short movie promoting war bonds that was successful and led to speaking engagements.Later that year, Nancy Love recruited her to serve in the newly established Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, precursor to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was the second woman accepted into the service.The WAFS ferried military planes to bases within the United States.”

But one tragic day on March 21 ,1943 while she was doing her duty for. W.A.S.P according to the text “On March 21, 1943, while flying in formation en route from Long Beach to Love Field in Dallas, the left wing of her BT-13 struck the landing gear of flight officer Frank Stamme Jr.'s plane.Stamme had been flying too close to Fort's plane, approaching her and then pulling back.On one of the close passes, the collision took place, breaking off the tip of her wing and six feet of leading edge.He was able to control his plane, but Fort went into an irreversible dive and crashed. The accident occurred ten miles south of Merkel, Texas in Mulberry Canyon, Texas.

Her tombstone says died in helping her country . Her legacy help inform that current generation and the ones to follow that women are able to do a lot of things even though people think they can’t .  When Cornelia Fort died she was the most decorated and honored solider in the W.A.F.S.  She was a strong person who change the way people looked at women.

Evidence gained from Wikipedia and other sources