Elizabeth 'Betty Wall' Strohfus

From time to time I'm going to talk about my time with my mom.  She goes to lots of air shows and gives quite a few talks about her experiences during WWII, and since I  take her to most of her engagements, I'm kept pretty busy!

Elizabeth Bridget “Betty Wall” audaciously served her nation during WWII as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (W.A.S.P.).  She served from 1943 until it disbanded in December 1944. She flew eight different aircraft including the B-17, B-26, P-39, and her favorite the AT-6. She flew anti-aircraft training missions against US Army ground and aerial forces, towed targets, and instructed male cadets the skill of instrument flight.  Her critical efforts not only prepared and trained soldiers and airmen for war, but also freed the male pilots to remain in combat.

Liz was born in Faribault, Minnesota on November 15, 1919, number five of six children.  Shortly after high school graduation, a member of the local Sky Club first introduced her to flight.  After an exhilarating flight in a Piper Cub, she was hooked.  Liz volunteered at the Club, completing odd jobs for a chance to fly with the members.  When one of the 15 members of the all-male Sky Club enlisted, she was asked to join.  Borrowing $100 from the local bank, she paid the dues and began flight lessons.  
 

Mom and her pilot after the first flight

The flying club about 1942

It was at the Club that she read a notice from the military asking for women pilots interested in assuming duties to free male pilots for overseas combat.  Quickly obtaining the minimum 35 flight hours, she applied.  At the minimum height of 5’3”, with help of extra socks, Betty passed the physical and began her training at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas in 1943.  She was one of only 1,800 women accepted from the 25,000 applicants.  Only 1074 graduated. Betty received her wings in the first class of 1944, the ninth overall.  While most of the graduates went on to assignments ferrying aircraft, Betty volunteered to fly pursuit aircraft and was stationed at Las Vegas Army Airfield.  There she flew both heavy bombers and pursuits, towing targets behind a B-26 for fighter target practice, dove in at bombers in pursuit aircraft and infantry in the AT-6 for gunnery and anti-aircraft target practice.  She was also qualified for missions in the P-39, and was a qualified co-pilot for both the B26 and B17.    

Responding to a call for instrument instructors, she was accepted and sent back to Avenger Field for instruction.  After receiving her instructor certification, she returned to Las Vegas and became the first woman to teach instrument flight to male cadets at the Las Vegas Airfield.  The men, as always, were quite shocked to find out their instructor was a woman.  Betty continued at Las Vegas until the W.A.S.P. were disbanded on December 20, 1944. 

After the war, she unsuccessfully applied to Northwest Airlines and worked for a time as an aircraft controller.  After several other jobs, she returned to Faribault where she married and raised a family.  She placed all of her memorabilia in a box, retiring the memories to a closet.  In 1972, after her first husband passed away and her children left for college, she visited 2 of her children living in Boston and then traveled on to New York City where she found work with the American Cancer Society as a research consultant until 1979.  While there, Liz and six other W.A.S.P.  were central in lobbying congress for the recognition of W.A.S.P. as veterans.  The law was passed and signed in 1977 that allowed the Secretary of Defense to declare in 1979 that service in the W.A.S.P. was active military service and those serving were veterans.  Not ready to stop inspiring, since 1991, “Betty Wall” has traveled to 22 states, telling her story to thousands of people, primarily schoolchildren.  She is a member of the Ninety Nines, Confederate Air Force and in 2001 was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.

She was Mistress of Ceremonies for the Dedication of the Veterans Museum at the Hormel Plant in Austin, MN where she introduced Tom Brokow for the key-note address on June 16, 2003 and was present at the State Capitol honoring the WWII Memorial and Veterans.

 

By the way: At 71, she piloted an F-16 out of Duluth, MN with the Air National Guard and at 82 she 1st piloted a B-17 bomber from Owatonna, MN to St. Paul, MN. She has been honored in the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kansas, and has received the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity recognizing all Women Service Volunteers of WWII.

2009 was a banner year for Liz:

Ø  Awarded the Minnesota Woman Veteran of the Year

By the Minnesota Veterans Affairs Office

Ø  Inducted into the Gathering Of Eagles

Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL.

Ø  A Bill signed by President honoring all WASP

With the Congressional Gold Medal

Ø  Celebrating her 90^th Birthday on November 15, 2009

2010 Liz went to Washington with her children and, with more than 200 surviving W.A.S.P. received the Congressional Gold Medal at the nation's Capital!

In 2012 she was invited to Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, which was formally the Las Vegas Army Air Force Base, where she had been stationed. Liz Hadn't been back to the base since the W.A.S.P. were disbanded in 1944, and was met by archaeologists working on a history of the Airbase.

    

Elizabeth currently lives in her hometown of Faribault Minnesota near her sons, Arthur and Michael Roberts and sister, Cecelia Bell. She has been invited to 18 States present her program and continues traveling Minnesota sharing her stories.

She has a book which is "  And Still Flying...: The Life and Times of Elizabeth "Betty" Wall  ".  You can find it at amazon.com!