Inspired by a visit from Charles Lindbergh to her hometown in 1927, Mary Jean Sturdevant learned how to fly in a civilian pilot program in the late 1930s. During World War II, she joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of highly trained female pilots that ferried newly manufactured aircraft to military installations and served as instructors for male pilots. During the war, the WASPs were considered contractors and were not recognized as Veterans until 1977. Sturdevant passed away in 2017 and is interred at Tahoma National Cemetery.
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