Fla female pilots get Congressional gold medals

Aug 31, 2009 1 min read

MIAMI (AP) – Three south Florida women have been given Congressional gold medals decades after serving as pilots during World War II.

The three former Women Airforce Service Pilots are among the more than 1,100 female pilots who logged 60 million miles in noncombat missions between 1942 and 1943. Their primary mission was to protect U.S. coasts, freeing up male pilots to fight combat missions abroad.

Frances Rohrer Sargent, 90, Ruth Shafer Fleisher, 87, and Helen Wyatt Snapp, 91, were honored at a ceremony Saturday