The Highground Can Use Your help

By ANN Contributor Rose Dorcey

During World War II, over 1,000 females served as Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP's). These dynamic women tested aircraft, trained male pilots, and ferried aircraft. After the war, the Air Force sent the women home, denying military careers and benefits. In the late '70s, the women finally received veteran status.

One of the surviving WASPs, Dorothy Swain Lewis, a talented artist, created a WASP tribute, in the form of a bronze sculpture. The statue is currently on display in the Highground's gift shop. By the end of July, it will find its permanent home - on a bluff that overlooks miles of trees, hills, and valleys.

The sculpture will be dedicated at The Highground Veterans Memorial Park in Neillsville, WI on July 31 at 1:00 pm. Event organizers keenly planned the ceremony the day after EAA AirVenture Oshkosh ends. The surviving members of the WASP hold their annual reunion in Oshkosh. Neillsville is just a three-hour drive away.

The Highground relies on donors to honor "human courage and sacrifice wherever it is displayed, without either denying or glorifying the pain and suffering of war or of life".

Donations are tax deductible; The Highground is a 501(c) organization. Information on how to donate to the WASP tribute is available at the FMI link below.

FMI: www.thehighground.org