Sunday, December 11, 2011

Texas woman recalls early days as military pilot

CONROE — When Mary Helen Foster arrived in the Malden Army Airfield in Missouri in 1944, excited at getting to serve and sure they would be happy to have her, her commanding officer took one look at her and said, “I didn’t ask for a woman pilot.”

“I did not ask to come to Missouri, sir,” Foster had said.

Foster, 90, a resident of the Conservatory at Alden Bridge in The Woodlands, was one of more than 1,700 women chosen for the groundbreaking Women Airforce Service Pilots program during World War II. The program allowed women to test aircraft undergoing maintenance and train pilots to allow men to fly in combat.

For seven months, Foster was stationed in Malden, testing aircraft for maintenance and ensuring they were safe for use in combat, despite the discrimination she faced along the way.

Foster did not always want to be a pilot.

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