The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony today in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center.  Both surviving members of the WASP, as well as representatives of deceased members of the organization, participated in the ceremony.  The medal, presented by the Congressional leadership, honors WASP members for their pioneering military service that led to reform in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The WASPs served between 1942 and 1944, ferrying aircraft between U.S. bases, testing fighter planes and towing targets for the men to practice shooting at with live ammunition. They flew more than 60,000,000 miles in every type of aircraft flown by the Army Air Corps, including the B-26 bomber – also known as the “widow maker” – and the B-29 Superfortress. Thirty-eight of them died while serving their country.

Despite their service, the women had to pay their own way to Sweetwater, Texas, for training at Avenger Field. They set up collections to help bury fallen female pilots, who – because they were considered civilians – were not given military honors. And, as the war was ending, they were forced to pay their own bus fare home. When the program was disbanded in 1944, the women’s records were classified and sealed, denying them recognition for their service.

The 1,074 WASPs were never granted military rank, never flew in combat and were denied veterans benefits until 1977. Only 300 of these female pilots survive today.

The obverse (heads side) of the WASP Congressional Gold Medal was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill.  The design depicts the portrait of a WASP with three others in the foreground in period uniforms with an airborne AT-6 in the background.  Inscriptions on the obverse are WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS and 1942-1944.

The medal’s reverse (tails side) was designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart.  The design features the three aircraft that the WASPs flew during their training: the AT-6, B-26 and P-51.  The WASP wings are depicted at the base of the design.  Inscriptions on the reverse are THE FIRST WOMEN IN HISTORY TO FLY AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT, ACT OF CONGRESS and 2009.

President Obama today presented former U.S. Senator Edward William Brooke III with the Congressional Gold Medal for his unprecedented and enduring service to the Nation. The ceremony was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

The Congressional Gold Medal, designed and struck by the United States Mint, honors Senator Brooke’s pioneering accomplishments in public service. Senator Brooke broke new ground at a time when few African-Americans held state or Federal office. He was the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, serving with distinction for two terms, from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979. During his first term, Brooke was appointed to the President’s Commission on Civil Disorders, where his work on discrimination in housing served as the basis for the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

Brooke began his career in public service as chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, where he established an outstanding record of confronting and eliminating graft and corruption. He proposed groundbreaking legislation for consumer protection and against housing discrimination and air pollution, and made state and national history in 1962 when he was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts. He also served in the U.S. Army’s segregated 366th Infantry Regiment during World War II, attaining the rank of captain, and receiving a Bronze Star.

The medal’s obverse (heads side), designed and sculpted by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart, features an image of the senator with the inscription EDWARD WILLIAM BROOKE on the right side. The medal’s reverse (tails side) depicts the U.S. Capitol Building at the top and the Massachusetts State House at the bottom between two olive branches. The center of the design showcases the inscription AMERICA’S GREATNESS LIES IN ITS WONDROUS DIVERSITY, OUR MAGNIFICENT PLURALISM HAS MADE THIS COUNTRY GREAT, OUR EVER-WIDENING DIVERSITY WILL KEEP US GREAT. Additional inscriptions on the reverse are ACT OF CONGRESS 2008 and MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE. United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill designed and sculpted the medal’s reverse.
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