The story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) is a chapter from World War II nearly forgotten for over 30 years. The first American women trained to fly military aircraft, the WASP logged over 60 million miles between 1942 and 1944 ferrying planes, towing targets, testing planes and training pilots. But they were civil servants, never fully incorporated into the armed forces. In 1977, after Air Force women began training for the first time to fly planes, Congress passed legislation to belatedly give the true pioneers, the WASP, veteran status. And in 2009, surviving WASP veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.