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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran served as a test pilot.
  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots)
  • Location of Service: Pecos, Texas

View full service history

"It didn't matter to us that we didn't have those [military privileges]. First, we were doing something that we loved to do. And also, we were helping our country. And we knew they really needed us." (Video Interview, 15:25)

Mildred "Micky" Axton considers herself very lucky to have had her childhood dream of flying fulfilled when a neighbor, a barnstorming pilot, took up her and her brother for rides. She graduated from Kansas State University and joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which led to her volunteering for the WASP. Her main duty, in the isolated West Texas outpost of Pecos, was to test planes, replacing men grateful for the chance to apply their flying skills in combat. Axton left behind a husband, who worked in an aircraft plant, and an infant, whom her mother agreed to care for. Her brother was a flier, too, in the Pacific Theater, where he survived being shot down and spending 14 hours in shark-infested water. Her career in the WASP was cut short when her mother took ill and she had to resign to care for her and the child.

More Resources

Mildred Darlene Axton Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

Mildred Darlene Axton Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

About this Item

Title

  • Mildred Darlene Axton Collection

Names

  • Patricia A. Kuentz
  • Kuentz, Patricia
  • Recollections-A Portrait of a Life
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Axton, Mildred Darlene Tuttle

State of Birth

  • KS

Home State

  • KS

Headings

  • -  Axton, Mildred Darlene
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a test pilot.
    • Branch of Service: WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots)
    • Location of Service: Pecos, Texas
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1944
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 2005)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 07/08/2003)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 09/20/2004)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 07/08/2003)
  • Photograph: Digital print [1 item] -- Portrait (collected 1943)
  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Television broadcast (collected 07/08/2003)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 09/20/2004)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10290

Cite as

  • Mildred Darlene Axton Collection (AFC/2001/001/10290), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Patricia A. Kuentz, Patricia Kuentz, Recollections-A Portrait Of A Life, National Court Reporters Association, and Mildred Darlene Tuttle Axton. Mildred Darlene Axton Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10290/.

APA citation style:

Patricia A. Kuentz, Kuentz, P., Recollections-A Portrait Of A Life, National Court Reporters Association & Axton, M. D. T. (1943) Mildred Darlene Axton Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10290/.

MLA citation style:

Patricia A. Kuentz, et al. Mildred Darlene Axton Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10290/>.