Come Fly With Me: The Inspiring True Story of WWII Pilot Violet Thurn Cowden

Violet Thurn in uniform, with her plane, c. 1943-44 (courtesy of Library of Congress).

Violet Cowden (October 1, 1916 – April 10, 2011) was an American aviator who served as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Cowden was one of the surviving members of the 1,074 WASPs, who were the first women to fly American military planes. Cowden was born Violet Thurn and raised on a farm in Bowdle, South Dakota. She taught first grade students in Spearfish, South Dakota. Cowden was issued her pilot's license before the United States entered World War II. Cowden was commissioned as a member of the WASPs in March 1943. Cowden and other members of WASP did not see combat during World War II. Their mission was to fly military planes from domestic military factories to training sites or military bases in the United States. Cowden became one of only 114 WASP to fly the fighter planes during the war, including the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-39 AiraCobra, P-63 Kingcobra, and her favorite and the "love of her life," the P-51 Mustang. Cowden was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010, as one of only 300 surviving members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Violet Cowden died at 8:34 p.m. on April 10, 2011, at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California, at the age of 94.

 

Information above provided by Wikipedia.

 

Rosie the Riveter is an icon of the American experience during World War II and a figure that is pretty well known in some way even today. With her denim uniform, red kerchief, and flexed bicep, she represents women’s employment and empowerment on the home front during the war. Millions of women across the United States worked in shipyards and factories, laboring as welders, machinists, and riveters. Women also drove trucks, cleaned houses, flew planes, organized fundraisers, treated patients, grew crops, broke codes, and took care of children. Then there were the hundreds of thousands of women who joined the U.S. Armed Forces, or at least tried to. With opportunities came struggles. Some Americans applauded the women for their patriotism, while others thought it was inappropriate for them to work outside the home.

Almost 350,000 American women served in uniform, both at home and abroad, in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Newly formed organizations included the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs, later renamed the Women’s Army Corps), the Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES), the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARS), the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS), the Army Nurses Corps, and the Navy Nurse Corps. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe who would later go on to serve as the 34th President of the United States, felt that he could not win the war without the aid of the women in uniform -  “The contribution of the women of America, whether on the farm or in the factory or in uniform, to D-Day was a sine qua non of the invasion effort.”

In other words, the contribution of women was absolutely necessary. Women could join the U.S. Armed Forces but not in combat roles, instead serving in office and clerical jobs in order to free up the men for active duty in Europe and the Pacific. Women also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across the country, test-flew newly repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by acting as flying targets. Of the thousands of women who served during World War II, this episode is focused on one woman in particular. A twenty-six year old first grade teacher from South Dakota who originally enlisted in the Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES) but got the chance to follow her dream of flying and ended up with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS). The name of this young woman is Violet Thurn Cowden, a World War II pilot who served her country proudly. Of more than 25,000 applicants, Violet Thurn Cowden was one of only 1,074 women to graduate the Women Airforce Service Pilots training program during World War II. Considered civil service employees and without official military status, after the war Violet and the other female pilots were granted no military honors or benefits. They would face roadblocks and have to fight for many years to get what they had rightfully earned. It wasn't until 1977, thirty-two years after the end of World War II, that the WASPs received full military status.

 

Violet Thurn Cowden's story, hidden history that has remained long forgotten, is the story of an American patriot determined to serve her country and a nation promoting freedom and equality abroad while struggling to guarantee these ideals for American citizens.

 

For the rest of Violet's story, please check out the audio link provided for EPISODE THIRTY-TWO of our podcast, Hidden History: An Odyssey Through Time


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Images and Documents

Violet Thurn in the 1920 U.S. Census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in May 1924 school record, South Dakota, School Records, 1879-1970 (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in May 1925 school record, South Dakota, School Records, 1879-1970 (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in South Dakota State Census, 1925 (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in an April 1926 school record, South Dakota, School Records, 1879-1970 (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in an May 1927 school record, South Dakota, School Records, 1879-1970 (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn in the 1930 U.S. Census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Y.W.C.A., 1934-1935 - Back row: June Walker, Lois Floyd, Jane McClung, Alfreda Sleep, Ruby Danielson, Wilma Rummans, Margaret McLeish and Violet Thurn (courtesy of Black Hills State University Archives).

Original caption: "Violet Thurn, Most Representative Women, 1935-1936" (courtesy of Black Hills State University Archives).

Women's Athletic Association, 1935-1936 - Top row: Violet Thurn, Betty Paine and Della Gardiner. Middle row: Margaretta Cash and Pauline M. Hammerquist. Bottom row: Verna Duncan and Roberta Ross (courtesy of Black Hills State University Archives).

Violet Thurn and a janitor at the school where she was a teacher prior to her WASP training (courtesy of the Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University).

Violet Thurn with her first grade class, pre-WASP days (courtesy of the Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University).

Violet Thurn in the 1940 U.S. Census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Classbook photo of WASP Violet C. Thurn in an A-2 leather bomber jacket and scarf, 318th A.A.F.F.T.D. Class of 43-W-4, 1943 (courtesy of the Violet Cowden Collection, University Libraries of UNC Greensboro).

Love Field, Dallas, Texas. Front row - Johnson (43-1), Mullins (43-4), Tardy (43-7), Pierce (43-6), Abell (43-6), Fullwood (43-4), Gott (43-2), Violet Thurn (43-4), Engle (43-4), 1943-44 (courtesy of the Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University).

Violet Thurn at Love Field, Texas stepping into a Pursuit, c. 1943-44 (courtesy of the Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University).

Violet Thurn, in WASP khaki summer uniform, stands on the wing of a P-51 Mustang, circa 1943 (courtesy of the Violet Cowden Collection, University Libraries of UNC Greensboro).

WASP Violet Thurn leans out of the cockpit of a P-51 Mustang, circa 1943 (courtesy of the Violet Cowden Collection, University Libraries of UNC Greensboro).

Violet Thurn in the 1950 U.S. Census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Violet Thurn Cowden, Class 43-W-4, 1986 (courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art).

Letter from Violet "Vi" Cowden to WASP discussing the upcoming WASP Memorial Dedication in Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 7, 1997 (courtesy of National WASP WWII Museum).

Maj. Lori Rasmussen, pilot assigned to 1st Air Force, stands with Violet Thurn Cowden, a pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASPs, before an event at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, date unknown. The major spoke at Ms. Cowden’s memorial service in Chino, Calif., May 21, 2011.

Violet Thurn Cowden in mid-air during her tandem jump with the United States Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, 2006 (courtesy of the Violet Cowden Collection, University Libraries of UNC Greensboro).

Violet Thurn Cowden poses for photograph under the U.S. Army Golden Knights tent following her completing a tandem jump with the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, 2006 (courtesy of the Violet Cowden Collection, University Libraries of UNC Greensboro).

President Barack Obama signs S.614, bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the WASP, in the Oval Office at the White House, July 1, 2009. Women’s Airforce Service Pilots present: Elaine Danforth Harmon, Lorraine H. Rodgers, Bernice Falk Haydu. Active Duty U.S. Air Force Pilots present: Colonel Dawn Dunlop, Colonel Bobbi Doorenbos, Lieutenant Colonel Wendy Wasik, Major Kara Sandifur, Major Nicole Malachowski (courtesy of U.S. Air Force).

Santiago dark blue wool dress uniform worn by the Women Airforce Service Pilots, WASP, during WWII, donated by Bernice Haydu (courtesy of National Air and Space Museum).

Violet Cowden talks with the owner of the World War II vintage P-51, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, Maxwell AF Base, 2010. The P-51 Mustang was Violet's favorite plane (courtesy of U.S. Air Force).

Violet Thurn Cowden, 93, can be seen giving a thumbs up to her fellow pilot as she flew in the SIAI Marchetti fighter plane, March 2010 (courtesy of The Orange County Register).

Violet Thurn Cowden, 93, poses with a photo of herself as a young women aboard the P-51 airplane she flew during WWII, March 2010 (courtesy of The Orange County Register).

Betty Wall Strohfus, a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) from Minnesota, displays her copy of the Congressional Gold Medal at the Capitol, March 10, 2010 (courtesy of U.S. Air Force).

Featured Video

WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) Violet Thurn Cowden (October 1, 1916 - April 10, 2011) was a pilot during World War II & one of only 114 women selected for the mostly male pursuit pilot training. She also logged enough air miles to fly around the world nearly 55 times & continued to take to the skies until her early 90s.

Reading Material

Some 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II, both at home and abroad. Women on the home front were critical to the war effort: Between 1940 and 1945, the era of “Rosie the Riveter,” the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945, nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.

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