BY JENNIFER BAILEY
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Danville native has fond memories of her World War II flying days and is among those to receive a Congressional Gold Medal today.
Ninety-three-year-old Genevieve Landman Rausch, of Hillsborough, N.J., was a WWII pilot and flew as a member of the WASPs — Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Genevieve traveled to Washington, D.C. for today’s honor.
Her nephew, Robert Ellwood, whom she moved to be near in 2007, said Rausch and her fellow pilots have been “very excited” about the honor since President Barack Obama signed legislation in July 2009 awarding them the Congressional Gold Medal — Congress’ highest honor.
“It’s been 65 years,” Ellwood said of Rausch’s service.
She also was honored last year in New Jersey by the mayor and local congressman where she currently resides, Emeritus Senior Living Center, Summerville in Hillsborough.
Rausch put on her uniform for the big celebration, Ellwood said.
When looking back at her service with the WASP program, Rausch said this week by telephone, “I wondered how I managed all that.”
“It was a tremendous experience to fly for your country,” she said.
Rausch said she felt a lot of pride.
Rausch and the other female pilots were to appear at the Capitol’s Rotunda, but the ceremony was moved to Emancipation Hall due to the overwhelming response of the families, friends and members of Congress who wished to attend the ceremony.
Rausch was a member of the graduating class 44-W-5, and is one of only about 300 WASP members still living.
The WASPs were a pioneering organization of civilian female pilots employed to fly military aircrafts under the direction of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII.
More than 60 years ago, they flew fighter, bomber, transport and training aircraft in defense of America’s freedom. Through their actions, the WASPs eventually were the catalyst for revolutionary reform in the integration of women pilots into the armed services.
“This Congressional Gold Medal honors the remarkable accomplishments, courage and sacrifice of a distinct group of women in the United States military,” said Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Susan Davis, D-Calif., and Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who co-sponsored the legislation to support the WASP Congressional Gold Medal, in a press release.
“The Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII will be remembered for their dedicated efforts and unwavering service to our country in the fight for freedom.”
In the 1940s, the U.S. Air Force faced a dilemma. Thousands of new airplanes were coming off assembly lines and needed to be delivered to military bases nationwide, yet most of America’s pilots were overseas fighting the war. To deal with the backlog, the government launched an experimental program to train women pilots to fly military aircraft.
From 1942 to 1944, more than 1,000 women were trained to ferry aircraft, test planes, instruct male pilots and tow targets for anti-aircraft artillery practice.
One of those women was Rausch, who was born Genevieve Landman on Sept. 28, 1916, in Danville, and graduated Danville Central High School.
After graduation, she became a civil service secretary/stenographer and was assigned to the Air Training Command Head Quarters at Chanute Army Air Base, Rantoul.
She was inspired to pursue a future in aviation after hearing pioneer Amelia Earhart speak.
When the Air Training Command headquarters was relocated to Boca Raton, Fla., she moved with it.
Expressing an interest in flying, the Air Training Command Officers she worked for recommended she look into the WASP program that was being formed.
In 1943, she traveled to New York City to live with her older sister, Barbara Ellwood. Working during the week, including a job as a secretary for the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, Rausch commuted on weekends by train to a small general aviation airfield north of the city in Stormville, N.Y.
There she began her flight training. She acquired her private pilots’ license in a Piper Cub and paid for this training herself.
She then completed her application to the WASP and received a telegram stating she should report for an interview at a hotel in Manhattan. When interviewed she stated that she did not have as many hours of flight time as many of the other applicants and was not sure she was as qualified. Her interviewer assured her she was just what they were looking for, and she was accepted into the WASP program.
Rausch then traveled by train from New York City to New Orleans and then to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. She and her classmates began their primary training at Avenger Field in an open cockpit biplane.
In April 1944, Rausch was awarded her instrument flight certificate. She finished her training with a total of 210 hours and 26 minutes.
During her service as a WASP, she was stationed at Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Her missions included: towing aerial targets for aerial gunnery, flying multi-engine aircraft for training navigators, flying liaison-currier sorties and search and observation flights over the New Mexico and Arizona deserts during training exercises.
Rausch continued her trendsetting ways returning home to Illinois and then to New York City. She became one of the first female aviation writers and worked for the magazine “Skyways.” For her articles, she flew various civilian aircraft and reported on their performance and flying qualities.
One of her featured articles was the account of flying a light floatplane from a Marine Sea Plane Base in New York City all the way down the inter-coastal waterway to Florida.
Returning to Danville, in the early 1950s to visit her family, she met and married John T. Rausch, a local businessman. He was the president of the WASH Company, a manufacturer of specialty nails in Danville.
Active in UNICEF, she became its southern Illinois coordinator. She also was involved in local and state politics.
A year after her husband retired, they moved to Florida, where she continued her passion for the game of golf. She lived in Nokomis, Fla., for more than 30 years.
