Mabel Virginia Rawlinson

Mabel Virginia Rawlinson (19 March 1917 – August 23, 1943) served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II as one of 1,102 women to earn Silver Wings. When she died in an airplane crash during advanced night training, she became one of the 38 women who died while serving with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Early life Born in Greenwood, Delaware in 1917, Rawlinson and her family relocated to Blackstone in Nottoway County, Virginia in 1925 when she was eight years old. She enjoyed playing outside in her rural hometown, served as an active member of her church, and participated in talent shows. She worked at the Kalamazoo Plating Works and Kalamazoo Public Library. Following graduation, she wrote home about her trip to visit the Alamo and San Antonio, Texas before reporting for an advanced training assignment at Camp Davis Army Airfield in North Carolina. Rawlinson's instructor, 2nd Lt. Harvey J. Robillard, urged Rawlinson to jump for her life. The lieutenant made a crash landing and although the aircraft broke apart upon impact, Robillard survived with serious injuries. Rawlinson did not jump, potentially due to a faulty cockpit escape latch. She lost her life to the aircraft's blaze while still belted into the cockpit. A serious accident and another death further crushed morale at Camp Davis. Some WASP considered resignation until Jacqueline Cochran intervened to stop the vulnerable program from unraveling.

Legacy

Because they perceived the WASP as civilian volunteers and not Air Force pilots, the U.S. military made no financial resources available to send fallen WASPs home or for funeral costs. So, in an act of kindness customary to the WASP, Rawlinson's fellow Camp Davis classmates took up a collection to send Rawlinson's body and belongings home to Michigan. Members of her unit accompanied her body home. Rawlinson's family wished to drape the American flag over her coffin. However, in 1943, the military limited this honor to official armed services members only. Despite this regulation, Rawlinson's family honored their WASP with a well-attended funeral procession with a flag-draped casket. The Kalamazoo Civil Air Patrol, which she helped establish before her WASP career, commemorated Rawlinson with a traditional flyover as well as bugle and gun salutes.