Maggie Gee

Maggie Gee (August 5, 1923 February 1, 2013 ) was an American aviator who served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in World War II. She was one of two Chinese-American women to serve in the organization, the other being Hazel Ying Lee. As a WASP pilot, she helped male pilots train for combat, since female pilots were not allowed to serve in combat at that time. She also ferried military aircraft. After serving as a WASP, she held a career as a research physicist and political activist against racial discrimination.

Childhood Gee, one of six children, was born in Berkeley, California, August 5, 1923. She was a third-generation Chinese American; her maternal grandparents had moved to California from a village in Guangdong. Her grandfather was a pioneer in the abalone industry on the Monterey Peninsula. Gee's father was a businessman from Hong Kong, and her mother (Ah Yoke Gee) was a second-generation Chinese-American. Because her father had immigrated to the US, her mother lost her US citizenship due to the terms of the Cable Act of 1922.

Growing up, Gee frequently spent time at the airfield with family watching the takeoff of various planes. One of her role models was Amelia Earhart, and wanting to fly became a goal for her. However, due to the cost, she was unable to have that opportunity. Additionally, the era that Gee grew up in was marked by racial segregation and discrimination against Chinese Americans, especially on the topic of housing.

World War II and WASP service 1941, with the attack on Pearl Harbor, marked the start of the second world war for the US. At this time, Gee was a freshman enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to study physics. and her mother worked at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard as a welder. ), of which there were no black women, two Chinese-Americans, one Native-American, and a few Jewish women. ), she worked at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the fields of weapons systems and nuclear and magnetic fusion. She also posthumously received a second Congressional Gold Medal for being a Chinese-American veteran of WWII. In 2014, she was inducted into the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame in recognition towards being one of the first women in history to American military aircraft in defense of America's freedom.