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Expansion set for Sweetwater museum honoring female WWII pilots
http://www.ktxs.com/news/sweetwater...il&utm_term=0_e509ef1720-e13e50510b-319951273
SWEETWATER, Texas - A museum in Sweetwater that celebrates the role played by female pilots in World War II is expanding.
Monday, museum supporters broke ground on a new building at the National WASP World War II Museum.
(PHOTOS: Groundbreaking at the WASP museum in Sweetwater)
Planes like the 1940 Boeing-Stearman trained women known as WASPS or Women Air Force Service Pilots at Avenger Field.
“It's all about the ladies, you know, being the first lady pilots,” said Dave Zobrist, the projects architect and project manager.
Zobrist's mother-in-law, Betty Jo Streff-Reed, was a member of the WASP class of 1944. Her ashes were spread over the runway in May of 2014.
“I still have a vision of that happening, having the homecoming and the family being here witnessing the event and the tears and the joy that goes along with it,” Zobrist said.
The $2.2 million expansion is being paid for with more than 3,500 donations from private donors and foundations. It will be a replica of the old hangars, but made with modern materials. The museum opened in 2005 and honors the 1,102 women who trained here.
“They were more or less what we refer to as the forgotten Air Force,” said Sandra Spears, the museum’s president of the board of directors.
“They didn't think women could fly military air planes, but they did,” Spears said. “They were able to ferry planes, be tow target pilots, have many roles so they could free up the men to go to combat.”
Less than 100 of those women are still alive. Now it's a place where their kids and grandkids can visit. For some, this place where they trained some seven decades ago is now their final resting place.
“This meant so much to Betty Jo, and because it meant so much to her it means so much to us," Zobrist said. "Now that when I come here, she's here.”
The new addition is scheduled to open in May, just in time for the museum's annual homecoming celebration on Memorial Day weekend.
. 
Something to add to my tourist destination list.
http://www.ktxs.com/news/sweetwater...il&utm_term=0_e509ef1720-e13e50510b-319951273
SWEETWATER, Texas - A museum in Sweetwater that celebrates the role played by female pilots in World War II is expanding.
Monday, museum supporters broke ground on a new building at the National WASP World War II Museum.
(PHOTOS: Groundbreaking at the WASP museum in Sweetwater)
Planes like the 1940 Boeing-Stearman trained women known as WASPS or Women Air Force Service Pilots at Avenger Field.
“It's all about the ladies, you know, being the first lady pilots,” said Dave Zobrist, the projects architect and project manager.
Zobrist's mother-in-law, Betty Jo Streff-Reed, was a member of the WASP class of 1944. Her ashes were spread over the runway in May of 2014.
“I still have a vision of that happening, having the homecoming and the family being here witnessing the event and the tears and the joy that goes along with it,” Zobrist said.
The $2.2 million expansion is being paid for with more than 3,500 donations from private donors and foundations. It will be a replica of the old hangars, but made with modern materials. The museum opened in 2005 and honors the 1,102 women who trained here.
“They were more or less what we refer to as the forgotten Air Force,” said Sandra Spears, the museum’s president of the board of directors.
“They didn't think women could fly military air planes, but they did,” Spears said. “They were able to ferry planes, be tow target pilots, have many roles so they could free up the men to go to combat.”
Less than 100 of those women are still alive. Now it's a place where their kids and grandkids can visit. For some, this place where they trained some seven decades ago is now their final resting place.
“This meant so much to Betty Jo, and because it meant so much to her it means so much to us," Zobrist said. "Now that when I come here, she's here.”
The new addition is scheduled to open in May, just in time for the museum's annual homecoming celebration on Memorial Day weekend.
. Something to add to my tourist destination list.
