HomeMy WebLinkAboutCatherine Parker Chatham, Brazos Valley Heroes . _, .
le -4 . » .7
°` ' ' " °" ire a series of tribrttc s fo r lern ers .. • ,
Generation" who served our country durin W orld War II
�� ��
ii
. 1410Kor .
. ' '4 , 1 \1\y/- 7
` Catherine
Parker .
Ch lam 3� )
Some people seem to be born to do certain training when she said 'I can't do this any more.' When
things. Catherine Parker Chatham was born to fly. the men washed out, they were sent to the infantry.
"My father, who was the owner of Parker Lumber When the women washed out, they were sent home." f
Company in downtown Bryan, loved to fly. When a Thirty -eight women lost their lives flying in the ,
barnstormer would land and take people on rides, he, WASP program, the ultimate sacrifice for one's coun -r�
my mother and all of the children, no matter how small try. r
we were, would take turns flying. It was such an exhil- After graduation, Parker was sent to Tucson, '
arating experience that after graduation from Stephen Arizona, to Marana Airfield; where she did check flights
F. Austin High in 1938, I went to work at this new air- for pilots and engineering flight checks on planes that
field outside of town called Coulter Field. I did it prima- were comin out of repair. She remained on active duty : .
ril to a for fli ht lessons and fli ht time after I of until the ASP
Y P Y 9 9 9 program was terminated, shortly;
my license. After the war broke out, I continued to work before the war ended.
at Coulter Field until I decided to join the WASPs. When She came home and went to work for Roland ' !-
x I tell folks today that I was a WASP, they look at me Chatham Photography. She assisted in his photogra- . `,
funny." phy business to include flying while he did aerial pho
WASP was the acronym for Women Airforce tography. She and Mr. Chatham eventually married: I Service Pilots. It was a ;ri
program that trained women to ,
P 9 guess you could say I married the boss." Her husband,
fly military aircraft on support missions, freeing up Roland Chatham, was an army combat photographer
male pilots for combat. They ferried planes, hauled tar- who served in North Africa and Europe, where he was ;t ;
gets, and transported men and materials. They had to captured by the Germans and spent several months in
go through the same training as the men, except the a German POW camp.
women had to be more qualified to get in the program. Mrs. Chatham, who now lives at St. Joseph
( Every woman had to be a licensed pilot with several Manor in Bryan, is very proud to have been a WASP
hours of flying time and at least 21 years of age. More and to have flown with the ladies who formed that
than 25,000 women applied. Of those, 1,857 women organzation.
i
were accepted into the program, but only 1,074 I loved to fly. My first solo was such an exhila- .`:
women ever received their wings and flew. Catherine rating experience. I never got tired of flying and look `'
Parker Chatham was one of them. ing down at the world I came from." ,
"1 remember applying, getting a physical from Dr. Her WASP class reunion booklet begins with the "
Henry Harrison and then going to San Antonio for an following poem by one of her WASP classmates.
interview. After I was accepted, I got my 'draft notice' / took off long ago to fly the skies of l I
and I was sent to Sweetwater, Texas for flight school. cl through clouds of happiness...Along with E°�"
z . a
1. We had the same training as the males. We had navi- storms of strife...And l enjoyed each
gation classes, meteorology classes, ground school moment... Whether VFR or not...For God is my instruc
and flight school. We marched to ground school. We tor...And / am his student...To be Taught. Lo, whether
marched to the flight line. We marched to meals. I don't I'm "on instruments "...Or the skies are cloudless �9
think I have ever worked as hard, before or since, but I blue...IV meet each challenge l encounter..With faith~?
wanted so much to finish." and courage too. For my Tutor has been patient...and
Not everyone did finish. Hes helped me file 'flight plans." I know my "final 1
"In my training flight we started with 110 ladies. landing "...ls in His precious hands.
Only 55 of us graduated. Two of my flight class mates ,_ '
were killed and the rest washed out. One of the girls The names of Catherine Parker Chatham and her z'
was flying with her instructor and was told to put the husband, Roland Chatham, can be found on the Brazos
plane in a spin. When the instructor told her to correct Valley Veterans Memorial. For more information, to '0.
:
the spin and he looked back, she was gone. She had make a contribution, or if you know a World War II vet - ,:
failed to strap herself in and had fallen out. She had her eran whose story needs to be told, contact the BVVM 9 `
chute on, so she was able to hit the silk and landed at www veterans- memorial.org, or Bill Youngkin at
•; s Needless to say, she washed out of the pro- 979 - 260 -7030.
gram. One of my friends made it almost to the end of s