Museum of Chinese in America

Use this resource for more context about World War II and the Women's Airforce Service Pilots!

Background: World War II and the WASPs

Secondary Source: Looking Back at Hazel Ying Lee's Life & Legacy 

Explore primary sources to learn about Maggie Gee, WASP pilot and physicist. 

Scientist in the Sky: Meet Maggie Gee!

Watch a video about Hazel Ying Lee's life and legacy. Then, browse primary sources to uncover more about her experiences as an aviator and WASP pilot during World War II. 

The Remarkable Life & Legacy of Aviatrix Hazel Ying Lee

Use your close looking skills to investigate this photo of Hazel, her friend Virginia, and their flight instructor Al Greenwood. What can their clothes tell us about what the job of a pilot was like?

Hazel and Virginia's Pilot Gear

Use this timeline to help understand when World War II happened and how it impacted the lives of Hazel Ying Lee and Maggie Gee. 

Timeline of World War II

Use your guesses and ideas from the hotspot "Hazel and Virginia's Pilot Gear" to learn more about what flying planes was like during World War II. This image shows pilot Maggie Gee standing on the wing of a biplane.

Pilots and Planes! 

Explore ways that communities honor and remember trailblazers like Maggie, Hazel, and the other WASP pilots. Use the questions on the slides to help you think about ways you've seen people honored, and ways that you might choose to memorialize someone you feel is important.

Remembering Maggie, Hazel, and the WASP

Learn about life at Avenger Field, where Maggie, Hazel, and other WASP pilots were trained.

A Day in the Life at Avenger Field 

Explore the lives of Hazel Ying Lee and Maggie Gee, the only two Chinese American women to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Use videos and photos to learn about their experiences and how World War II impacted them and many other women in the United States. Find out more about women in military service during World War II and the long fight of WASP pilots to be honored for their impact.

Flying High with Hazel and Maggie_Educator Overview.pdf

Flying High with Hazel & Maggie: Chinese American Aviators in WWII

Civics and Government

Social Studies

U.S. History

Reading: History/Social Studies

English Language Arts

The Sound of "Lights Out" (Taps played by the U.S. Navy Band)

The Sound of The Morning Bugle Call (Reveille by the West Point Band)

Army-Navy Screen Magazine, No. 16 Film (which includes more about WASP training, but also shares stereotypical perspectives on women in training)  

Maggie Gee's Oral History with Stanford University (video) 

Maggie Gee's Oral History with University of California, Berkeley (transcript) 

A day in the life of a WASP at Avenger Field started bright and early. Maggie recounted that they would get up at 5:30-6 AM each day to the sound of a bugle, a special type of horn. 

They would start their days immediately, by tidying their bays and ensuring everything in the barracks was in tip-top shape. After this, they would line up and march to breakfast together. 

Maggie said they marched almost everywhere, just like soldiers in the military. They would march in formation to their meals, to the flight line, to calisthenics (their exercise routine), in parades, and during battle drills. They followed a strict military schedule.

When Maggie and the other WASPs first arrived at Avenger Field, they took the same oath of office that male flight cadets did. Their training was no walk in the park!

Photo: Page 2 of a 50 page photo album, which features images of Maggie Gee and other WASP trainees at Avenger Field. Page 2: "Off to Physical Training"

Courtesy of Maggie Gee, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), Maggie Gee Collection.

Page 2 of a 50 page photo album, which features images of Maggie Gee and other WASP trainees at Avenger Field.

Page 2: "Off to Physical Training"

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Page 2 of Maggie Gee's Photo Album

Depending on the type of flight they were practicing, WASP trainees would go to the flight line in either the morning or the afternoon. 

When they weren't flying, they would attend Ground School. After lunchtime, they would swap.

Courtesy of Alan H. Rosenberg, Producer, "A Brief Flight," Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), Hazel Ying Lee & Frances M. Tong Collection.

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Photograph of Hazel in Flight School

Half of the day consisted of flight training, which included practicing everything from the essentials, like takeoffs and landings, to more difficult stalls and spins. 

WASP trainees spent the other half of the day in Ground School studying. They took aeronautics courses like aerodynamics and aircraft mechanics, as well as technical courses like math, physics, electronics, navigation, and meteorology (weather forecasting). 

Being able to communicate clearly and navigate precisely while flying was extremely important. Maggie noted that morse code, in particular, was crucial because all messages were shared that way. This is how trainees would communicate their location and other essential information. It was their "communication with the ground." 

Photo: Hazel Ying Lee in flight simulator with instructor.

Hazel Ying Lee in flight simulator with instructor.


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Photograph of Hazel Ying Lee in flight simulator with instructor

There were 3 phases of military flight training: primary, basic, and advanced.

Primary required 70 flying hours in primary trainer aircrafts, the PT-19 and PT-17. Basic required 70 flying hours in the BT-13 (Basic Trainer) aircraft and learning to fly by "under the hood."

"Under the hood" refers to a training technique where pilots wear a hood to simulate flying in conditions with limited visibility, such as in clouds or poor weather. This is vital because it teaches pilots how to navigate and control their aircraft solely using instrument readings. This is essential for safe flying, when visual references are not available.

The term originates from a device called a "hood" or "view limiting device," which is a cover placed over the cockpit windshield to restrict the pilot's view outside, forcing them to rely solely on the flight instruments inside the cockpit.

Photo: Maggie Gee sitting in the cockpit of a plane with "U23" written on the hull. It also says "Avengers Field."

Maggie Gee sitting in the cockpit of a plane with "U23" written on the hull. It also says "Avengers Field."

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Photograph of Maggie Gee sitting in the cockpit of a plane

They were given men’s fitted oversized mechanic jumpsuits to wear as flight overalls. These were known as “Zoo Suits.” Because there were no laundry facilities available, when these zoo suits got dirty they would wear them into the shower and wash both themselves and the suits off before hanging them to dry.

You can see Maggie, on the left, wearing a pair of these flight overalls. 

Photo: Three Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) standing in a field. The woman on the left is Maggie Gee.

Three Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) standing in a field. The woman on the left is Maggie Gee.

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Photograph of Maggie and fellow WASPs in a field

They spent nearly 12 hours a day at the airfield and in Ground School until their 10 PM bedtime. 

Their bedtime or what they called “lights-out” was to the sound of “taps,” a special bugle call. 

Photo: WASP pilots doing calisthenics at Avenger Field. (Calisthenics are exercises that rely on body weight for resistance.)

WASP pilots doing calisthenics at Avenger Field. (Calisthenics are exercises that rely on body weight for resistance.)

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Photograph of WASP Pilots Exercising Avenger Field

Even though the days were long, Maggie and Hazel relished their time at Avenger Field and made lasting friendships. 

Photo: Three women standing on a water pump at Avengers Field in Sweetwater, Texas. Maggie Gee is on the right. The woman on the left may be Barbara Hart. The woman in the middle may be Christine.

Three women standing on a water pump at Avengers Field in Sweetwater, Texas. Maggie Gee is on the right. The woman on the left may be Barbara Hart. The woman in the middle may be Christine.

Maggie Gee and fellow WASP trainees at Avenger Field Barracks in Sweetwater, Texas. Courtesy of Marissa Moss, in Memory of Maggie Gee, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection..jpg

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Flying High with Hazel & Maggie: Chinese American Aviators in WWII

A Day in the Life at Avenger Field

Rise and Shine