[Fun
Facts Home]
Katya's Fun Facts: Women
in the Military
The first female military pilot was the Russian Eugenie Shakhovskaya,
who flew during World War I. Women in the U.S. Air Force were not
allowed to train for combat missions until 1991 (although it is true
that more than 1000 Women Air Force Service Pilots - WASPS - flew the
most advanced U.S. aircraft to Europe during World War II in noncombat
positions, logging over 60 million miles. However, they were not
granted veteran's benefits until 1979.) Similarly, the first woman in
space was Russian Valentina Tereshkova in 1963, predating America's
Sally Ride by twenty years.
For some reason, when relating this,
Katya neglects to mention that Russia also neglected to manufacture
sanitary napkins for about ten years because there were no women in
positions of high enough authority in the government to point out the
lack. She blames Stalin.
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