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 Emily Chapin
Emily Chapin was born on November 22, 1912, in Twin Falls, Idaho, to Dorothy Traill, age 18, and Charles Hall Chapin, age 27. She had two siblings Charles and Richard Trail and the family lived at 291 Rye Beach Avenue, Rye, NY. Her father was a sales manager and her mother was a homemaker. She attended Danna Hall and Wellesley College.
Emily served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. She served in the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a member of the Jacquelin Cochran Squadron in England.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were the first American women to fly military aircraft for the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Established on August 5, 1943, the program merged two earlier units: the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) led by Nancy Harkness Love and the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) led by Jacqueline Cochran.
Missions: They performed non-combat duties to free up male pilots for overseas service, including ferrying planes from factories to bases, towing targets for live-fire gunnery practice, and test-flying repaired aircraft.
Flight Record: Over 1,000 women served, logging more than 60 million miles and flying 78 different types of aircraft, including heavy bombers like the B-17 and B-29.
Civilian Status: Despite their military duties, they were classified as civil service employees rather than military personnel, meaning they received no military benefits and had to pay for their own uniforms and lodging.

Emily Chapin Wins Wings In WASP
Miss Emily Chapin, veteran of
nearly 700 hours' flying time, has been
awarded her wings in the Women
Airforce Service Pilots at Sweetwater,
Texas. She is the daughter of Mrs.
Dorothy T. Chapin, 291 Rye Beach
Avenue.
Miss Chapin has been a pilot over
four years. In 1942, she went overseas as a ferry pilot for the British
Air Transport Auxiliary, serving there
as a Spitfire pilot for almost two
years. She returned to the United
States last spring to enter WASP
training.
RYE, NEW YORK FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1944 The WASP pilot training program graduated 1,074 graduates, who, combined with Nancy Love's "Originals," ferried over 50% of the combat aircraft within the United States during the war years. WASPs flew at 126 bases across the US, where they also towed targets for gunnery training and served as instrument instructors for the Eastern Flying Training Command. Thirty-eight of these women died in their service, 11 in training and 27 during missions.
Emily's brother Richard Trail Chapin served in the Merchant Marines and was killed when a German U-Boat sunk his ship in the north Atlantic.
Emily Chapin died on July 23, 1978, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, at the age of 65, and was buried in Dallas, Texas.
At the time of her death, she was survived by brother, Charles H. Chapin; two nieces, Knoxie Heap, Shelley Moncrief; one grand-niece, Jenna Heap, all of Dallas. Graveside services were held at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Father James Prensley officiating.
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