War Bomber Flight Sparks Memories-- Part 1

From the Aug. 22-28 Lake County (Il) Journal by Jesse Carpender.

"The last time Hazel Krauklis took a flight on a World War II B-17 bomber plane, it was 1944 and she was a sheet metal worker with the Women's Air Corps in Kansas.

"On August 19, the 89-year old woman got to experience it again.

"I'm used to seeing them in army colors," Krauklis said as she boarded a B-17 at Waukegan Regional Airport." She and five other veterans took a ride on the plane which was built in late 1943.

She said that it was rare for women to fly in the bombers and the only reason she got the chance to do it was in 1944 because of a rule saying that you got to be on board for the test flight if you helped build it. I did not know that WACs also built the planes.

--Quite a Woman. --GreGen