Katharina Buczek
And once she piloted a P-51 Mustang for the very first time, she reportedly never stuttered again.
Gertrude was a dedicated pilot who worked hard to climb the ranks. She even landed a spot attending the Advanced Pursuit School, beating out a pool of 126 applicants.
While there, Gertrude wound up meeting an Army Technical Sergeant named Henry Silver.
They quickly got engaged and wed, apparently, because Henry was working to adopt a child that his sister had birthed out of wedlock.
After tying the knot, however, Gertrude did not change her surname or even wear her wedding ring while on base.
This was due to the fact that marriage among WASPs in active service was frowned upon. That’s why she tried her hardest to keep their nuptials a secret.
Following Gertrude and Henry’s wedding in September 1944, though, the pair tragically never saw each other ever again.
On the day of Gertrude’s disappearance, she and her fellow pilots were briefed on their flights. She was supposed to fly a P-51D Mustang from Los Angeles to a Coolidge, Arizona, base.
The pilots were all instructed to depart at a specific time, too, in order to avoid having to fly at night. Otherwise, the pilots would be forced to stop in Palm Springs.
But Gertrude’s aircraft had a bent door that required repair, meaning that she was actually the last pilot to leave the base.
Afterward, there was reportedly a domino effect of unfortunate events. Although the most significant one was a misreported weather forecast that failed to mention there would be blinding fog over the bay.
