textmosesbeverlyjeanne1940.html

North High School Wall of Honor
Beverly Jeanne Moses
Class of June, 1940
Died July 18, 1944

Beverly Jeanne Moses
		On June 27, 1944 Beverly graduated from basic training at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas. Beverly's graduation roster from her WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Class 44-5 (06/27/44): http://wwii-women-pilots.org/classlists/clslist.html#44-5 Her orders took her to Las Vegas Army Air Field, Nevada. Based on the flip of a coin between Beverly and Mildred Taylor, Beverely won the copilot position for an instrument training flight with four others in an AT-11. The pilot was Lt. Frank Smith. During the training mission, the flight was redirected to search for a downed parachute near Mt. Charleston. Later that day, Mildred reported back from her mission in a B-17 and couldn't find Beverely. Maybe she went on a night mission? Mildred began checking around but no one knew where the AT-11 was. It was now midnight. A search was started early the next day and the plane was found pancaked into the side fo a mountain. The plane was mostly intact, but the center section was burned and all 6 personnel were killed. Summary: While flying as the co-pilot in an AT-11, she was killed in a crash in the mountains near Las Vegas on July 18, 1944. (KIS) Beverly was born in Des Moines, Iowa, along with two brothers and two sisters. When she was 17, her mother died and she had to care for the younger children. After attending AJB business school, she got a secretarial job at Solar Aircraft Company. While working there, she took flying lessons and joined the Civil Air Patrol. She entered training to become a WASP on December 7, 1943 and graduated on June 27, 1944 at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas.

References

In 1976, after the Air Force announced that it was training the "first women to fly for the military," the surviving WASP went to work to correct the error of fact. With the help of Colonel Bruce Arnold (General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold's son) and Senator Barry Goldwater (who had flown with WASP aviators in the Ferry Command during the war), the WASP went before Congress to ask for militarization.
Despite strong opposition from various powerful individuals and organizations, the measure passed through Congress. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed the bill making the WASP part of the Air Force. They received no back pay or death insurance, but they did finally get the one thing they had fought so hard for: recognition that the WASP had answered America's call when she needed them. They too had fought and died for their country.
This exhibit features the artifacts and memorabilia of Utah WASP Alberta Hunt Nicholson (1914-2002). Her Santiago Blue service dress uniform and flight uniform are shown, along with other personal items. The exhibit was made possible by the generous financial support of the Dr. Ezekiel and Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation and Pacificorp. Permission to use the image of the WASP mascot "Fifinella" in the exhibit was graciously provided by The Walt Disney Company. http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5678

The above information was obtained from the following:
(1) The World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel was created by the War Department, the Adjutant General's Office, Administrative Services Division, Strength Accounting Branch. The original records are held at the Modern Military records LICON, Textural Services Division (NWCTM), National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
The documents contain the latest and most complete information available of all Army and Army Air Force personnel who were killed or died, or became and remained missing, between the President's declaration of unlimited national emergency on May 27, 1941 and the cut-off date of this report, January 31, 1946. This document includes both battle and nonbattle dead and missing. The records are available online at http://www.archives.gov/.
The type of casualty is indicated by the following:

* KIA - Killed in Action. This is an individual who was killed in action at the front, by enemy action in the rear, or if a prisoner of war.

* DOW - Died of Wounds. This is an individual was who wounded and later died.

* DOI - This is an individual who suffered fatal battle injuries and died in a line of duty status.

*DNB - Died Nonbattle. This is an individual who died in a line of duty death, such as from sickness, homicide, suicide, or accidents outside of combat areas (training).

*M - Missing. This is an individual who is reported as missing and later was determined to be dead.

*FOD - Finding of Death. Findings of death fall within Public Law 490 and its amendments and are made when there is either conclusive proof that the person is dead or equally overwhelming evidence that under the circumstances the person could not have remained alive. This documents contains the names of those individuals who died in the line of duty status. Those individuals who were not in the line of duty at the time of their death are not listed in this document.

(2) The World War II Army Enlistment Records contain information on more than nine million indivdual enlistments. These records can be found online at http://www.archives.gov/.

(3) The American Battle Monuments Commission was established in 1923 to commemorate the service, achievements, and sacrifice of U.S. Armed Forces. There are 24 overseas cemeteries that serve as the final resting places for almost 125,000 American war dead. The serviceman and women are either buried at these cemeteries or their names listed are on tablets of the missing that memorialize these men and women and their sacrifice. These records can be found online at http://www.abmc.gov/home.php.

(4) The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of all North High School graduates can be found online at http://www.ndmhs.com/. Beverly Jeanne Moses's 1940 class page can be viewed at http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1940(1990.50).html.

Born: December 21, 1923. Deceased: July 18, 1944. Beverly is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, IA
Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"
01/25/10: The Civil Air Patrol is continuing to search for the wreckage of Beverly's AT-11 in Nevada.

Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"