 Ladies, last March the 1st class of Naval Aviators where inducted into the WAI Hall of Fame. One of them (Barbara Allen Rainey) was represented by John Rainey (her widower and their 2 daughters). We all felt it was quite an honor. I give special thanks to Lucy Young for doing the leg work necessary to get us nominated. To digress a bit...Barbara was killed in an aircraft mishap July 13, 1982 as a flight instructor, along with her student ENS Knowlton practicing touch and go landings at Middleton Field, in Evergreen, Alabama. I was in another VT squadron as an instructor when the mishap occurred. My husband and I passed through Evergreen on our way to Pensacola a couple of years ago. We stopped by the field to take a walk down memory lane. There was nothing there such as a marker or memorial. I talked to the FBO Manager. He was there and remembers the mishap, but told me no one has visited the site to his best recollection. Barbara was the first women military aviator post the WASPs. She was truly a trail blazer. Even though she was not a member of our organization as it was incorporated later in 1982,
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