Madge Leon Moore (January 22, 1922 – December 22, 2016) was an American aviator. She served in the

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

(WASP) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Moore ferried planes during the war and after the dissolution of WASP, lived as a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. She received the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

for her service in 2010.

Biography

Moore was born in

Rule, Texas Rule is a town in Haskell County, Texas, United States. The population was 636 at the 2010 census, down from 698 at the 2000 census. The community was named for W. A. Rule, a railroad man. Geography Rule is in western Haskell County at the int ...

and was raised in

Haskell, Texas Haskell is a city in central Haskell County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,322. It is the Haskell county seat. Geography Haskell is located at (33.160152, –99.734572). U.S. Route 277 passes t ...

. Moore went to Haskell High School. Moore's early

flight instruction Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a st ...

included learning to trust the airplane itself. She recalled that her flight instructor told her "to take her hands and feet off the controls" so that she could see that the plane would stay in the air on its own. One of her first flight passengers was her mother. Moore graduated from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

and attended Texas State College for Women. She began training in the

(WASP) on November 1, 1943, at

Avenger Field Avenger Field is a Texas airport in Nolan County, three miles west of Sweetwater. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a ''general aviation'' facility. Facilities Avenger Field covers 896 acres (363 ...

. Her parents, who supported her desire to serve, drove her to training. She graduated from her WASP training on May 23, 1944. Moore was stationed at

Perrin Field North Texas Regional Airport / Perrin Field is a county-owned airport in Grayson County, Texas between Sherman and Denison. Formerly Grayson County Airport, the airport was renamed in November 2007. Several buildings are occupied by businesses ...

. As a WASP, she ferried planes, some of which no longer had functioning instruments, forcing her to use

dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...

. Many of the planes she flew were from Kelly Field, which was closing and she most often ferried BT-13s and AT-6s. She also tested planes after they were repaired. Moore married Captain Stanley L. Moore in 1945 and the couple settled in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region ...

where Stanley was stationed. She went on to live as a

and stay at home mother. In 2010, she was awarded the

for her service as a WASP.

References

External links

Letter from Madge Moore to TannerPhotos of Madge Moore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Madge 1922 births 2016 deaths Southern Methodist University alumni Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel People from Haskell, Texas People from Sherman, Texas Aviators from Texas 21st-century American women Military personnel from Texas