ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Amy Beechler has always been fueled to fly.
“My mom was nine months pregnant with me, and my dad dragged her to an air show and paid the tickets to take her to tour a B-17,” Red Tail Rise Above exhibit manager Amy Marie Beechler said. “So he thought, 'oh, it's easy to just go up,' and no, she had to climb a ladder straight up into the nose. And she was cursing him the whole time. So our family always jokes around, It started early with me.”
With women making up less than 20% of the workforce in aviation, Beechler feels lucky to be one of them.
Now a retired firefighter and an operations manager for one of the largest flight schools in New York, she continues her journey at the Rochester Air Show.
“This weekend, I'm the operations liaison, so I'm assisting the two gentlemen who are running the event,” Beechler said. “They've been mentoring me for years now, and to be able to be that involved and actually making a difference is a big deal.”
But before women could work in aviation, there were the pioneers of the Army Air Forces of World War II.
“The pilots were called away for combat duty, and they saw that there was a shortage,” CAF Rise Above volunteer Duane Sims said. “And these two women Nancy Harkness Love and Jacqueline Cochran. It was a situation of a resource that was being overlooked. And they brought it to light. And later on it became the Women Airforce Service Pilots.”
Also known as the WASPs, the veterans are receiving recognition throughout the air show’s traveling exhibit.
“I didn't know it was possible for me until I was older,” Beechler said. “So if I can inspire any of the younger generations coming up and how important it is to keep telling their stories of the veterans, and saying their names, they're not forgotten.”
Organizers of the exhibit continue the fight for recognition.
“Some of the towns we go to have never heard of the WASPs,” Beechler said. “And to be able to tell that story to them and teach them about it, I think means more.”
Earning their wings, the WASPs were pioneers for female pilots of today and tomorrow.
“Focus on what makes you happy and what you want to do,” Beechler said. “And don't let anybody tell you can't.”