Cornelia Fort becomes the first woman to die in active service in World War II

The Junior League of Nashville member joined a select group of women aviators in 1942 in what would become known as the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), charged with piloting planes newly off the assembly line to military bases across the U.S., freeing up male aviators to engage in active combat. She was killed in a mid-air collision on a delivery mission to Love Field in Dallas, TX from her base in Long Beach, CA.