WASP trainee Marjorie
Doris Edwards 44-W-6
(28 September 1918 –
13 June 1944)
(Excerpt from To Live and Die a WASP)
June 12, 1944, the
day after Dorothy Nichols died on that Bismark runway; the House of
Representatives was scheduled to begin debate on Representative Costello’s WASP
militarization bill, but because of other pending legislation, debate was
postponed. The following morning, Marjorie Edwards’ AT-6 motor began backfiring
and belching smoke, near the town of Childress, on the southeast corner of the
Texas Panhandle.
Marjorie Edwards (44-W-6) was born not far from her father’s
Anaheim, California orange groves, September 30, 1918.
 |
| WASP trainee Marjorie Doris Edwards |
The oldest of three Edward’s children, Marjorie graduated
from Anaheim High School in 1936 and entered into the teacher training program at
Santa Barbara State College. In 1940, she graduated with a Bachelors Degree in
Junior High Education.
Two months after attending classmate (44-W-6) Elizabeth
Erickson’s funeral, Marjorie herself was in trouble. With black smoke trailing
behind and the engine’s erratic and explosive backfires snapping over the
prairie north of Childress, Texas, Marjorie’s AT-6 was rapidly losing altitude.
No longer able to stay in the air, Marjorie climbed out of the cockpit and
jumped.
She was found 75 feet away from her airplane under the nylon
canopy. Marjorie was still attached parachute harness. She had been too low for
the chute to save her life when she jumped.
RIP
