Fannie Flagg has done it again. In her latest book, The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (#393), she tells the story of Sookie Poole, mother of four, who has just successfully married off the last of her three daughters (one of them twice!) and is ready to relax into a well-deserved retirement with her dentist husband. If only she could put the kibosh on all the plans her domineering mother Lenore has for running the community and her life. The day Sookie finally gives in and answers the phone to get rid of a pesky and persistent out-of-state caller her life will be changed forever.
Woven into this tale is the story of a young immigrant who escapes from World War I Poland to come to America to be with his brother. Stanislaw Jurdabralinski settles in the Polish community of Pulaski, Wisconsin. His life becomes the fulfillment of the American dream when he buys a gas station as cars just begin to become popular and turns it into a successful business, complete with a family willing to pitch in and help with it. When his son Wink enlists the day after Pearl Harbor, the four Jurdabralinski daughters rally together to run the station. Eldest daughter Fritzi gives up the life she loves as a barnstorming pilot and wing walker in an aerial circus, but it doesn't take long for her to respond to a call from the US government for women pilots to free up male pilots for overseas duty. Eventually, three of the four Jurdabralinski girls become WASP fliers.
Just how the paths of Sookie Poole and the Jurdabralinski family cross is a funny, inspiring and heartbreaking tale, and a great read. Not only is this book entertaining, it is also educational, the very best combination as far as I'm concerned.
Do you know anything about the WASPs? I didn't until I read this book. WACs and WAVES and even SPARS, yes, but not this branch of service women who flew for just over two years, ferrying every kind of military plane from factory to military bases all across the country. If you haven't heard of them, it's hardly surprising; the records for the WASP program were sealed when the program was shut down during the war. It wasn't until 1977 that President Carter signed a bill giving the surviving WASPs military benefits. (Can you believe that the families of the 38 women who lost their lives flying in service to their country were required to make their own arrangements to bring their girls home and bury them at their own expense?!!!) In 2010, the Congressional Medal of Honor was given to the eighty plus WASPs still alive, a long overdue honor. I sure wanted to know more. If you do, too, check out their official website: WASP - WWII Women Fliers There's plenty to look, listen, watch and interact with on this site, including a photo gallery of each of the more than one thousand women who served. Memorial Day is the perfect time to acknowledge their unique contribution to the World War II war effort.
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