Maggie Gee (August 5, 1923February 1, 2013) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

who served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in World War II. She was one of two Chinese-American women to serve in the organization, the other being

Hazel Ying Lee Hazel Ying Lee (; August 24, 1912 – November 25, 1944) was an American pilot who flew for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Early life Lee was born in Portland, Oregon. Her parents were Yuet Lee and Ssiu Lan Wong, f ...

. As a WASP pilot, she helped male pilots train for combat, as female pilots were not allowed to serve in combat at that time. She also ferried military aircraft.

Life

Gee, one of six children, was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, August 5, 1923. She was a third-generation

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

; her maternal grandparents had moved to California from a village in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Her grandfather was a pioneer in the

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

industry on the Monterey Peninsula.Katie Hafner
"Overlooked No More: When Hazel Ying Lee and Maggie Gee Soared the Skies,"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 21, 2020. In 1941, Gee enrolled at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

to study

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, but dropped out after a few months to work in the

drafting Drafting or draughting may refer to: * Campdrafting, an Australian equestrian sport * Drafting (aerodynamics), slipstreaming * Drafting (writing), writing something that is likely to be amended * Technical drawing, the act and discipline of compo ...

department at the

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

, following the United States' entering World War II. Her mother Jung An Yoke also worked there, as a

welder In a broad sense, a welder is anyone, amateur or professional, who uses welding equipment, perhaps especially one who uses such equipment fairly often. In a narrower sense, a welder is a tradesperson who specializes in fusing materials together ...

. Gee and two co-workers bought a car for and drove to Avenger Field in

Sweetwater, Texas Sweetwater is a municipality in and the seat of Nolan County, Texas, United States. It is 123 miles southeast of Lubbock and 40 miles west of Abilene, Texas. Its population was 10,906 at the 2010 census. History The town's name "Sweetwater" is t ...

, where she trained for six months to become a

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

. She later worked at the

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...

. Gee also served for many decades as an elected member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, supporting

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

and fundraising. She also served for many years as a long-time Board member and Treasurer of the Berkeley Democratic Club in

. She has served on the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento. With 43.5% of the state's registered voters as of 2018, the Democratic Party has the highest number of r ...

Executive Board and Asian Pacific Islander Democratic Caucus.

Awards and recognition

She is featured in a number of books, oral history projects, and documentaries. In 2009, a book was published about her life story called ''Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee'', by

Marissa Moss Marissa Moss (born September 29, 1959, Jeannette, Pennsylvania) is an American children's book author. Work Moss's work spans the many ages of a child. She started her first career making picture books. ''Amelia's Notebook'' was her first devi ...

. In 2010, she and all other living WASP pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal. She has received numerous awards and citations from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, including a posthumous award in March 2014 from the Asian Pacific Democratic Caucus of Alameda County.

References

External links

Video of an interview with Maggie Gee about WWII
via Youtube
Video of an interview with Maggie Gee about "Sky High" a children's book about the life of Maggie Gee
via Youtube {{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Maggie 1923 births 2013 deaths Aviators from California Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel People from Berkeley, California American aviators of Chinese descent 21st-century American women Military personnel from California