Verneda G. Rodriguez McLean (January 11, 1918 – March 19, 1982) 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 ...
and served in the
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during
World War II. She is the first WASP to be buried with full military honors in
Arlington National Cemetery.
Biography
Rodriguez McLean was born in a
South Chicago ''colonia'' on January 11, 1918 to
Danish and
British Guyanese parents. Rodriguez McLean attended a teacher's college in Chicago after she graduated high school.
Rodriguez McLean began flying in the summer of 1943.
Prior to joining the
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in 1944, she worked as a
meteorologist at the
Chicago Municipal Airport.
She graduated in WASP class 44-W-6. She was assigned to
Moore Field in
Mission, Texas after her WASP graduation where she worked towing flight targets. After the WASP was disbanded in December 1944, she went back to Chicago where she again worked in the weather service for some time. Later, she was hired to do
data analysis
Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, enco ...
on
aircraft accidents at Langley. It was at Langley where she met and later married her husband, Edward Ridley McLean, who had also been a pilot in WWII. She traveled the world with her husband and became a proficient Oriental brush painting artist, showing her work in the United States. In the 1970s, she worked to fight for
veterans rights for former WASP pilots.
Rodriguez McLean died on March 19, 1982. She was the first WASP to be buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
References
Sources
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1918 births
1982 deaths
Military personnel from Chicago
Women Airforce Service Pilots personnel
American meteorologists
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
American people of Danish descent
American people of Guyanese descent