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Valley
Patriot of the Month
Sara
Payne Hayden
Kathleen
Corey Rahme
METHUEN - The Massachusetts
Women Veterans Network named Methuen resident, Sara
Payne Hayden the Womans Veteran of the Year at a
special ceremony in the State House in Boston this month.
It was a privilege to nominate her for this honor and
according to Heidi Kruckenberg the coordinator for Women
Veterans Network, naming Hayden was a no
brainer! Wearing the 1944 uniform designed by the
famous aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, Hayden received her
award in front of numerous veterans and dignitaries.
Sara Payne Hayden, WWII WASP (Women Airforce Service
Pilots) was a member of the Class of 1944-10. They were
an experimental, non-military group until they finally
received veterans status in 1977 from the federal
government. She went to Washington with the WASPs
to testify. This was the G.I.Bill Improvement Act of 1977
and it granted these women full military distinction.
During WWII, these women were responsible for testing the
aircraft that were shot up during the war and also for
ferrying supplies. They were also used for target
practice using live ammunition for gunnery trainees; they
towed targets for ground to air anti-aircraft gunnery
practice and targets for air-to-air gunnery practice.
Her duty station was Randolph AFB, CIS. She was
commissioned to the Air Force in July 1949. She served in
active duty from August 1951-September 1953 as a
Recruiting Officer. Sara Payne Hayden was born and raised
in Granite Falls, NC in 1919. She was in a movie theatre
in the early 1940s when she saw a reel before the
show advertising and recruiting for WASP. She knew
instantly that was for her. She did not have the support
of her family or friends and against all odds; she
borrowed money and entered the WASP program at Avenger
Field in Sweetwater, TX. She borrowed money to gain the
necessary flight hours before her application and during
these lessons many obstacles both financially and
socially were overcome in order to complete her fight
time.
Sara Payne Hayden has a long
history of service and the furtherance of military
endeavors. She served as WASP Vice President 1975-1978
Order of Fifinella (the mascot designed by
Walt Disney for WASP); and the Ways and Means
Chair-person; Class Secretary 1965-1975; Military
Veterans Affairs Chair, 1994-2007.
For the past 15 years Sara has filled out application
forms for WASPs who have not received their
discharge or families of WASPs and have helped them
with the requirements. She sends them to Randolph Field
for processing and the issuance of the DD-214 form.
Hayden was Women Military Pilots, Inc. president from
1980-1983. The Clerk of the Corporation, 1978-present,
Officer; WMA, Inc. is a Public Charity of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with IRS tax exempt
status, whose purpose is to promote and preserve for
historical, education and literary purposes the role of
military women pilots, navigators and aircrew in the
service of their country during times of war and peace.
Hayden is a member of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. She has been
a member since 1945 and has served as Treasurer and
Secretary of the New England Section, on many Chapter and
Section Committees, and current Legislative Chair.
She received the 1994 New
England Section Honor Award.
Locally, Hayden is active in the Methuen Womens
Post 417 of the American Legion. She is the Past
Commander, Life Member just receiving her 50 year, Post
Adjutant, Finance Officer and the Boys State Chair.
Boys State is an annual one week study of our
democratic form of government sponsored by the American
Legion. It is open to young men finishing their junior
year of high school. Hayden interviews these young men
after they have been approved by the high school
principal.
Since 2004, Hayden has assisted the families of five of
the thirty-eight WASPs killed on active duty who
have been buried without a marker on their gravesite.
Their memorial services were held in May of 2007 with
their Veterans Administration markers in place.
Haydens activities in the community are well known.
They include speaking engagements for various groups
especially schools. She was the WASP representative at
the opening ceremony of the WWII exhibit at the JFK
Museum; Color Guard on womens day at the Viet Nam
Moving Wall; and In Defense of Hanscom
Conference on January 30, 1995. She has been an active
contributor at the Womans Texas University
archives. She was featured on MCTV (Methuen Community
Television) on the series Call to Serve which
works with the Veterans History Project at the
Library of Congress. She is part of the permanent exhibit
at the Women at Work Museum in Attleboro, Massachusetts
where she was also part of the keynote address for the
Women Who Fly program at the museum.
Hayden is a pioneer in American military history. She
broke through barriers that most can only imagine. She
trail-blazed through the skies and her work and
sacrifices have made it easier for military women of
today. A day doesnt go by that Sara Payne Hayden
doesnt celebrate womens role in the U.S.
military.
We thank you Sara Payne Hayden for your military service,
for your undying loyalty to your country and your
community, and we are honored to call you our Valley
Patriot of the Month. You are truly a hero in our midst
and the people of Methuen and our nation should recognize
forever the sacrifices you have made to make life better
for the rest of us who have reaped the benefits of your
service and sacrifice.
Kathleen Corey Rahme is the former Central District
Councilor in Methuen and was elect-ed as a city councilor
at large in 2005. She is currently the
vice-chair of the city council and is the founder of the
Methuen Youth Corps. She also hosts Call to Serve.
You can E-mail her at kcoreyrahme@comcast.net
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The November 2007
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 15,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Westford, Acton, and Lowell.
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only)
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