11/01/2026
At 105, Nell “Mickey” Bright is the last living WASP, one of the 1,074 American women who flew for the Army in World War II. On November 21, she will be inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.
She flew B-25 bombers in the war. When it ended, she went to the airlines looking for a job as a pilot. “They just laughed us out of the office,” she says.
She took her first ride in a biplane at 8, bought a plane with 9 partners at 20 and earned her license. In 1943, at 21, she answered the Army’s call for women pilots. More than 25,000 applied. 1,074 made it through.
She was one of the first 20 women trained on the B-25. At Biggs Field in Texas, she towed targets while gunners on the ground trained on them with live am******on, and flew at night so searchlight crews could practice finding her.
In December 1944 the program was shut down. The women were sent home as civilians, with no discharge and no benefits. She worked a soda fountain at an Air Force base, married a mechanic, raised 2 children and became one of the first women stockbrokers in Phoenix. She worked until she was 85.
The WASPs were finally recognized as veterans in 1977, and she helped get it done. Today she lives in Salt Lake City near her family. Asked how she made it to 105, she said: “Well, it beats me.”
She says she welcomes the attention for one reason: “so people will remember the WASPs and remember that women can do something besides cook.”
