Elmwood family receives medal of honor

Patti Jo Peterson

 Elmwood native daughter, Dr. Grace E. “Betty” Clements, was not only one in a million, she was one in 1,078.

  During World War II, she served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), flying test flight duty and transport duty, and conducting flights for the Manhattan Project.

  Beautiful, brave and smart, Betty willingly embraced her role in the war. While teaching high school physical education at McCook and Hastings, she began taking private flying lessons in 1939, according to a family history provided to The Journal.

  When the Army Air Force announced the WASP training program in 1942, Betty didn’t hesitate to apply and accelerated her private lessons to log enough hours to qualify.

  Betty was one of more than 25,000 women who applied for the WASP service. She was one of only 1,900 accepted and one of only 1,078 who earned their wings and became the first women to fly American military aircraft.

  In March 1943, she began training at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, with the Class of 43-W-5. She learned to fly single and dual engine planes with an emphasis on cross-country flying in preparation for the ferrying service.

  In September of that year, Betty became one of 17 chosen to train to fly the B-17  “Flying Fortress” bomber. She ended training a little over a year later, failing to get certified.

  “She wrote that she could not get the landings down well enough to pass the final test,” history states. “She then transferred back to the ferry service to deliver planes of various types around the country.”

  One day, she received orders to report to Wendover Field in Utah. “The group training with Col. Paul W. Tibbetts Jr., for the Hiroshima atom bomb mission had requested a pilot,” the history states. “They requested specific flying capabilities, a certain age and the ability to keep a secret.”

  Someone pulled out the card on a G.E. Clements, not realizing that G.E. was a “she.”

  “The officers at Wendover field were startled when Betty landed and reported for duty. They had no housing for a woman, so she had to stay in the nurses’ quarters. Betty then flew men and cargo to and from Wendover for the project until she was discharged from WASP duty.”

  Although she was finished with the WASP program, Betty continued to do her part in the war effort. “She worked in hospitals caring for wounded soldiers. She had always been interested in medicine and this gave her some hands-on experience with it,” the history states.

  In September 1945, after Japan surrendered, Betty sailed to Manila, Philippines. She worked in a Red Cross hospital, and helped take food and supplies to a nearby leper colony supported by the Catholic Church.

  She returned to the U.S. in 1946 and decided to become a medical doctor. “She was accepted into the University of Nebraska School of Medicine (UNMC) in Omaha, as one of a very few women medical students,” the history states.

  She graduated from UNMC and did her internship and residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

  She also obtained special training in neurology at the Mayo Clinic and studied at the Institute of Neurology of the National Hospital in Queen Square, London. She practiced neurology in Phoenix and was a founding doctor of the Barrow Neurological Institute attached to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

  Although Betty passed away July 16, 1965, at age 47, her works have not been forgotten.

  On March 10, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry presented her nephew Robert Clements of Elmwood the Congressional Gold Medal on Betty’s behalf during a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. Only two other Nebraskans posthumously received the honor that day.

  Fortenberry visited Elmwood Monday to highlight that presentation and give a Memorial Day address at the Elmwood Cemetery.

  The congressman shared the history of Memorial Day, once known as Decoration Day, and reminded his listeners that “the liberty and security we enjoy today” was acquired at a high cost and that America is still in military conflicts.

  “It’s an important time of reflection for lawmakers who need to recognize the real-life consequences of our decisions,” he said.

  Fortenberry praised the Clements family, and presented a plaque to Dwight Clements, Betty’s brother, honoring her accomplishments. Dwight also served during World War II. Dwight reminded people that soldiers do not seek glory.

  “Glory belongs to the men in the foxholes and in the cockpit,” he said. “None of them sought glory and neither do we.”

  He, too, reminded the crowd attending the service that America is still at war, and yet, its citizens have little contact with that war.

  “In the Lincoln Journal Star, on the back page, you’ll find a list of people killed day by day,” Dwight said. “…That gives us a responsibility to continue to support our troops….For the widows and children, the suffering goes on.”

  Dwight concluded his message by honoring American Legion Post 247 Commander Bonnie Brewer as the “lifeblood of 247.” He donated the plaque about Betty to the GAR Museum in Elmwood.