Flint native and WW2 pilot Violet Wierzbicki to receive the Congressional Gold Medal

I just think this is a great great story! (url)

Her dark, windswept hair breezed around her as the 25-year-old pilot posed on the wing of a plane she flew during World War II.

It's been 70 years since Flint native Violet Wierzbicki took the vintage photo as a member of the exclusive, pioneering group known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

The trailblazing civilian females got no benefits, no flags on their graves and it took 34 years to receive militarization.

But now, more than half a century later, Wierzbicki is among an estimated 300 surviving WASP in the country to finally be recognized for their service with the Congressional Gold Medal -- the highest honor Congress can bestow on a civilian.

"It's overwhelming. I cried," said Wierzbicki, 92, in a brief phone interview from the Santa Cruz, Calif. retirement home she lives in. "We were forgotten for so many years. It's an honor."

And yes, I even find the photo sexy!