Capt. Ola Mildred McDonald

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Capt. Ola Mildred McDonald (Rexroat)

Also Known As: "of the Ogala Sioux"
Birthdate:
Death: June 28, 2017 (99)
Place of Burial: Arlington, Arlington County, VA, United States
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Ulysses Stewart Rexroat and Clara Rexroat
Wife of Private
Mother of Private
Sister of Private and Private
Half sister of Warren Brice Walker

Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:
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Immediate Family

About Capt. Ola Mildred McDonald

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_Mildred_Rexroat One day a superior flipped her the keys to a jeep to retrieve a training target in a field after she landed one day.

"This was a big problem for me, because I didn't know how to drive," Rexroat said. "I had never learned how to drive a car. I don't think anybody trusted me with a car, but I could fly a plane.

Ola Mildred Rexroat (August 28, 1917 – June 28, 2017) was the only Native American woman to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

She joined after high school and had the dangerous job of towing targets for aerial gunnery students. After that she joined the Air Force, where she served for ten years as an air traffic controller.

In 2007 she was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame.

She was an Oglala Sioux from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.[6] She earned a bachelor's degree in art from the University of New Mexico in 1939. Rexroat died in June 2017 at the age of 99.

Asked if she ever worried about the dangers of flying or getting shot, Rexroat shrugged.

"I never gave it a thought. You couldn't worry about things like that. ... You can't live forever," she said. "They checked the target after we came down, and of course, it was to our credit if it had lots of holes in it; that meant we had been maintaining our altitude and heading."

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180905358/ola-mildred-mcdonald

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Capt. Ola Mildred McDonald's Timeline

1917
August 28, 1917
2017
June 28, 2017
Age 99
????
Virginia, of America, Arlington, Arlington County, VA, United States