World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Emma Jane Burrows Windham
Branch of Service
U.S. Army Air Force
Hometown
San Antonio, Texas
Honored By
A Grateful American
She decided to serve her beloved country and join the Women's Army Corps (WAC). Initially stationed in Montana, she remarkably fulfilled her duties with the 7th Ferrying Group, earned her wings, and became the first WAC crew chief and flight engineer. She then went overseas and was assigned to the Air Inspector's Office in England. Confused by a woman wearing silver wings, Military Policemen often stopped her on the streets to check if she had the right to wear these air crew wings. The life of this American hero sadly ended on March 31, 1945, in England. On that fateful day, he was on a training mission over England, when her B-17 bomber collided with a C-47 aircraft. She died in the crash at the age of 23. Initially buried in Cambridge, England, she is now resting in peace at San Fernando Cemetery III, in San Antonio, Texas.