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Maggie Gee. Photo by Gabriela Hasbun.
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Pioneering APA Pilot Honored
By Ji Hyun Lim
AsianWeek Staff Writer
In 1941, Japan had just bombed Pearl Harbor and war had broken out in full force. The U.S. Air Force was sending men abroad in countless numbers. In the meantime, a young woman named Maggie Gee was a student at UC Berkeley who felt compelled to be a part of the war effort.
Gee was no ordinary woman. At 18 years old, she and a small group of her friends pooled their money and went to Nevada to get certified to fly military planes. With 35 to 50 flying hours under her belt, Gee became a member of Women Airforce Service Pilots, received her wings in 1944 and became one of the first Chinese American woman pilots.
Gee was assigned to an airbase where she was stationed with over 1,000 other pilots — most of whom were men. She became a part of an air transport program where she would carry men from factories to ports of embarkation. Prior to becoming a pilot, she was a highly skilled draftsman at Mare Island and later became a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Library.
GirlSource, started by non-profit group Lifeprint to empower low-income girls ages 14-18, will honor Maggie Gee as one of four recipients over 70 who have made significant contributions in their lives from diverse fields. The 20th Annual WAVE Awards will salute her efforts at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, Oct. 8.
“I learned from the flying experience that if there’s something you really want to do, pursue it,” Gee attests. “I wouldn’t listen to others that say you can’t do it. I would consider it a bigger challenge.”
The luncheon will include a 20-minute video produced by local filmmakers Susan and Mark Allen, with footage and transcriptions compiled by six young women ages 14-18. GirlSource will merge young and old generations and blend the stories of women who inspire and aspire.
Said Holly Million, director of development for GirlSource: “We work with low-income women and give them meaningful jobs and leadership activities to open their eyes to possibilities. They come from backgrounds where there aren’t any role models. The WAVE event gives concrete models.”
As one of the first Chinese Americans to fly military planes in WWII, Gee humbly retorts that the WAVE award was given to “old ladies who live their lives.” Contrary to her underestimation of her own accomplishments, Gee, born in 1923 in Berkeley, Calif., recalls wide-eyed how she looked up to the first female pilots.
“When I was a young girl, the Oakland airport just opened and going [there] was something you’d do on Sundays to watch planes take off,” she explains. “Amelia Earhart was a heroine at the time. You don’t even think about danger when you’re young. You think you’re invincible.”
Currently, she is involved with non-profits such as the Berkeley Community Fund, and political organizations like the Democratic Party Central Committee in Alameda County. She continues to stay abreast in politics and points out that her goals are “to narrow the inequities in the community of children of a certain age.”
Gee’s experiences in public service and science is manifold. She graduated with a degree in physics from Berkeley, went to Washington D.C. and worked in the National Bureau of Standards and returned to California to work in a radiation lab in Livermore. She spent time in Europe and worked in Special Services for three years for the army.
Still single and having lived a life even a young cadet might envy, Gee states that she has no regrets. “Most people have an idea of what they like to do,” Gee said. “If they can do it in the context of employment and pursue it in in-depth, it’s better than trying to do something you hate eight hours a day.”
Reach Ji Hyun Lim at jlim@asianweek.com.
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