Husband and Wife Hero Aviators: Perfect Plotline for a World War II Tearjerker
Robert Severson: 1918-1944
Helen Jo Anderson Severson: 1918-1943
How many war movies have we seen that feature a handsome
young aviator kissing his new bride goodbye, and then flying off to a certain
death? But if Robert and Helen Severson’s love story became a movie, they would
both fly off into the clouds—both were aviators who died in air crashes while
serving our country in World War II. They were heroes who gave their lives for
America.
Robert Severson was my second cousin, the youngest of
Chester Severson’s children. Chester was my great-aunt Julia Peterson
Severson’s son, so Robert was my grandfather Paul’s great-nephew. Robert was
born June 18, 1919, just two years after my father was born. He grew up in
Brookings, South Dakota, excelling in school and entering South Dakota State
College in the late 1930s, graduating in 1942.
While in college, he met a young woman named Helen Jo
Anderson. She was born to Edwin and Amy Anderson in rural South Dakota in 1918.
Her family moved to Brookings sometime in the late 1930s. By 1940, Amy was
working as a stenographer in the State College Library while getting her degree
in general science like Robert. Both Helen and Robert were exceptional
students. They also both enrolled in State College’s Civilian Pilot Training
Program—the CPT. This government funded program began in the late 1930s to
increase the number of trained pilots. Helen is believed to be the first woman
to complete the State College CPT program.
Helen graduated in 1941, and the young couple must have married shortly thereafter; I have been unable to find a marriage record that would provide the exact date. Following Robert’s graduation, he immediately entered the military, and was of course sent to pilot training. Helen pursued a master’s degree in library science at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, continuing her flying out of the Urbana air field.
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| Piper Cub Spotter Plane like Robert flew in WWII |
Robert was shipped overseas as a “spotter pilot” in the U. S. Army’s Africa campaign. Spotter pilots had very dangerous missions. They flew in small planes—Robert flew a one-man Piper Cub—over enemy territory “to detect the enemy concentrations of troops and materiel and relay the position to the artillery.” Since the pilots needed to drop to low altitudes to see the enemy positions, they were easy targets for anti-aircraft guns.
When Robert got his orders to deploy, Helen became the
manager of the Urbana airport, and when the Women’s Army Flying Service (WAFS,
later WASPS) was formed, she volunteered.
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| WAFS at Avenger Field in Texas |
Helen was sent to Avenger Field near Sweetwater, Texas for training. She was just eleven days from graduating from the program when a routine training flight turned disastrous on August 30, 1943. Helen and fellow student Margaret Siep were flying a UC-78 from Sweetwater to Big Springs, practicing radio navigation. Helen was flying “under the hood” which means her vision was restricted by a hood to simulate conditions that would necessitate flying by instruments. The plane suffered a mechanical failure, and crashed, killing Helen, Margaret and their 22-year-old flight instructor. According to a history of the WAFS, that evening some of their classmates gathered around a vine that Margaret and Helen had planted in March to hold a vigil in their honor. The vine had grown to cover the rear wall of a barracks.
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| Cessna UC-78 like Helen was flying when she crashed in 1943 |
On October 11, 1944, Robert, by now a Lieutenant, was awarded the Air Medal for “meritorious achievements in 25 flights, totaling 22 hours, 12 minutes, as a pilot of a field artillery liaison type aircraft in July and August, 1943, in Sicily, 12 of which were combat missions totaling 9 hours 35 minutes. Due to the extreme ranges at which hostile artillery was firing, it was often necessary for these planes, both on surveillance missions as well as when adjusting artillery fire, to fly deep into enemy territory, thus endangering them to possible hostile aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons. The changeable weather conditions, rugged terrain, and improvised landing fields, which were often subjected to enemy bombings and strafings, added materially to the hazards faced by the pilot. The meticulous care while flying, and the undying devotion to duty displayed by him, reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.”
Following Helen’s death, Robert volunteered for an even more
dangerous assignment, becoming a spotter over Germany. Just one day after his
Air Medal was awarded, he was shot down over Germany in his Piper Cub
observation plane. His parents were informed he was missing in action two weeks
later. The article reporting him missing noted that he had served as a spotter
for over two years in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany, and
that his “efficient work” had been written up and reported by both the military
and civilian press.
His family had to wait three long years before the Army was
able to retrieve his body and return it to the United States. The Argus
newspaper in South Dakota reported that he received military rites overseas
before his body was sent home for burial in December, 1947. He was laid to rest beside his wife Helen in
Brookings’ Greenwood Cemetery.
The brave women of the WAFS/WASPS were not recognized for
decades as veterans who served their country. Helen was finally recognized over
sixty years after her death. Her Findagrave memorial contains the following
information:
“Helen was a forgotten veteran who was finally recognized as
WWII veteran. It took 60 years, but thanks to Tammy Schroeder, commander of the
Grant County American Legion, arranged a memorial service for Helen, who died
in a plane crash while she served her county in the WASP program during the
war. Also thanks to Tammy, Helen was awarded the status of a veteran."
"The family of Helen tried for many years to have Helen
recognized as a vet, but Tammy did her job and came through for the family. She
said women like Helen served during the war ferrying military planes around the
country. Helen was never given the honor of a military funeral and now her day
has come… Sixty years later Helen got the funeral she should had gotten. The
rifles were fired and her flag was folded and given to her beloved sister Neoma
Isaak after a thunderous flyover.”
The story of this brave and patriotic young couple would
have made a real tear-jerker of a movie. They were such wonderful young people
who exhibited great leadership skills, courage and honor. Imagine what they
might have accomplished had they survived the war!
https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/campfire-stories/wasp
https://www.wwii-women-pilots.org/the-38.html
http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/records_all/PDFWEB/38.pdf
