Born to Fly - Transcript

[Irene (Auble) Abernathy] "To think that she was the youngest aviatrix in the world when she soloed made an impact on all of us. I guess I figured that she had to be special."

[Dorothy (Auble) Hardisty] "She was a pioneer you might say. I was thankful for pioneers."

What comes of a small town when it loses a favorite child -- a child who raise the spirit and pride of her entire community as she soared through the sky. For the town of Ord the answer is in the vow, "We will never forget." And every summer the town of Ord keeps their pledge as they celebrate the memory of their all-around girl, Evelyn Sharp.

[Dorothy (Auble) Hardisty] "She takes good pictures. Here she's daring, standing on a horse with not even a saddle. She was a likeable person. She did things and did them well so everybody admired her and envied her sometimes.

Seventy years ago a young Evelyn Sharp moved with her parents to this little town on the edge of the Sandhills. The Sharp family ran a small café and rooming house. One evening Evelyn overheard a conversation between her father and one of their boarders. Jack Jeffard, a flight instructor was behind in his rent. He bartered flight lessons for Evelyn in exchange for room and board. Evelyn's father agreed.

[Dorothy (Auble) Hardisty] "And when she started taking lessons in flying everybody thought, 'Oh that's wonderful.' You know, that's something that was way off track for what everybody wanted to do when we grew up."

At seventeen Evelyn earned her first pilot's license. Her ambitious nature gained the attention of Dr. Glenn Alvo, a leading member of the Ord community.

[Dorothy (Auble) Hardisty] "It was just in his nature to go around the square, as they called it, meaning to hit all of the businessmen and see if they can give a little bit. And so that's what he did, he went around the square, got money for Evelyn."

[Irene (Auble) Abernathy] "Since my father was involved in helping her get her first plane she invited us to ride with her. My sister I think chose not to because she was afraid she might get airsick. I wasn't afraid at all and I got to ride in the front with Evelyn and her scottie dog.

The town of Ord financed the down payment of Evelyn's 1937 Taylor Cub. She called her plane, The Ord. Evelyn barnstormed Nebraska selling sky rides for a dollar. In 1940 Evelyn became a flight instructor for the U.S. Government. It was a steady job with steady pay. The following year the United States went to war.

[Frank Moore] "We were all kids at that time. We were all flying over our heads except for Evelyn. She had… I was surprised to see how much time she did have. She had three or four thousand hours then."

Now a member of the Women's Auxilary Ferrying Squadron stationed in Long Beach, California, Evelyn flew a variety of military aircraft from the West Coast to the East. While she spent most of her time in the air, she did find time for dating.

[Moore] "I guess my roommate had been taking her out 'cause you know, even though you had a roommate sometimes you wouldn't see him for a couple weeks because you'd be out on a trip or vice versa. And I meet Evelyn one night and when my roomate came back he was a little upset with me. As a matter of fact he didn't talk to me much after that."

An instrument flight instructor during the war, Frank often invited Evelyn to ride along when he checked off pilots on the aircraft.

[Moore] "I'll tell you; anyone that knew her liked her so… she was just that type of person. And she was a wonderful person, and a great pilot. She loved to fly."

In the Spring of 1944 Evelyn Sharp was ferrying a P-38 to Newark, New Jersey. On the final leg of a cross-country flight during take off in Harrisberg, Pennsylvania the plane's left engine failed.

[Moore] "We would get a plane to delivery. It had thirty or fourty minutes up. And if problems were going to come out, they usually came out during the ferrying of that plane...the delivery of the plane.

"I didn't hear the details of the crash until later. I never did see the accident report. I knew that she did everything just right from what was told to me. I think she probably did a better job than most of us could have done.

"I was devastated. I could not...I can hardly talk about it."

Evelyn Sharp was not the only woman to die flying planes during the Good War. But Evelyn Sharp was from Ord, a community that helped their all-around girl realize a dream. A community that now each year celebrates her memory and spirit.

I think of the people in Nebraska. We live proud and we live free and let's keep it that way.