Northshore Garden of Memories Cemetery has announced today that they will be holding an official ceremony on Friday, November 9, 2018 honoring WWII pilot Janice Christensen also known as a Woman Airforce Service Pilot or WASP. The ceremony will be held from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm on the grounds of the cemetery.
Janice Christensen served as part of a small elite group of female pilots selected out of more than 25,000 who applied to serve. 1,830 women were selected for the program and only 1,074 completed training and began to serve. Many of these women have never been recognized for their service as active duty pilots by the military.
The official ceremony on Friday, November 9th will feature Congressman Brad Schneider presenting a military WASP emblem to the family of Janice Christensen for placement on her marker the day of the event, presentation of a Congressional Medal of Honor and a WWII Victory Medal along with a letter from the President of the United States. The ceremony will also include a fly-over of planes piloted by current WASP’s. Confirmed guests include veterans & bugler performing taps, color guard, the Civil Air Patrol Commander of Waukegan & the Mayor of North Chicago among many others.
Northshore Garden of Memories established in 1917 is located near Lake Michigan and Great Lakes Naval Base. The cemetery has a tradition of offering free grave spaces to all honorably discharged veterans who pre-arrange with them.
