On June 11, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier, piloting a Canadair F-86 Sabre over Edwards Air Force Base with Chuck Yeager as her wingman.

Cochran had been flying since 1932. She held more aviation records than any other pilot — male or female — at multiple points in her career. During World War II, she directed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), training over 1,000 women to ferry aircraft, test planes, and tow targets for anti-aircraft practice.

When the war ended, the WASP were disbanded immediately. Their service was classified. They were not granted military status or benefits. Many left their final duty stations at their own expense.

Cochran herself went on setting records: speed records, altitude records, distance records. When the sound barrier fell to a woman in 1953, it fell to someone the U.S. military had simultaneously used and discarded.

The WASP were not officially recognized as veterans until 1977, thirty-two years after the war. Many had died. Several fought for decades before the recognition came.

Cochran died in 1980. She had by then set more aviation records than any person in history.