Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

Thank you so much for publishing your article on Marina Raskova and Russian women-pilots. My grandmother, Anna Peturova, was one of the young women-pilots during WWII. She applied to Raskova’s group, but was rejected (she was raising a baby at the time). So, instead of sitting out the war at home, my heroic grandmother flew a small wooden plane to the front, transporting medical staff and wounded soldiers back and forth. Her first husband, also a pilot, was killed in the first months of war, leaving her alone with an 18-month-old son.

I bow my head to all heroic Russian women, may their memory be never forgotten.