Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Oahu, Hawaii, in 2006.
Jennifer Johnson/U.S. Coast Guard
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Jennifer Johnson/U.S. Coast Guard
Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Oahu, Hawaii, in 2006.
Jennifer Johnson/U.S. Coast Guard
Jeanine Menze fell in love with airplanes as a bit of lady in Jamaica, watching them take off and land at the native airport.
At 18, she got down to register for her first flight lesson at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
But she obtained discouraged when she noticed that the individuals lining up for aeronautical science lessons had been largely white and male.
“I panicked,” she stated in a StoryCorps dialog final month. “I don’t see anyone that looks like me, and I felt like I didn’t belong.”
She tried her hand at coding — there have been a number of girls in that line. But, a yr later, she knew she wasn’t the place she was meant to be, and registered for an introductory flight lesson at an airport down the road. Seeing a woman flight teacher there boosted her confidence.
There, she stated, she took off at the controls of a Cessna Skyhawk and flew over the Everglades.
“I was hooked,” Menze stated.
In 2005, Menze was awarded her Wings of Gold, signifying her commencement from superior flight coaching and have become the first Black woman aviator in the U.S. Coast Guard.
But, as soon as once more, she felt misplaced. Then, two years later, La’Shanda Holmes got here alongside.
“It was so long that I’d been in the Coast Guard already being the only Black female,” Menze advised Holmes. “I wanted a partner. I wanted somebody else there. So, when I met you, I saw myself.”
La’Shanda Holmes is seen at Air Station Los Angeles, in 2010.
Adam Eggers/U.S. Coast Guard
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Adam Eggers/U.S. Coast Guard
In 2010, Holmes graduated flight faculty, turning into the first Black woman helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard and the navy department’s second Black woman pilot.
Traditionally, household or buddies pin new Wings of Gold on the pupil pilots at their commencement ceremony. But when an emotional Menze joined Holmes on stage, she had one other thought.
“I wanted to make some sort of gesture to say that we’re all gonna be there for each other — all the other black and brown girls that were gonna be coming up behind us. And immediately I thought the best way to do that was … you are going to have my wings.”
The finest technique to specific that, she thought, was to move her Wings Of Gold onto Holmes.
“As you are putting the wings on my chest, I felt like I was Wonder Woman,” Holmes stated. “I was so proud. I was proud to be a woman. I was proud to be Black. I was proud to know you.”
“You’ve changed my mind about what’s possible.”
Left to proper: Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, Lt. Cmdr. LaShanda Holmes, Lt. Angel Hughes, Lt. Chanel Lee and Lt. Ronaqua Russell, pictured in 2019.
Ryan Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard
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Ryan Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard
Left to proper: Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, Lt. Cmdr. LaShanda Holmes, Lt. Angel Hughes, Lt. Chanel Lee and Lt. Ronaqua Russell, pictured in 2019.
Ryan Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard
There are 800 pilots in the Coast Guard. Since Holmes graduated from flight faculty, the variety of Black girls pilots in the maritime department has grown to 6 — with extra ready in the wings.
StoryCorps’ Military Voices Initiative data tales from members of the U.S. navy and their households.
Audio produced for Weekend Edition by Eleanor Vassili.
StoryCorps is a nationwide nonprofit that offers individuals the probability to interview buddies and family members about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, permitting contributors to depart a legacy for future generations. Learn extra, together with the right way to interview somebody in your life, at StoryCorps.org.
