A Whirlwind Journey For La Grange Woman

La Grange IL

05 October, 2021

3:47 PM

Description

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange resident Betty Paps plans a trip to Washington, D.C., to see a number of historic sites. The 83-year-old plans to leave Wednesday and return the very same day. Possible? Of course. In Paps' case, she is going along with a plane-load of women like her — those who have served in the military during past wars. They're leaving at 4 a.m. and returning at 8:30 p.m. For years, the Honor Flight program has been flying World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans to the nation's capital, so they could see the monuments dedicated to them. For the women, it's called Operation HerStory. Paps is going on the first such flight for women in the Chicago area. A present-day photo of Betty Paps, who served in the Air Force and as a professor at Kennedy-King College in Chicago. (Courtesy of Betty Paps) A nurse, Paps joined the Air Force as a reservist in 1974 and served two decades. Her time overlaps the final year of the Vietnam War, though she did not serve in that conflict. However, Paps was deployed to Saudi Arabia for five months as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She rose to the rank of colonel in her final couple of years. She was a longtime nursing professor at Kennedy-King College on Chicago's South Side. In an interview with Patch, Paps said no one in her family has ever served in the military. "A girlfriend thought I should join," said Paps, who was in her mid-30s at the time. "She was too old. I wasn't. I thought, 'Why not?' I needed a challenge."