Yankee Doodle Gals Ms. Nathan discusses Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II, published by the National Geographic Society. The book tells the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who flew during World War II. They weren’t allowed to fly in combat, but they contributed to the war effort in other ways -- doing test flights on repaired planes, playing the part of enemy pilots in training exercises, and towing targets through the sky to help ground troops with target practice. Ms. Nathan interviewed a number of former pilots while researching the book. close