Jacqueline 'Jackie' Cochran (1906-1980) receiving the Distinguished Service Medal from General Henry Arnold in December 1945. Cochran was a pioneer in the field of US aviation. She contributed to the formation of the wartime Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was the only woman to compete in the MacRobertson Air Race in 1934. In 1937, she was the only woman to compete in the Bendix race and worked with Amelia Earhart to open the race to women. She set a new women's national speed record, a new transcontinental speed record as well as altitude records, and was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. At the time of her death, no other pilot held more speed, distance, or altitude records in aviation history.