February 1999 oral history transcript. Greensboro News and Record photograph of Reva on December 16, 1991; photograph of visit of Jacqueline Cochran, Director of WASPs, Ft. Myers, FL on March, 15, 1944; photograph of SQDN.D 2532D AFBU Randolph Field Texas, October 11,1947; photograph of foot locker arrangement WAC Ft. Myers, FL on April 18, 1945; photograph of clothing arrangement WAC, Ft. Myers, FL on April 18, 1945; photograph of Double Bed Arrangement WAC Ft. Myers FL, April 18, 1945; photograph of Control Tower Operator Ft. Myers, FL; photograph with WAC class; photograph Lt. Husmann taking squadron in review president Roosevelt Memorial Parade; photograph of 1997 festival of the Armed Forces at Randolph AFB, San Antonio, TX, September 1, 1997 (Back row L-R Reva Ingram Fortune; unknown; unknown; Mayer of Converse Texas; Colonel Richard Mentemeyer (Brig. General as of 1998); Front Row L-R 1997 United States AF Thunderbirds Maj. Randel A. Lane; Maj. Mark R. Arlingthaus; Maj. Paul E. Krause; Capt. Robert P. Givens; Maj. Scott. E. Cerelli; Lt. Cd. Ronald E. Mumm); photograph of Reva sitting on top of a military car with 3 friends; photograph of Pvts. Thea Coates; Mattie Turner; Francis Cockran; members of the WAC detachment of the parachute school assist in dropping equipment bundle from the door of an army transport plane over Fort Benning; GA; credit United States Army Signal Corps; photograph of Reva and 6 other women in mess hall-BAAF credit-Army Airforces Training Command; photograph of recruting parade in Ft. Myers, Florida Nov. 13, 1943 credit-SEAAFTC; AAF-Flexible Gunnery School, Ft. Myers FL; portrait photograph of Reva in uniform; photograph of Reva in uniform in front of typewriter Air Force photograph Released by Randolph Air Force Base; photograph of Reva in front of Christmas tree, 1944 Ft. Myers, FL Credit-United States Army Air Forces Flying Training Command; photograph of Pvt. Cortia-Motor Pool Clerk; photograph "In the war room; getting lastest news" Ft. Myers,FL credit-United States Army Air Forces Flight Training Command; photograph of Major Frances S. Cornick; WAC deputy staff director of the ETO; Norfolk; VA. bids farewell to Lt. Col. Anna M. Wilson; was director in the ETO; of Studio City; California and major Mary A. Hallaven; WAC Staff Director; Lowell; Mass as the two prepare to leave Francy by air credit-Signal Corps photograph; Group photograph Lt. Smith & WACs AAFFGS BAAF Ft. Myers FL credit-Army Air Forces Training Command; photograph of 8 women in an office; photograph of Retreat formation prior to August 1943 Colonel Waugh Lt. Louise Smith (1st officer) credit-SEAAFTC; AAF Flexible Gunnery School Ft. Myers, FL; portrait photograph of Reva 1st Sergeant 344th WAC Post Headquarts squadron BAAF credit-United States Army Air Forces Flying Training Command; photograph of Rebecca Jo Congdon payroll clerk-at work United States Army Air Forces Ft. Myers FL credit-SEAAFTC; AAF Flexible Gunnery School; Ft Myers FL; Cartoon "Respect the local customs and manners even if they seem queer to you" 26 86-G-2117AB 11 Aug. 45 Cartoon on Customs and Manners BAAF Ft. Myers FL; photograph of WASPS 4 women standing near airplane; photograph BPL3G50-31 WAC Mail Orderly AAFFGS BAAF Ft. Myers FL credit-Army Air Forces Training Command; Newspaper clippings; copies of photographs; Copy of letter to "Q.I" May 1, 1943; Copy of letter to Reva from S. Lvy Wm April 25 1943 from Africa; Copy of letter to Reva from Wm; Original newspaper article "Sky-High Experience-Air Force veteran enjoys thrilling return" From High Point Enterprise Lifestyles page A6 Friday September 5;1997.
Reva Pauline Ingram Fortune (1917-2018) of Greensboro, North Carolina, served with the Army Air Force while in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1943 to 1948 and with the Women in the Air Force (WAF) from 1948 to 1952. She then spent twenty-five years as a Social Security Administration employee in High Point, NC. Reva Pauline Ingram Fortune was born on 6 April, 1917 in Colfax, Illinois, and raised on a farm outside of Greensboro, North Carolina. She was one of six children; two of her sisters also served in the military during World War II. After graduating from Greensboro High School in 1933, Fortune worked as a secretary at Pomona Terra-Cotta Company. Fortune enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in the spring of 1943 and attended basic training at Daytona Beach, Florida. She was then assigned to Buckingham Army Air Field at Fort Myers, Florida, where she served as company clerk and first sergeant of a WAC squadron. Fortune was stationed there until the air field closed in 1945. She was then transferred to Turner Field in Albany, Georgia, for six months. From there she was sent to Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Texas. Three months later Fortune was assigned to Randolph Field in San Antonio, where she remained for several years. While at Randolph Field, Fortune attended night classes at Trinity College and met her future husband, Roy Fortune, a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne Division. In 1948, the air force was established as an independent branch of the United States military, and Fortune re-enlisted for another four years with the WAF. In 1952, when her enlistment was up, Fortune was stationed in Fort Myers, Virginia. She then married Roy Fortune and left the Air Force. When Roy Fortune was stationed overseas in 1953 and 1954, Reva Fortune returned to Greensboro and moved in with her parents. She enrolled in classes at Woman's College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) on the GI Bill and graduated in 1958 with a degree in biology and a minor in Spanish. The following year she went to work for the Social Security Administration in High Point, North Carolina, where she remained for twenty-five years, until her retirement in 1984.
