Most interesting and meaningful to me was that Tori, my primary flight attendant instructor in my initial training in Honolulu, is one of the women whose lives are chronicled in this book. It was amazing to read about the experiences of these women, and to remember the places that I also traveled to and loved. Pan Am also was on the ground during coups, major conflicts, and other historical events.
For instance, Pan Am transported Vietnam Vets to and from their R&Rs in Hong Kong, and also airlifted children out of the country.
What is different about these women is that their experiences are narrated with the backdrop of American history and the manner in which Pan Am was involved. The book chronicles the lives of several Pan Am flight attendants as they joined the airline and journeyed around the world. When I saw Come Fly the World on NetGalley, I immediately wanted to read it, as belonging to Pan Am is to belong to a family. A number of books have been written by flight attendants, (including Pan Am flight attendants), and most of these have been on the frivolous side. The airline's demise was devastating for us and many of us remain connected through Facebook pages. In 1979 I became a flight attendant for Pan Am, The ten years that I spent traveling the world were perhaps the most exciting of my life, and by far the greatest learning experience I have every had. Finally, with Operation Babylift-the dramatic evacuation of 2,000 children during the fall of Saigon-the book’s special cast of stewardesses unites to play an extraordinary role on the world stage. Julia Cooke’s intimate storytelling weaves together the real-life stories of a memorable cast of characters, from Lynne Totten, a science major who decided life in a lab was not for her, to Hazel Bowie, one of the relatively few black stewardesses of the era, as they embraced the liberation of their new jet-set life.Ĭooke brings to life the story of Pan Am stewardesses’ role in the Vietnam War, as the airline added runs from Saigon to Hong Kong for planeloads of weary young soldiers straight from the battlefields, who were off for five days of R&R, and then flown back to war. Required to have a college degree, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on iconic Pan Am between 19 also had to be between 5′3" and 5′9", between 105 and 140 pounds, and under 26 years of age at the time of hire. Glamour, danger, liberation: in a Mad Men–era of commercial flight, Pan Am World Airways attracted the kind of young woman who wanted out, and wanted up
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