Photo: Ryan Kelley | U.S. Coast Guard
Getting Wings of Gold, signifying graduation from advanced flight training, is an achievement for anyone, but receiving them from a fellow Black woman who was herself the first to achieve the Wings, is a thrilling experience indeed. Jeanine Menze was awarded her own Wings of Gold in 2005 and became the first Black woman aviator in the US Coast Guard, but it was and still is a lonely experience. When La'Shanda Holmes came along three years later, Menze felt that she had found a partner. When Holmes graduated flight school, becoming the first Black woman helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard and the branch's second Black woman pilot, Menze felt that the only way to honor her junior was to pass along to her her own Wings of Gold. "As you were putting the wings on my chest, I felt like I was Wonder Woman," Holmes told her. "I was so proud. I was proud to be a woman. I was proud to be Black. I was proud to know you."
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