History
From Judy Miller, Stories250 editor and co-founder:
In 2019, I toured the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Hawaii when I noticed a small display about Cornelia Fort within the Doolittle Briefing Room exhibit. In fall 1941, Cornelia was a civilian pilot instructor for the Andrew Flying Service at John Rodgers Airport in Honolulu. She was in the air with her student, a defense worker, just after dawn on Dec. 7, 1941 when the Pear Harbor attack began. She came nose-to-nose with a Japanese Zero, evaded an attack and landed safely back at the airport as Japanese planes strafed the runway. Fast forward to 2021. I was planning a webinar for middle school students to honor the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. I decided to focus the entire webinar on Cornelia as I was fascinated with that brief introduction to her life in 2019 in Hawaii.
Thus began three years of research into Cornelia’s life, which was tragically cut short in 1943 when, as the second member in 1942 of the U.S. Army Air Forces new Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, the WAFS, she was killed in a mid-air collision as she was ferrying a BT-13 military airplane from Downey, California, to Dallas, Texas.
As I planned the webinar, through the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, I was introduced to Chloe Fort, Cornelia’s niece, and then traveled to Nashville to interview Chloe for the webinar. I stayed in contact with Chloe after the webinar. She introduced me to Leontine Fort Linton LaPointe, also Cornelia’s niece. After speaking with Leontine in January 2022, my course for the next few years was set as I knew Cornelia’s life had to be honored with a full length documentary.
Documentary
My team and I finished Crosswinds: The Courageous Life of Cornelia Fort in spring 2025. In June 2025 I screened it at Airbase Georgia in Peachtree City. Airbase Georgia is one unit within the Commemorative Air Force. In July 2025, we screened Crosswinds at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The feedback has been excellent and so rewarding for our small team of editors who worked thousands of hours producing it. I served as the documentary’s writer, director and co-producer.
To learn more about Crosswinds and to purchase streaming, visit www.crosswindscornelia.com