Jerri Truhill (born Geraldine Hamilton) has been looking up at the Richardson night sky for some 45 years and she’s dreamed even longer of orbiting the stars. One of a group of female pilots collectively known as the Mercury 13, Truhill came close to making that dream a reality.

The year was 1961 and in the United States, 25 very experienced female pilots—including Jerri—were selected and asked to undergo secret testing for spaceflight. At that time, no country had yet to send a woman or man into space. Reflecting on that part of her history, Jerri recalls, “If you’re a pilot, you just naturally want to travel in space. I did anyway. Higher and faster, higher and faster…”

Over the course of the next few months, Jerri and 12 other female pilots passed the demanding tests with flying colors. The next step was further training in Pensacola, Florida; the 13 were told to ready themselves and pack their bags. The women did as told. However, they never boarded that flight to Florida. The night before their scheduled departure, they received telegrams telling them only that the program had been canceled. These women had altered their lives and given up jobs for this mission. At the very least, they wanted to know who had so abruptly applied the brakes and why.

It wasn’t until years later, through the Freedom of Information Act, that they discovered it was then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson who had ordered the halt to the training. It appeared that their gender had gotten in the way. “We had stepped on so many giant egos and we didn’t even know it,” says Jerri. “Women had no rights back then.”

To Mercury 13 and beyond What happened (or didn’t happen) to the Mercury 13 was a tremendous letdown to Jerri, one that still resonates today, but her resilience and strong spirit helped her cope and she moved forward at full throttle. It almost seems as if Jerri’s life has played out like a James Bond movie. “I’m a maverick,” she says. “And I can’t help it.”

At a young age, Jerri expressed an interest in flying and her father—who she says was “a product of his generation”— suggested she become an air hostess. They obviously weren’t speaking the same language. Jerri walked her talk and at age 15 (without her parents’ knowledge) began taking flying lessons. She paid for the lessons with the money she collected by charging friends for car rides to school. The time came when her parents discovered that she had defied their wishes; she was subsequently sent off to private school, but nothing stopped Jerri in the long run. Ironically, her mother was ultimately her first air passenger.

A few years down the road, Jerri Sloan (by then a widow) and Joe Truhill, another celebrated aviator, formed a business partnership (which she returned to after the Mercury 13 received their pink slips) and invested in aircraft. They contracted with Texas Instruments to do secret test piloting (e.g., testing the initial infrared systems) out of Addison Airport. For fun, Jerri participated in numerous air races. In between all the excitement and peril, Jerri and Joe took their relationship to the next level—they married, with six children between them. So, it’s no surprise that today they have grandparent status.

These days, Jerri takes care of Joe’s one son with Down syndrome, tends to six cats, paints on china and canvas and answers Mercury 13 fan mail from all over the world. Joe deals in real estate, purchasing houses and then renovating and selling them.

The silver lining

One job that Jerri has become very familiar with is paving—paving the way for all women. Along with her pilot friends, she says it’s been her life’s work to acquire “equal rights for our daughters.”

Although they were robbed of an opportunity, much attention has been focused on the Mercury 13. Their experiences have been captured in the media and considered for movies and the women have had a platform on which to forge wonderful friendships. The bond these women (two are no longer living) share remains strong. Jerri says, “It’s just something nobody can take away from us.” They keep in touch by phone, have met up at shuttle launches, and last year elatedly traveled to Wisconsin to receive honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

The Mercury 13 have plans to meet up (literally) again one day—in the night sky—and together see the stars. Jerri softly smiles and says, “It won’t be long and I’m going to get to see it all.” Unless, of course, she’s reincarnated and “serving on the Starship Enterprise.”

Deborah Pope is a nationally published freelance writer and columnist. Email her via her website: www.hamtam.com.

This article was first printed in the May/June 2008 issue of Richardson Living Magazine.