SAN ANTONIO -- Sixty years ago, Dorothy Lucas decided she wanted to help her country during World War II. Exactly how, though, was something she said she'd never dreamed.

Lucas was one of 1,800 women accepted to the Women Airforce Service Pilots program in 1944 in Mission, Texas, as a trainer who flew planes towing target planes designed to train cadets to shoot with live ammunition. Despite being near live fire high above the ground, Lucas said she was never fazed.

"They're supposed to hit that target, not me," she said. "I'm in this plane."

With a loan from her mother, Lucas amassed enough training hours to stand out among the 25,000 applicants for the position. The WASPs, as they were called, were disbanded later that year, and Lucas said she married an instructor from the airfield and raised five children together. As her husband kept flying, she said it wasn't something she was drawn to again.

Later this week, President Barack Obama is expected to sign a bill -- S.614 sponsored by Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison -- honoring the women with a Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The medal is the highest civilian award granted by the United States.

Lucas said she never gave thought to what she and her fellow women accomplished. In 1977, the women received veteran status. More than 1,100 women received their pilots' wings, and about 300 are living today, according to a news release from Hutchison's office.

"We proved that women could fly as well as men," she said.