Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh, crowned Miss America 2024, speaks at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, July 25, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Hoping to inspire young aviators, Miss America made an appearance at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh.
Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh, who was crowned Miss America 2024, is an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.
She spoke at the fly-in convention Thursday, sharing her journey from wanting to be an astronaut as a child, to becoming a pilot in the military.
“I’m the very first active duty military member to win Miss America and as soon after I won, I knew that this year was not going to be about me. It was about all the other women that came before me that have opened up those doors to allow me to be in the position that I’m in now,” Marsh said.
She hopes by sharing her story, she breaks down stereotypes and makes young girls believe that they can do whatever they set their minds to.
“What I really loved yesterday was the Women’s AirVenture. I mean the first thing I did when I showed up and I think, what was it, like 1,000 women standing out there, young women that were interested in aviation and I think that to me, is so inspiring because we can look at the generation that we have now and how we’re impacting the next people,” she said.
The Arkansas native says after her term as Miss America, she will go back to Harvard to finish her graduate school degree. She’s getting a Master’s in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and will do pancreatic cancer research on the side. Marsh’s mother died of pancreatic cancer when she was 17.
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