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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFemale WWII pilot Elaine Harmon will finally be laid to rest at Arlington
Female WWII pilot Elaine Harmon will finally be laid to rest at Arlington
ARLINGTON, Va. -- It took an act of Congress, but World War II pilot Elaine Harmon is finally being laid to rest on Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/09/07/0d768b8b-4e78-407a-8e15-ba9846f5a85c/crop/3000x1686+0+0/resize/620xg2/77ea90220e3cc18260680cc648227e77/elaine-harmon-97611102.jpg
Harmon died last year at age 95. She was one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of women who flew military aircraft on noncombat missions during World War II so that men were freed up for combat. The women were not granted military status at the time they served, but received retroactive status as veterans in 1977. And for many years, WASPs were eligible to have their ashes placed in urns at Arlington. Last year, though, Army officials concerned about limited space at the cemetery ruled WASPs ineligible for inclusion at Arlington. A memo from then-Army Secretary John McHugh concluded that Arlington never should have granted eligibility to WASPs in the first place.
Harmon had left handwritten instructions to be inurned at Arlington, but the cemeterys director denied the request, saying serving in the WASPs is not the same as active duty service as a member of the Department of Defense, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported in March. The Army said no to the wrong family, Harmons granddaughter Erin Miller told Martin.
Harmons family fought the rule. In December, an Associated Press article about the familys campaign prompted widespread criticism of the Army for excluding WASPs. A petition on change.org received more than 175,000 signatures. In May, President Obama signed legislation allowing WASPs in Arlington. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., herself a retired Air Force pilot who was the first female fighter pilot in U.S. history to fly in combat.
. . . . .
Kate Landdeck, a Texas Womans University history professor who has researched the WASPs, said roughly 1,000 women served as WASPs while the program was in effect from 1942 to 1944. Thirty-eight were killed. Fewer than 100 are still alive, Landdeck said. The youngest is 93. The women, who test-flew repaired military aircraft, trained combat pilots and towed airborne targets that other pilots fired at with live ammunition, received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009, but the campaign to get them into Arlington exposed even more people to WASPs role in history. No one knew who these women were in the 1990s, Landdeck said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-wwii-pilot-elaine-harmon-laid-to-rest-arlington-national-cemetery/
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-elaine-harmon-inurned-20160906-story.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-arlington-cemetery-female-pilot-20160907-story.html
"...then Army Secretary John McHugh concluded that Arlington never should have granted eligibility to WASPs in the first place."
niyad
(113,318 posts)wildeyed
(11,243 posts)"...then Army Secretary John McHugh concluded that WASPs had not suffered enough indignities from sexist military men while alive, that the tradition of minimizing their patriotism and sacrifice would continue, even after their deaths."
Glad the families fought this.
niyad
(113,318 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)geomon666
(7,512 posts)Bulldoze the Pentagon. Or they can just stop sending these people out to die for no good reason.
niyad
(113,318 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)niyad
(113,318 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,390 posts)(in the mid-1960's) who lived down the road from us. Betty Gillies was the first pilot to qualify for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, which later was joined with the WASP's.
So I knew who they were!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Gillies
I'm glad to see these women getting the recognition they deserve.
niyad
(113,318 posts)thank you for the link. what an amazing woman!!!
mnhtnbb
(31,390 posts)My mom--from the Betty Gillies' generation--was the one who first told me who she was.
Stinky The Clown
(67,800 posts)Fewer than 100 Wasps still alive. They DESERVE this honor.
niyad
(113,318 posts)government all this time has been absolutely disgraceful.
Stinky The Clown
(67,800 posts). . . . talking about them as forgotten vets. This was a LONG time coming.
niyad
(113,318 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I've been following your posts on this subject for some time.
I'm gratified that Harmon received her due honor, but holy shit what a load of garbage she (and her peers) had to deal with to get there.
K/R!
niyad
(113,318 posts)are people, even on this board, who defend the disgusting sexism of their treatment.
ProfessorGAC
(65,049 posts)Towing targets? No thanks.
Test flying repaired planes. No thanks.
And, they weren't veterans until 32 years after the fact? Silly
niyad
(113,318 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,049 posts)Technically, that's being shot at! So, ok the other pilots weren't shooting right at their airplane, but if they're still in training, it means they're not as good as they're going to be. Which puts those women in pretty much the same place as a fighter pilot getting shot at.
I am not signing up for that gig.