Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery

[sarisataka]

Female WWII pilots barred from Arlington National Cemetery

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — The ashes of World War II veteran Elaine Harmon are sitting in a closet in her daughter's home, where they will remain until they can go to what her family says is her rightful resting place: Arlington National Cemetery.

Harmon piloted aircraft in World War II under a special program, Women Airforce Service Pilots, that flew noncombat missions to free up male pilots for combat. Granted veteran status in 1977, the WASPs have been eligible to have their ashes placed at Arlington with military honors since 2002.

But earlier this year, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed course and ruled WASPs ineligible.

After Harmon died in April at age 95, her daughter, Terry Harmon, 69, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was dismayed to learn that the Army had moved to exclude WASPs. She said her mother had helped lead the effort to gain recognition for WASPs.

http://news.yahoo.com/female-wwii-pilots-barred-arlington-national-cemetery-195325574.html?nf=1

This is a shameful exclusion. The WASPs served a vital role and suffered a death rate of 3.5%, greater than all military services except for the Marines Corps which had a 3.7% rate. The also-excluded Merchant Marine had 4.1% of its members killed in the course of the war.

Whether they were considered "official" military at that time or not is irrelevant; they served in wartime performing the same missions as actual military members. They earned the right to be buried in Arlington. I am eligible as a retired veteran and would willingly give up my spot to allow a WASP or MM member space in Arlington.

[TipTok]

1. Maybe WASPs but not the MM...

[Gormy Cuss]

3. No, they served during a war, they've as much right as any other veteran. n/t

[jen63]

8. Yep.

The Merchant Marine Academy requires the same entrance requirements as the other service academies, including Congressional nomination.

[lpbk2713]

2. So wrong.

They put their personal lives aside to serve their country at war. They deserve recognition.
The least their country can do for them in return is set aside a little space for their ashes.

[comradebillyboy]

4. That is really a strange policy,

my mother was in the Women's Marine Corps during WW2 and she is buried at Arlington.

[Omaha Steve]

5. Thanks for posting

I had no idea.

K&R!

OS

[GGJohn]

6. The Army should allow those women to be interred at Arlington,

they earned and deserve it.

[hunter]

7. My grandfather was an Army Air Force officer in World War II.

He was obsessive about airplanes, wanted to fly, drop bombs on Nazis, get shot at, possibly die a hero, the entire program.

That was not to be. He had other talents the Army Air Force valued more, and he was sometimes assigned as the handsome officer with a big black government car and driver carrying a "get out of jail free" card for various other misfits (too similar to himself) deemed essential to the war effort.

Retired honorably from military service, he'd somehow acquired a knack with titanium metal, and applied it to landing humans on the moon.

He could've been buried at Arlington, but he wasn't into that. Uncle Sam did cover his funeral expenses.

Many WASPS were a lot more bad ass than my grandpa. Although I suspect my grandpa had a few bad-ass moments he carried with him to his death.

Arlington ought to always have room, even if they have to make it a high-rise.