Congress and President Obama have overruled an Army decision that briefly banned Women Air Service Pilots (WASP) from being interred at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2015, Army Secretary John McHugh stopped allowing the placing of WASP veterans’ ashes in an aboveground facility at the cemetery, saying their job of ferrying and testing military aircraft in the Second World War did not meet the standards for eternity at Arlington. In January, the cemetery issued a statement saying the cemetery will run out of space in 20 years and the WASPs’ service, while “commendable,” did not “reach the level of active duty service” required. Tiffany Miller launched an online petition to change the rules last year and said her grandmother Danforth Harmon can finally rest.
“It was her last wish to be in Arlington,” Miller told CNN. “We haven’t been able to hold a funeral for her because we wanted to honor that wish.” WASPs flew thousands of non-combat missions from 1942 to 1944, freeing male pilots to fight. There were about 1,000 WASPs and 38 of them died in aircraft accidents. “If they were good enough to fly for our country, risk their lives and earn the Congressional Gold Medal, they should be good enough for Arlington,” said Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who sponsored the bipartisan bill to change the rules.
