Politics

1,000 Words: A woman’s place in Arlington

Bob CollinsBob Collins Sep 7, 2016
4

Elaine Harmon today finally got the respect she more than earned as a member of the Womens Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS).

When she died last year, she didn’t know that the Secretary of the Army had overturned the decision of the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, bestowing the right to be buried there on her.

So her family fought to give her and other WASPs the honor they deserved and today, she was buried at Arlington.

And in a fitting tribute, a woman pilot got the honor of telling her family that the nation is grateful for her service.

Air Force Capt. Jennifer Lee, right, kneels as she presents an American flag to Terry Harmon, center seated, daughter of World War II pilot Elaine Danforth Harmon, during burial services, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. It took an act of Congress, but Harmon was finally laid to rest on at Arlington National Cemetery, she 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. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Archive: Time running out for WWII women’s place in Arlington (NewsCut)

Congress finally gets around to honoring the women who served (NewsCut)