Female military pilots from World War II may again become eligible for Arlington National Cemetery.
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The unanimous voice vote moved the legislation a step closer to becoming law.
When a woman World War II pilot died during service, her female colleagues collected money to send the body back to her family because the Army wouldn’t pay for it.
The women performed training and transport missions in the United States during the conflict so male pilots could be sent overseas.
Unlike male veterans, however, they can not be interred at Arlington, the best-known but very crowded USA military cemetery, because authorities have insisted their service was not the same as active duty.
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed the legislation backed by Sens. They flew noncombat missions to free up male pilots for combat. The legislation is a companion bill to Senator Mikulski’s bipartisan legislation with Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). She has since become one of the many former WASP pilots who have become the public face of the effort to restore burial rights for members of this unique military program.
The family of Elaine Harmon, a WASP who had hoped to be buried at Arlington before she died a year ago, began lobbying Congress to restore the women’s eligibility. However, in March 2015, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed this decision. “It was wrong for the Army to suddenly deny these courageous women and men the honor of inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery after they were granted this privilege years ago”. “It is an injustice that they are being denied access to Arlington, which has always been considered a sacred place of honor”.
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WASP pilot Elaine Danforth Harmon, right, greets guests during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the Capitol in 2010 in Washington.
