Posted on 01/03/2016 1:57:22 PM PST by Kaslin
Another one of those “clean out the basket” stories from while I was away comes to us from the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery. There was a quiet change made to the guidelines for interment there roughly one year ago which impacts a small but rightfully vocal group of citizens and their families. It involves the few remaining members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (or WASPs) from World War II. It seems that the Army is no longer accepting the remains of the female pilots for burial alongside the Honored Dead who rest there. (Fox News)
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.
I’m not sure what McHugh was thinking when he made this move, or more to the point, how he explained it at the time. I suppose there could technically be an argument to make saying that the WASPs weren’t officially part of the military and didn’t fly combat missions so they should somehow be classified differently, but it’s a weak and rather offensive one. True, they were defined as a “paramilitary” unit and they were specifically assigned non-combat missions to free up the men to fly in combat. But as has been documented repeatedly, they were granted veteran status nearly forty years ago and clearly aided the war effort in a direct fashion which involved flying military aircraft.
I rather doubt that McHugh was doing this because he’s secretly part of the He Man Woman Hater’s club, though the decision casts him in a very bad light. More likely, he was examining the quickly diminishing available space for burials at Arlington and making a ham handed attempt at finding ways to make the land stretch further. That excuse probably shouldn’t be given too much weight, though, since there are barely 100 WASPs left alive today.
The land issue at Arlington isn’t going to go away no matter how this fracas is resolved. Some relief was achieved last year when space for more than 50,000 additional urns of ashes was added and 27 acres to the north of the current fields was opened up. That new real estate will allow for 30,000 additional graves, which is a great start, but we are still burying an average of 7,000 veterans per year there so it’s far from a permanent solution. Also, just getting those 27 acres was a battle because people were fighting against having some of the old growth trees in the area taken down.
Arlington is an actual problem in search of a solution and I believe one can and must be found. It’s going to take a combination of willingness and sacrifice on the part of both the government and private citizens, but a path can surely be carved outward to extend the grounds of Arlington… not through government fiat, but the good will of a nation willing to offer up the proper honors to our heroes. If we can’t solve this one then the nation may be culturally past the point of no return.
You sound like you know the difference, but It is important for us to explicitly note that WACs and WAVES were different from the WASPS.
WACs and WAVES were branches of the military, where WASPS were not. Thw WASP program was created to hire civilian women and train them to fly military planes from the manufacturer factories to various points around the continental USA where they were handed over to military personnel for use.
They were not military, and never were military.
We are in agreement on that...flying was still a dangerous business at that time, especially with many models of aircraft either at the cutting edge of design, or in the process of undergoing so many modifications that they might as well have been cutting edge.
I hope we never again have to see the courage and the opportunity for the country to come together for a war like that, but...being a student of history, I somehow feel we are going to get that “opportunity”, God help us.
“If the WASPs were given veteran status in 1977 and this occurred in 1980, then what is being used to deny them inurnment now? Someone has to be quoting some rule or regulation to block them.”
Perhaps no DD214 ?
That is all that the National Veterans’ Cemetery wanted when I dealt with them.
In WWII, being in the Merchant Marine was more dangerous than any service.
There was no military branch called “Airforce” during WWII. It was the Army Air Corps. WASPS were not part of the Army.
Also, some military pilots took their basic flight training from civilian flight instructors at civilian air fields (GHW Bush, for one). This was a similar program to release more military pilots to combat roles. There was a push in the 80’s, IIRC, to recognize these civilian instructors as vets, as well. I don’t think it passed.
Exactly
Actually Lee never owned the Arlington estate. Even though he and Mary lived there for close to thirty years, the estate belonged to G.W.P. Custis, Mary’s father. When he died in 1857, he left the estate to Mary, for the remainder of her life and then the estates was to pass to G.W.C Lee, Mary and Roberts oldest son. Colonel Lee was the executor of the estate per the Custis will.
I’ve made it known that I want to be buried in the one here in north Florida.
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Made it known how? You have to sign up for it. All you need is your D.D.214 & S.S. number, if married, show marriage license and spouse can be buried there too.
I post this info so other former military members may know too. Also anyone approaching S.S. retirement age, bring that D.D.214 with you to the S.S. office when you apply. It will add to your S.S. check.
Don’t be expecting a huge wind fall though. Four years active and it added $13 per month to my check.
I’d rather have it than not though.
Yes--those who were not drafted.
OTOH, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Ted Kennedy nor the District of Corruption.
“How about National Cemeteries placed so that you are never more than 100 miles away from one? I’ve made it known that I want to be buried in the one here in north Florida.”
They have at least 4 veteran cemeteries in Texas.
Both occupations called for loads of courage and skills not often found among the common folk.
I expect that the MM suffered notably higher casualty rates than did WASPs and would not deny them an honored place in history. But the ladies wore the uniform, for peanut wages, all volunteers, and all challenging accepted stereotypes. They did it without GI or union benefits when they mustered out and likely suffered some degree of social stigma for making Rosie the Riveter look like a punk in the process.
Give them their due!
This country comes up with the most bizarre and useless decisions PATHETIC!
I am sure those gals were patriotic. I also bet they loved flying those planes.
However it does not even compare to making the Murmansk Run, some convoys losing many and at least one, losing most of their ships along with the Merchant Seamen on them.
I normally avoid citing Wikipedia as a source, but here is what it says about his military career (emphasis added)
Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army in June 1951, signing up for an optional four-year term, which was shortened to the minimum two years after his father intervened. Following basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey, he requested assignment to Fort Holabird in Maryland for Army Intelligence training, but was dropped after a few weeks without explanation. He went to Camp Gordon in Georgia for training in the Military Police Corps. In June 1952, Kennedy was assigned to the honor guard at SHAPE headquarters in Paris, France. His father's political connections ensured that he was not deployed to the ongoing Korean War. While stationed in Europe, he traveled extensively on weekends and climbed the Matterhorn in Switzerland. He was discharged after 21 months in March 1953 as a private first class.Ted Kennedy From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Seems like the requirements were met.
Yeah, but Clinton and Obama will plant their political hacks there.
Better than their political enemies
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