Former Secretary Of The Army Changed Criteria In 2015

From 2002 until sometime last year, Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) had been eligible for interment in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

But in 2015, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh ruled that the WASPs were not eligible.

Now, the family of WASP Elaine Harmon are working to reverse McHugh's decision, so that her ashes can be inurned at Arlington, which the family says is her rightful final resting place.

Harmon passed away in April at the age of 95. According to The Military Times, her daughter, Terry Harmon of Silver Spring Maryland, said that her mother had help spearhead the effort to gain recognition for the WASPs.

Harmon's family and others concerned about the situation have established a petition on the website change.org in an effort to overturn McHugh's directive. Harmon said that she hopes Congress will address the issue during confirmation hearings for incoming Secretary of th Army Eric Fanning.

According to a memo from McHugh obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the rules were reviewed by Army lawyers in 2014, and it was determined that WASPs and other WWII veterans classified as "active duty designees" were not eligible for inurnment ... the placement of an urn with ashes in an above-ground structure at the Arlington. The largest group affected by the decision were the Merchant Marine. A quarter-million members of that group served during WWII.

By contrast, the WASPs numbered just over a thousand.

Army spokesman Paul Prince said in a statement that the cemetery superintendent in 2002 did not have the authority to allow WASPs remains into the cemetery. He said that under federal law, WASPs are only eligible for burial in cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Arlington is run by the Army.

(Image provided by the family to Change.org)

FMI: http://www.army.mil/leaders/sa, https://www.change.org/p/patrick-k-hallinan-department-of-army-grant-military-burial-honors-to-women-wwii-pilots?recruiter=49347537&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink