“That was her last wish”: UMD alumna, WWII vet laid to rest at Arlington

By Jamie Kerner

For The Diamondback

A University of Maryland alumna and World War II veteran was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery last week, after her family fought for her right to be inurned there.

Elaine Harmon was one of more than 1,000 Women Airforce Service Pilots – who served as non-combat pilots during World War II. President Jimmy Carter granted the women veteran status in 1977, 32 years after the war ended.

Before Harmon died on April 21, 2015, the 95-year-old woman believed she would be buried next to those she served with in the United States’ most famous resting place for veterans. The cemetery’s superintendent had approved members for burial in 2002.

She didn’t know that a month before her death, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh ruled that WASPs were ineligible to be buried there, The Baltimore Sun reported.

“That was her last wish, in her will, that she actually wanted to be buried or inurned at Arlington,” said Andrea Tracey, director of the College Park Aviation Museum.

Harmon’s family campaigned to overturn the decision, and their Change.org petition garnered more than 178,000 signatures. In May, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski supported the bipartisan bill that reinstated WASPs rights to inurnment at Arlington, which President Obama signed later that month.

“Congress has once and for all moved to right a terrible wrong so Women Airforce Service Pilots can be laid to rest alongside our nation’s patriots at Arlington National Cemetery,” Mikulski said in a May 12 statement.

Tracey said the reversal was the correct choice.

“It was the right and honorable thing to do that Congress and Senate and the president were able to correct this,” she said.

In 1936, Harmon enrolled in this university and began her flying career. She joined programs such as the Civil Aeronautics Authority Program and learned to fly with the Piper Cubs at the College Park Airport according to an article by The Baltimore Sun. Eventually, two of Harmon’s four children also attended this university.

Four years after graduating from this university, Harmon joined the WASPs. Her mother felt the job was not ladylike, but Harmon got the OK from her father, according to an article by Upworthy.com.

Among the more than 1,000 WASPs, 14 were from Maryland, and they worked to deliver supplies to other pilots in war zones, according to a different article by the Baltimore Sun.

Harmon’s daughter, Terry, said the WASPs “entered the man’s world and they performed their mission to exceptional standard. America and the world loves these women.”

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a law awarding these women the Congressional Gold Medal.

Tracey was able to attend Harmon’s inurnment ceremony last Wednesday.

“With the fly over from P-51, she got the full service treatment, taps, 21 gun salute, and then a very moving program afterwards,” she said. “It was very humbling to be there.”

The College Park Aviation Museum, affiliated with the College Park Airport, highlights the WASPs as part of their permanent exhibit. Harmon’s uniform and pilot’s log are on display for visitors to see.

In a few months, a smaller exhibit will open focused solely on the WASPs.