Elaine Danforth Harmon Embodied the Spirit of "Carpe Diem"

by Tiffany Miller

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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="256.0"] Elaine Harmon (Photo: The Harmon Family) [/caption]

Our grandmother, Elaine Danforth Harmon, was born December 26th, 1919 in Baltimore, Maryland to a pro baseball player turned dentist and a homemaker.

Elaine attended the University of Maryland, majoring in Bacteriology. While in college, she saw a flyer for the Civil Aeronautics Authority Program. Excited at the thought of learning to fly, she sent the parent permission slip to her father’s office, because she knew her mother would find the idea “unladylike”.  Her father promptly returned the signed permission slip, along with the $40 fee required for the course.  After college, Elaine married her college sweetheart, Robert.  Both of them greatly wanted to contribute to the war effort. Robert was unable to join the military due to a heart defect, so he obtained a civilian position in the South Pacific repairing military aircraft.  Before he left, he and Elaine happened to see an article about the WASP in Life magazine.  Robert encouraged Elaine to follow her dreams and join the WASP program.

Elaine was accepted into WASP class 44-9 and reported to Sweetwater, Texas for training. Upon completion of her training, she was stationed at Nellis Air Base near Las Vegas. During her career, she flew the AT-6 Texan, PT-17 trainer and BT-13 trainer, and was a co-pilot on the B-17 Flying Fortress.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="313.0"] (Photo: The Harmon Family) [/caption]

After the WASP were disbanded, Elaine worked as an Air Traffic Controller at the Oakland Airport, awaiting her husband’s return from the South Pacific.  She was standing in front of the St. Francis Hotel in Union Square in San Francisco on V-J Day.

Once reunited, Elaine and Robert returned to Maryland and raised a family together; two sons and two daughters.

Growing up with Elaine, or Gammy as we grandkids called her (there were 12 of us in all!), as the matriarch of our family always ensured that life would be interesting and fun.

Gammy would dress up as the Easter bunny for Easter, Uncle Sam for the 4th of July and her favorite---a witch for Halloween. 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="268.0"] Elaine Harmon in her favorite role: Gammy! (Photo: The Harmon Family) [/caption]

Whether she was sewing a dress for one of us, correcting our grammar, creating a mini-Fifinella (the WASP mascot) out of crepe paper, or recounting one of her many travel adventures she did it with gusto.  Indeed she signed all of her correspondence with her favorite motto - Carpe Diem, or Seize the Day.

Gammy's experience with the WASP colored the rest of her life.  As her grandkids, we watched her prep to testify for Congress on behalf of the WASP, we attended WWII events with her where she appeared in uniform, we celebrated when she went up in a T-6 fighter plane at 86 years old, and we saw the fan mail she received from students who had learned about her in school and wanted an autograph.  To us it seemed normal to have a grandmother who flew planes in WWII so it was sometimes unbelievable to us when we met people who had never heard of the WASP.

Gammy took her final flight April 21, 2015.  It was her last wish to be inurned in Arlington National Cemetery with other WASP and fellow veterans.  Unfortunately, our family was devastated to discover shortly after Gammy’s passing that the Army had enacted a policy to exclude the WASP from Arlington.

Our grandmother had fought for decades to secure recognition and benefits for the WASP.  Yet, here we were, 70 years after WWII and our family was being told that our grandmother was not a “real” veteran; that her service wasn’t sufficient to earn her a spot in Arlington.  It was the ultimate insult. Our mother’s first thought was that she was glad that she didn’t have to tell Gammy what happened, but at the same time she was sad that she would have to break this news to the WASP who were still with us.

Thankfully, Gammy’s resilience and tenacity runs deep in our family.  We knew that Gammy would not take no for an answer and so it was up to us to fight this last fight for her. We posted a petition at Change.org and began a social media campaign to raise awareness about this injustice. 

After only a few months, the press caught onto the story and the issue came to the attention of Congresswoman Martha McSally of Arizona, who was one of the first American woman fighter pilots to fly in combat.  Throughout her career as a pilot, Rep McSally had several WASP who served as mentors. She knew she had to make this right for our grandmother and all the WASP.  She quickly authored HR 4336, the Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration (A.I.R.) Act.

A team effort ensued, including Representative McSally pushing hard to get her legislation expeditiously worked through the halls of Congress, Elaine's granddaughter Erin lobbying over a hundred legislators as well as other grandkids promoting the petition and reaching out to the press.  As a result, in just a few short months, the WASP A.I.R. Act was approved by Congress and sent on to the Oval Office for final signature by President Obama.

The journey to ensure Gammy’s last wish to be inurned at Arlington was granted has been transformative.  We have met many amazing and inspiring individuals and organizations along the way, such as the FlyGirls team!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400.0"] Elaine Harmon lived life to the fullest! (Photo: The Harmon Family) [/caption]

Although losing Gammy was incredibly painful, it has been an honor to help preserve the WASP legacy in our own small way by ensuring that the WASP have the option to have their ashes inurned at Arlington National Cemetery.  We will always remember our grandmother and how she lived every day to the fullest!

Carpe Diem!

 

Elaine Danforth Harmon was laid to rest September 7, 2016 at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rep. Martha McSally: U.S. Congresswoman, Retired Air Force Colonel, Combat Fighter Pilot and Gender Equality Advocate

by Jess Clackum

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Congresswoman McSally represents the 2nd Congressional District in Arizona and serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Homeland Security and as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications.

McSally, who served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a full Colonel in 2010, is the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat and first to command a fighter squadron in combat in the U.S. Armed Forces.  

The youngest of five children, McSally lost her father when she was just 12 years old. Before he died he’d told her to make him proud. His Navy service inspired her to enlist in the Air Force Academy with dreams of becoming a doctor but her plans were altered.

“It wasn’t until I got to the Academy that I became very motivated to become a fighter pilot, quite frankly because they told me that I couldn’t. I’m going through the same training as everybody else, but if I were to then go onto pilot training, just because I’m a woman, I wasn’t able to be a fighter pilot. I just thought that was crap.”

(photo credits mcsally.gov and ozy.com)

And so the woman who had suffered from motion sickness as a child and lost her beloved father at a young age would grow up to make history by becoming America's first woman to command a fighter squadron in combat and first to command a combat aviation unit.  

“I grew up with the values of hard work and service since my dad had served in the Navy before I was born,” she says. “As I was getting ready to graduate from high school, I was looking for an option to get a good education. I really stumbled into the military.”

A distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy, McSally earned her Master’s degree at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government before proceeding to pilot training. She was first in her class at the Air War College, the senior professional military education school of the United States Air Force. Later, she was selected for the prestigious Legislative Fellowship program an advised Arizona Senator John Kyl on defense and foreign affairs policy.

Following the Fellowship appointment, she was assigned to Saudi Arabia to oversee combat search and rescue operations over southern Iraq and Afghanistan. She was on the leadership team that planned and executed the initial air campaign in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, eventually leading to her appointment as Flight Commander and Director of Operations in the 612 Combat Operations Squadron at 12th Air Force Headquarters at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. While deployed in the Middle East, she served in leadership positions in the Combined Air Operations Center for Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and then Iraqi Freedom. As commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron she was responsible for ensuring her squadron deployed anywhere in the world in 24 hours’ notice.

McSally flew nearly 325 combat hours in Iraq and Afghanistan, logged 2,600 flight hour and earned 6 air medals during her career.

Martha McSally was never one to take no for an answer. In 2002, as a Lt Col, she filed suit in federal court challenging the longstanding US/UK policy that military servicewomen “cover up” while traveling off base in Saudi Arabia.  McSally told CBS News Correspondent Lesley Stahl in an interview on 60 Minutes, “I have to sit in the back and at all times I must be escorted by a male ... [who], when questioned, is supposed to claim me as his wife," she said. "I can fly a single-seat aircraft in enemy territory, but I can't drive a vehicle. They turned me into a fighter pilot. This is who I am. When I see something messed up, I'm going to challenge it."

The policy was eventually changed.

McSally is a relentless fighter on behalf of equality for women.

"You want to talk about a war on women? Walk in my shoes down the streets of Kabul. Walk in my shoes down the streets of Riyadh; where women have to be covered up. Where they’re stoned, where they’re honor killed if they’ve been raped, where they can’t drive and they can’t travel without the permission of a male relative. That’s a war on women. When I go out and talk to women in our district and around the country, they’re concerned right now about jobs; they’re concerned about affordable healthcare. They’re concerned about the future of social security and Medicare for them, and a good education for their kids.”

McSally knows firsthand the challenges of achieving one’s dreams, especially for military women who aspire to do what was once considered a man’s job. According to the Air Force Personnel Center, only 5% or 671 of the 13,303 pilots serving in the USAF as of September 2014, are women. The percentage of female fighter pilots is even smaller. 

Knowing those challenges, she encourages young people to pursue their dreams even in the face of adversity.

“Don’t give up,” she says. “I entered the Air Force Academy in 1984, and it was nine years later before I got that phone call. Keep your dreams alive, excel in everything you do, and don’t let anxiety or fear stop you from achieving your dreams and potential.”

The challenges facing women that McSally has often spoken of extend to public service as well. While women are half the population of the United States, they hold only 104 of the 535 seats (less than 20%) in Congress. Just 20 women (20%) serve in the Senate and 84 (19.3%) serve in the House of Representatives.  Of the 104 women who serve in Congress, only four (McSally, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and Sen. Joni Ernst) are veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

McSally urges Congress to support the WASP (McSally.gov)

Representative McSally has been an ardent supporter of the restoration of inurnment rights for the WASP at Arlington Cemetery, recently introducing bipartisan legislation supporting this effort.

“This decision is simply appalling. At a time when we are opening all positions to women, the Army is closing Arlington to the pioneers who paved the way for pilots like me and all women to serve in uniform. It doesn’t make sense. These women fought, and died, in service to their country. They trained in the military style: sleeping on metal cots, marching, and living under military discipline. They deserve the full honors we give our war heroes, and I’ll continue to fight until they get them.”

FlyGirls honors Rep. Martha McSally’s military and public service to our country. Just like the WASP, she has broken barriers and challenged the status quo, paving the way for women everywhere!