A Pilot at Rest

by Chris Carroll | photo by John T. Consoli '86 A U.S. Air Force officer presents a flag to Terry Harmon during a military funeral for her mother, pioneering female aviator Elaine Harmon ’40, at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 7. The subject of a feature in the Spring 2016 issue of Terp, she flew stateside military missions during World War II as one of nearly 1,100 members of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She died in April 2015 with plans to have her ashes placed at Arlington, but an Army rule change that year closed the cemetery to WASP members. The Harmon family helped lead the fight to overturn the ruling, and last May, President Obama signed a federal law that reopened the cemetery to WASPs.