Denham: Time to Right an Unacceptable Wrong

Press Release

U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) today voted in favor of the Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration Act, a bill he co-sponsored which requires the United States Army to resume the practice of offering inurnment to female pilots who flew combat missions during WWII, also known as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), at Arlington National Cemetery.

"The female pilots in this group exemplify strength, courage and service," said Rep. Denham, himself a U.S. Air Force veteran. "Their willingness to put their lives on the line for their country have earned them the right to be buried in Arlington just like the men who fought and in many cases died during WWII. "We don't have the space' is just not an answer we can live with."

The WASP unit was created in 1942 and includes almost 1,100 pilots. These female service members were never granted full military status at the time of the group's creation. In 1977, Congress voted to retroactively grant active duty status to the group of WASPs in what became Public Law 95-202. A 2002 decision made them eligible to have their ashes placed at Arlington with military honors. In March 2015, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh changed this precedent when he wrote in a memo that WASPs and other groups of WWII veterans classified as "active duty designees" were not eligible for inurnment there.

Under current law, the cremated remains of groups made eligible under Public Law 95-202 may be inurned in all cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their remains are not, however, eligible to be inurned in Arlington National Cemetery, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense (DoD). This bill ends that restriction.

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