Civilians Allowed Military Honors at Arlington

From: Otis Willie moderatingstaff@instruction.com
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2002 4:07 PM

Subject: [vetissues] Civilians Allowed Military Honors at Arlington

Civilians Allowed Military Honors at Arlington

(EXCERPT) WASPs, Merchant Marines, Others Who Served in War Are Eligible, Army Says, by Steve Vogel Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, June 1, 2002; Page A09

Groups of civilians who served the country during wartime, including some members of the merchant marine and female pilots who flew military planes in World War II, will be allowed to have their cremated remains inurned at Arlington National Cemetery with military honors under a new interpretation of the rules, Army officials said yesterday.

The decision affects 37 civilian groups, the largest of which is the U.S. Merchant Marine, the men and women who operate the nation's commercial fleet. More than 200,000 crew members served on merchant ships under extremely dangerous conditions during World War II, when cargo-carrying ships were regularly sunk by German U-boats in the war's first years. More than 8,000 U.S. merchant marines are estimated to have been killed.

"This was the most appropriate thing to do to honor these people's services," said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman.

Merchant marines who served on ocean-going vessels during World War II qualify for inurnment at Arlington, Rudd said.

The eligibility ruling also includes the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, who served during World War II. "This corrects a long-standing inequity," said Julie I. Englund, whose mother, Irene Englund, was a WASP.

The WASPs were created to free male pilots for combat duty, and the women logged millions of miles transporting troops, supplies and medical patients, with 38 WASPs killed in the line of duty. Their contributions were little noted for years, but Congress passed a law in 1977 granting them veterans' recognition.

After Irene Englund died in February, her family learned she was n...

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42678-2002May31.html

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