ABSTRACT
In this chapter, “the fly girls of World War II” are discussed. These young women volunteered to fly military missions in the States while male pilots were abroad fighting in World War II. Some of the domestic missions were quite dangerous.
When the war was coming to an end, these brave young women who were supposed to become part of the U.S. military were summarily disbanded. Male pilots, afraid that women would take their places as airline pilots after the war, lobbied against their induction in the armed services and Congress went along with their wishes.
To make matters worse, women were banned from being buried in Arlington National Cemetery for more than 50 years. When they were finally granted the rights to be in the nation’s most prestigious cemetery, these rights were limited to the columbarium, as opposed to the right to be buried in the main cemetery, among the men’s graves.
To add insult to injury, after limited rights to interment were granted, they were rescinded for a number of years. Rights for interment were only reinstated after women had renewed their protests. In some cases ashes were kept by relatives who themselves lobbied to have the rights reinstated.
