Final Flight Final Fight - by Erin Miller (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

When Arlington National Cemetery refused to accept my grandmother's last request to be laid to rest there, I refused to let her legacy as a veteran die along with her.

My grandmother, Elaine Danforth Harmon, flew as a pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II. Despite being part of the first group of women to fly for the United States Army, the WASP remained officially unrecognized as members of the military due to discriminatory thinking about gender on Capitol Hill and beyond. Women flying planes? Too progressive for the World War II era.

When I was young, I thought of my grandmother's trips to accept awards, or to visit the White House, or to give lectures about her time in the service, as her hobby. I knew what she had done and I knew that in the 1970s they had lobbied Congress to get the veterans' status they had been denied during the war. From that point on, my grandmother shared her story of service with the WASP during World War II with anyone who would listen.

But it was not until after she died that I fully understood why she had spent so many years talking about her service with the WASP. My grandmother's last request was to be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Our family was surprised when the United States Army, which managed the cemetery, denied that the WASP, and therefore my grandmother, were eligible for placement in the cemetery.

The Army said 'no' to the wrong family.

I led our family's campaign on behalf of my grandmother, and all the women of the WASP, across social media, traditional news outlets, and to Capitol Hill to fight for their equal recognition at one of the nation's most well-known cemeteries. Join me as I organize support in the halls of Congress from Senators and Representatives like Martha McSally, Joni Ernst, Amy Klobuchar, Susan Davis and more. My grandmother's final fight came after her final flight - but I was honored to follow in her footsteps to ensure her legacy would not be forgotten.

Review Quotes

"One of the best Civil Rights books of all time" - BookAuthority

"One of the best Women in Politics books of all time" - BookAuthority

"One of the best Political Activism books of all time" - BookAuthority

"In this moving narrative, attorney Miller recounts her resourceful family's fight to have her late grandmother [Elaine Harmon], who was one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, during WWII, interred at Arlington National Cemetery...In the process, Harmon's descendants built a network of congressional and media allies, notably Air Force combat veteran and Arizona Sen. Martha McSally...This impassioned and hopeful look at the WASP legacy and a bipartisan congressional effort will both inform and entertain readers." -Publishers Weekly

"In the fight for Elaine and the WASP, which I was honored to lead in Congress, Democrats and Republicans came together to right a wrong. Erin takes you with her on that mission through the halls of Congress, on social media, and in multiple media interviews to raise awareness, build support and effect change." - From the foreword by Martha McSally, U.S. Senator

"Elaine Harmon's family 'heard' her last wish loud and clear. She wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Against all odds they made it happen. Granddaughter Erin Miller led the fight and in Final Flight Final Flight tells the compelling story of this family saga." -Sarah Byrn Rickman, WASP author/historian

"Erin Miller has written a comprehensive and succinct history of the fight to allow WASP to be buried in the Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. She was fulfilling her grandmother Elaine Harmon's wishes to be buried there. Erin's explanations are well said and easy to understand. Living in the Washington, D.C., area Elaine Harmon had been extremely helpful in the WASP finally being recognized as veterans of WWII." -WASP Bernice "Bee" Falk Haydu