ARLINGTON, Va. — It took an act of Congress, but World War II pilot Elaine Harmon was finally laid to rest Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Harmon died last year at age 95. She was one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of women who flew military aircraft on noncombat missions so that men were freed up for combat.

The women were not granted military status at the time they served but received retroactive status as veterans in 1977. For many years, WASPs were eligible to have their ashes placed in urns at Arlington.

Last year, however, Army officials concerned about limited space at the cemetery ruled WASPs ineligible for inclusion at Arlington. A memo from then-Army Secretary John McHugh concluded Arlington never should have granted eligibility to WASPs.

Harmon’s family fought the rule. A petition on change.org received more than 175,000 signatures against the rule.

In May, President Obama signed legislation allowing WASPs in Arlington. The legislation was sponsored by Representative Martha McSally, Republican of Arizona and a retired Air Force pilot who was the first female fighter pilot in US history to fly in combat.

McSally said the WASPs were an inspiration for her when she was the only female pilot in her training class.

‘‘These were feisty, brave, adventurous, patriotic women,’’ she said.

On Wednesday, Harmon’s ashes were laid to rest at a service with military honors.

Her granddaughter Erin Miller said dozens of family members came for Wednesday’s service, more than a year after Harmon’s April 2015 death in Rockville, Md.

‘‘It sounds funny, but we’re all kind of excited,’’ she said. ‘‘In a way, we’ve already grieved, and this now is about closure.’’

Eligibility for in-ground burial at Arlington, which has severe space limitations, is very tight, and not even all World War II veterans qualify. But eligibility for above-ground placement of ashes is not as strict.

Kate Landdeck, a Texas Woman’s University history professor who has researched the group, said roughly 1,000 women served as WASPs. Thirty-eight were killed.

The women test-flew repaired military aircraft, trained combat pilots, and towed targets that other pilots fired at. Fewer than 100 are alive, Landdeck said. The youngest is 93.