Army Nurse Corps History Home > Highlights in the History of the Army Nurse Corps

Appendix A

Superintendents and Chiefs of the ARMY NURSE CORPS

Major*

Colonel

*Relative Rank (See entry for 4 Jun 1920.)

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Appendix B

First Assistants to the Superintendents*
and Assistant Chiefs of the ARMY NURSE CORPS

*Title used to avoid confusion with the statutory grade of "Assistant Superintendent" from July 1918-April 1947 (relative rank of captain to December1942 and captain to lieutenant colonel thereafter).

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Appendix C

Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee Award

The Anita Newcomb McGee Award of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), honors the memory of Dr. McGee, who organized the Army Nurse Corps during the Spanish-American War. The award is sponsored yearly by the DAR to an active duty Nurse Corps officer, with the grade of captain or above and in a career status, selected by the Surgeon General as the "U.S. Army Nurse of the Year."

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Appendix D

The EVANGELINE G. Bovard Award

The Evangeline G. Bovard Award honors the Letterman Army Medical Center's outstanding Army nurse each year. The late Col. Robert Skelton established the award in 1956 in tribute to his first wife, who was an Army nurse. Evangeline Bovard's first duty station was Letterman, and she passed away in 1955 at Letterman. With the inactivation of Letterman Army Hospital, the award was transferred to Madigan Medical Center in December 1993. (See Appendix M.)

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Appendix E

Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing

The American Academy of Nursing is an independent organization under the sponsorship of the American Nurses' Association and is an active working body of nursing leaders and scholars in education, practice, administration, and research. Fellows are elected to membership based on their contributions to the nursing profession.

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Appendix F

The Phyllis J. Verhonick Award

The award is presented to an active duty, reserve, or National Guard Army nurse who demonstrates excellence in research that significantly contributes to nursing and improves patient care outcomes.

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Appendix G

Army Nurse Corps White House Medical Unit

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Appendix H

Army Nurse Corps Medal
Leadership-Scholarship-Participation

The Army Nurse Corps Medal is an award presented to the outstanding Army Nurse Corps officer upon completion of the resident AMEDD Officer Advanced Course. The medal was presented for the first time in 1961 and was given twice a year. The last Army Nurse Corps medal was presented in 1996 with the fielding of the all-corps AMEDD Officer Advanced Course. The course was reformatted from a six-month to a ten-week temporary duty (TDY) following successful completion of Phase I by correspondence.

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Appendix I

Advanced Nursing Practice Award

The Advanced Nursing Practice Award is presented by the Army Nurse Corps Association (formerly RANCA) to recognize a mid-grade officer who has made significant contributions to the practice of nursing.

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Appendix J

CHIEF, ARMY NURSE CORPS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

The Chief, Army Nurse Corps, Award of Excellence recognizes outstanding junior Army Nurse Corps officers from all components who have made significant contributions to the accomplishment of the Army Medical Department mission and who have performed in an outstanding manner in support of the soldier.

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Appendix K

ARMY NURSE CORPS HISTORIANS

The Army Nurse Corps Historian provides direct support to the Chief of Military History, the Chief, Army Nurse Corps, and the Army Nurse Corps. The nurse historian analyzes Corps issues within a historical context and disseminates this information to the military and civilian sectors.

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Appendix L

Amita Award

The American Italian Awards, Incorporated (AMITA), presents twelve awards annually in New York City to honor American women of Italian descent who have distinguished themselves in their chosen field. The award has not been presented since the mid-1980s.

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Appendix M

Memorials

1902 A monument to Spanish-American War nurses who gave their lives in 1898 was dedicated on 22 May 1902 in the nurses' section of Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial was given by surviving Spanish-American War nurses who paid tribute "To Our Comrades."

1906 The state of Illinois erected a statue in a park in Galesburg, Illinois, honoring Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a Sanitary Commission worker in the West who ministered to the needs of the wounded in no less than nineteen battles. An inscription on the monument reads:

"Mother Bickerdyke (1861-Army Nurse-1865)
She Outranks Me. -General Sherman."

1914 A large bronze statue, "a tribute of honor and gratitude" to Civil War nurses, was erected in the rotunda of the State Capitol Building, Boston, Massachusetts, by the Massachusetts Daughters of Veterans organization. The statue depicts a woman caring for a wounded Union Army soldier. The inscription on the base of the statue reads: "To the Army Nurses from 1861 to 1865, Angels of Mercy and Life Amid Scenes of Conflict and Death."

1915 The cornerstone of a memorial building honoring the heroic women of the Civil War was laid on 27 March 1915 in Washington, D.C. The building, dedicated on 12 May 1917 and given as headquarters to the American National Red Cross in perpetuity, was to commemorate the women of both the North and the South who "braved the discomforts of fever-striken camp or crowded ward to lessen the suffering of the sick and wounded."

1917 The McIsaac Loan Fund was established in memory of Isabel McIsaac, third Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps. Loans from the fund were made available to nurses to further their education.

1918 The first scholarship in the Washington University School of Nursing, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded. The scholarship, named for Julia C. Stimson who had gone to France in May 1917 as Chief Nurse of Base Hospital No. 21, was funded by the interest from $4 million given by an anonymous donor. The scholarship was to be used by graduates of the Washington University School of Nursing for advanced preparation for teaching, administration, and public health positions.

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1919 A flag with a single blue star, representing 19,877 Red Cross nurses who had been on active duty with the Army Nurse Corps and Navy Nurse Corps and the American Red Cross in overseas areas, and 198 gold stars, representing nurses who died during World War I, was placed in the National Headquarters Building, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.

1919 The Jane A. Delano Post Number 6, Washington Department of the District of Columbia, American Legion, was chartered on 9 July 1919. The post, composed only of nurses, was established as a living memorial to the second Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps, Jane A. Delano. Another American Legion Post, the Helen Fairchild Nurses Post 412, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was named for an Army Reserve nurse who died in France during World War I.

1920 A scholarship fund for the education of nurses for tuberculosis work was established by the Alabama State Nurses' Association as a memorial to Alabama nurses who died in the service during World War I. In 1925, the purpose of the fund was changed to further the education of public health nurses.

1922 The nurses' residence at Harper Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, erected under the auspices of Senator James Couzens as a memorial to the Harper Hospital nurses who had served in World War I, was named the Emily A McLaughlin Hall. Miss McLaughlin served as a contract nurse in the Spanish-American War at the Presidio Hospital, San Francisco, and received several awards for her services as Chief Nurse, Base Hospital No. 17, Dijon, France, during World War I.

1923 Four memorial tablets were placed in memory of the officers, nurses, and enlisted men of the Medical Department of the Army who lost their lives during World War I. The tablets were placed in the Army Medical School at the Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. (later Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center); Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco; Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, Colorado; and at the Army Field Medical School, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

1924 The "Nuns of the Battlefield" memorial was dedicated on 20 September 1924 in honor of the members of religious orders who had been employed by the Union Army to care for sick and wounded military men during the Civil War. The monument, located in a park in the District of Columbia, consisted of a granite shaft with a large bronze panel portraying twelve nuns representing various religious groups who served in Army hospitals. The monument was sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America.

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1927 The names of 101 Army and Army Reserve nurses who died during World War I were placed under a representation of the Army Nurse Corps insignia in the Cloister at the American Pro-Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Paris, France. The names of the Army Nurse Corps members were placed in the third bay of the cloister alongside remembrances to men of American combat divisions.

A figure of an American nurse in a blue service uniform witha crimson-lined cape was placed in the Pantheon de la Guerre,Paris, France. The figure, placed among scenes depicting eventsof World War I, was representative of nurses from the United StatesArmy and Navy and the American Red Cross who served overseas duringWorld War I.

The names of ten Regular Army nurses and ninety-one reservenurses, Nurse Corps, U.S. Army, who died while serving with theAmerican Expeditionary Forces, were placed in the Livre d'Or (Bookof Gold) which was deposited in the archives of the city of Rheims,France.

1928 The cornerstone of the World War Memorial was laid on 31 May 1928. The building was dedicated to "the Heroic American Women in the World War." This memorial building was intended for use by the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Red Cross. Twenty-one organizations of women who were active in war work, including the nursing services of the Army and the Navy, participated in laying mortar upon the stone. The building was dedicated on 19 March 1930. The first column at the left of the north entrance was dedicated to nursing and inscribed "To Jane A. Delano and the 296 Nurses Who Lost Their Lives in the War."

1929 A statue representing an Army nurse was added to the monument in honor of America's World War dead located in a plot maintained by an American Legion Post in Woodlawn Park Cemetery, Miami, Florida. The four figures completing the memorial represented the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Army Nurse Corps.

1930 A monument, the gift of Col. Frank McDermott of Seattle, Washington, honoring the men of the 91st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, World War I, was dedicated at Fort Lewis, Washington. Among the figures on the memorial was a large statue of an Army Reserve nurse caring for a wounded soldier.

1931 The Memorial Chapel, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., was dedicated on 21 May 1931 as "A Memorial to the Men Who Gave Their Lives to Service." In the chapel, the first window on the west side was placed as a memorial to the 205 members of the Army Nurse Corps who died

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in active service during World War I between 6 April 1917 and 11 November 1918. The window, donated by the Corps and presented by Maj. Julia C. Stimson, Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps, had as its distinctive marks the Lamp of Knowledge and the Caduceus and bore the words "In Memory of the Army Nurse Corps."

1931 L'Ecole Florence Nightingale (Florence Nightingale School) was dedicated on 25 June 1931 in Bordeaux, France, as a memorial to American nurses who died in service during World War I. Funding for the school building and for dormitories of the school of nursing was begun in 1920 by American nurses as a tribute to their comrades. An American Nurses Memorial Medal was struck on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the school.

1931 The District of Columbia War Memorial, located in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., was dedicated on Armistice Day in honor of the men and women of the armed forces from the District who served in World War I. The memorial, a circular marble bandstand of Doric-type architecture, bore the names of District military personnel, including Army and Army Reserve nurses, who died during World War I.

1934 The Jane A. Delano Memorial, a bronze statue depicting "The Spirit of Nursing," was dedicated on 26 April to Jane A. Delano and 296 nurses of the Army, the Navy, and the Red Cross who died in World War I, 1914­1918. The statue was placed in a square in downtown Washington, D.C., surrounded on three sides by the white marble buildings of the American Red Cross.

1942 On 15 November, a nurses' recreation hall at Fort McClellan, Alabama, was dedicated to Julia Lide, an Army nurse who served in the Spanish-American War and World War I. Miss Lide had been cited by the Commanding General, 3d Division, in France during World War I for extraordinary performance of duty under fire at Chateau Thierry, France, and had been awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government. Miss Lide died at Base Hospital No. 17 in France on 24 February 1919.

1943 On 1 July, nurses' quarters constructed at Finney General Hospital, Thomasville, Georgia, were dedicated to the memory of 2d Lt. Lillie Ozelle Wages. Lieutenant Wages was killed in an automobile accident on her way from Camp Blanding, Florida, to a new assignment at St. Petersburg, Florida. District 2, Georgia State Nurses' Association, placed the memorial tablet honoring Lieutenant Wages.

1944 Seven nurses' quarters at Finney General Hospital, Thomasville, Georgia, were named in honor of thirty-five Army nurses who were left on Bataan

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shortly after the United States entered World War II. Each of the seven quarters was furnished a plaque with the names of five of the Army nurses.

The dining hall was dedicated to thirty-one other nurses whoserved at Corregidor and were left in the Philippine Islands asprisoners of war. (All of the Army nurses were subsequently rescuedor later liberated from Santo Tomas Internment Camp. See chronologyentries for 9 Apr 1942 and 6 May 1942.)

1944 On 24 May, a hospital ship was named The Emily H. M. Weder in honor of Major Weder, who entered the Army Nurse Corps in 1918 and died at Walter Reed General Hospital in 1943. Major Weder had been chief operating room nurse at Letterman General Hospital and Walter Reed General Hospital.

1944 On 29 May, a hospital ship was named The Blanche F. Sigman in honor of Lieutenant Sigman and her colleagues, 1st Lt. Carrie Sheetz and 2d Lt. Marjorie G. Morrow, who were killed when the 95th Evacuation Hospital at Anzio was bombed during World War II.

1944 On 11 December, the U.S. Army's twenty-first hospital ship was named The Ernestine A. Koranda in honor of Lieutenant Koranda, ANC, who died in an airplane crash on 19 December 1943 in the Southwest Pacific.

1945 The Women's Club of Dallas County, Alabama, purchased a bomber aircraft for use by the U.S. Army Air Corps, to be named the Kitty Driskell Barber in honor of an Army nurse who was killed when the plane in which she was flying went down in the Mediterranean.

1945 On 13 February, the U.S. Army's hospital ship with the largest patient capacity (1,628 patients) was named The Frances Y. Slanger in honor of Lieutenant Slanger who was killed 21 October 1944 when struck by a German shell in her tented hospital area.

1945 On 13 February, a hospital ship was named The Aleda E. Lutz in honor of Lieutenant Lutz, ANC, who was killed on a flying mission to evacuate wounded personnel from forward areas. Lieutenant Lutz had flown more than 190 evacuation missions and had been awarded the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded posthumously.

1947 The burial site of 2d Lt. Louise W. Bosworth, ANC, in Hamm, Luxembourg, was adopted by the National Association of Nurses in Luxembourg "as a sign of gratitude to those who died in order to give us back our freedom." Bosworth died while serving with the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Luxembourg during World War II.

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1948 A library at Boston City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, was named the Morse-Slanger Library in honor of two graduates of the school of nursing who lost their lives while serving as Army nurses during World War II. The nurses were 2d Lt. Frances Slanger and 2d Lt. Dorothy Morse. Portraits of both nurses, provided by their classmates, were hung in the library.

1951 In celebration of the centennial of Anna C. Maxwell's birth, a fellowship providing full tuition and university fees for one year of study in nursing at Teachers College, Division of Nursing Education, Columbia University, including meals and lodging, was established. The fellowship honored Miss Maxwell, a contract nurse in the Spanish-American War. The first fellowship was awarded to Frances Sara Beck of London. A total of three fellowships were awarded from 1952­1956.

1956 A "Works of Mercy" window, installed in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, New York, was dedicated to the American nurses who had given their lives in the service of their country and, more specifically, to the nurses from St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing who served with the armed forces during both world wars. The service of the nurses was represented by the Badge of France and the Badge of England, placed on either side of the St. Luke's Hospital seal.

1957 The Congress of the United States unanimously voted to recognize the Altar of the Nation at the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, New Hampshire, originally established in 1945 as a memorial to all American war dead. In 1967, the Memorial Bell Tower of the cathedral was dedicated as a national memorial for all American women who sacrificed their lives for their country. A bronze tablet on the north arch of the tower depicts Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, assisting a wounded soldier from the battlefield during the Civil War. This plaque honors the women nurses serving the combat forces.

1962 The Marjorie Gertrude Morrow Memorial Library at the Iowa Methodist School of Nursing was named in honor of 2d Lt. Marjorie Morrow, ANC, who was one of three nurses of the 95th Evacuation Hospital killed during a bombing raid on Anzio beachhead in Italy on 7 February 1944.

1965 A commemorative chair plaque engraved "Anna C. Maxwell, RN" was dedicated with the opening of the new auditorium of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. Situated on the back of seat 18, Row L, located in the orchestra, it honors Ms. Maxwell, a Spanish-American War contract nurse.

1966 The Captain Catherine Weadock Newell Center, the former School of Nursing at St. Mary's Hospital, Tucson, Arizona, was renamed in honor of an

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alumna who had joined the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Captain Newell served with distinction in Europe and later in Japan. Captain Newell died at Walter Reed General Hospital in 1954.

1967 A fifty-star American flag, presented to the Brookline, Massachusetts, American Legion Post No. 11 by three students in the Army Student Nurse Program, was used thereafter as the flag to be flown over the post in honor and memory of Army nurses.

1968 The Lane County Chapter, American National Red Cross, Eugene, Oregon, dedicated its Board of Directors' Room to the memory of Maj. Maude C. Davison, Army Nurse Corps, who served with great distinction from World War I through World War II. After the fall of Bataan on 6 May 1942, Captain Davison was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese and served as the Principal Chief Nurse in charge of the nursing staff at Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Manila, P.I., until after the liberation when she was relieved by Army nurses who arrived on 9 February 1945. She was the recipient of no less than twelve awards, including the Bronze Star Medal and the Legion of Merit. Major Davison retired on 31 January 1946. She was born on 27 March 1885 in Cannington, Ontario, Canada; she died on 11 June 1956 in Long Beach, California.

1973 A life-size statue of 1st Lt. Sharon A. Lane, Army Nurse Corps, was unveiled at Aultman Hospital, Canton, Ohio. Lieutenant Lane was a 1965 graduate of the Aultman Hospital School of Nursing. The only Army Nurse Corps officer to be killed as a result of enemy action during the Vietnam War, Lieutenant Lane was fatally wounded on 8 June 1969 during an enemy rocket attack while she was on duty at the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam. The base of the bronze statue carries the inscription, "Born to Honor, Ever at Peace," and the names of 110 local servicemen who died in Vietnam.

1978 The Julia Lide Monument Circle, located at Fort McClellan, Alabama, in front of Noble Army Community Hospital at Fort McClellan, was dedicated. Julia Lide was the only Alabama nurse who died during World War I while serving with the Army Nurse Corps. During the war she was cited by Col. David L. Stone, the commanding officer of the 3d Division, American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, for "extraordinary performance of duty, while under fire at Chateau Thierry, France."

1984 The Vietnam Memorial, located in Washington, D.C., bears the names of nine Army nurses who died while serving in Vietnam.

1984 The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., was organized for the purpose of creating a monument for the women who served in Vietnam. The

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statue was to represent and honor all women who served during the Vietnam War, from every branch of military service as well as from other private and governmental agencies.

1986 The life-size bronze stone statue at the North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in the fall of 1986 and placed on Union Square in Raleigh, North Carolina. This memorial reminds all who view it of the enduring value of a common effort, among people of different backgrounds, toward a common goal.

11 Nov 1987 The first military nurses' memorial monument in the state of Massachusetts honoring military nurses throughout history was dedicated in North Weymouth, Massachusetts. Six lines from the poem "Where the Soldier Was" by Col. Maude Smith (Ret.) are inscribed on the stone.This beautiful monument was the inspiration of Col. Mary C. Quinn (Ret.) of NorthWeymouth, Massachusetts.

Jan 1988 The Smith Well Baby Clinic at Colonel Florence A. Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was dedicated in memory of Capt. Patrick Smith, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, and Capt. Rosemary Smith, a Community Health Nurse. This clinic and a scholarship for nursing students at Austin Peay State University serve to commemorate the Smiths following their tragic deaths in their home in 1987.

20 Jun 1989 A road at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was dedicated in memory of Lt. Sharon Lane, who died in June 1969, the only American servicewoman killed by direct enemy fire in Vietnam. Sharon Lane Road is the first road at Fort Belvoir named for a Vietnam veteran and the first named for a woman. She received the Bronze Star with a "V" for Valor, the Gallantry Cross with Palm, the Purple Heart, and National Defense and Vietnam Service Medals. Her name is listed on Panel 23W, line 112, of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Jul 1989 The AMEDD Museum was officially opened after the dedication ceremony on 24 July 1989 in San Antonio, Texas. The new museum has 16,770 square feet of space, including a large exhibit hall, a skylit gallery, a library, and a lecture hall. A phase II expansion added another exhibit hall and pavilion.

Jun 1991 Fitzsimons Army Medical Center officially changed the name of the street leading from the south gate to the hospital to Sharon A. Lane Drive in memory of Lieutenant Lane.

11 Nov 1993 The Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated in the nation's capital. The memorial honors the women who served during the Vietnam era. Diane Carlson-Evans, Vietnam veteran and former Army nurse, is founder

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and President of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project (VWMP). Col. A. Jane Carson (ANC, Ret.) and Lt. Col. P. Evangeline Jamison (ANC, Ret.) serve on the VWMP Board of Directors.

Dec 1993 A new facility at the Wisconsin veterans home was named in memory of 2d Lt. Ellen Ainsworth who was killed in action in World War II.

Dec 1993 With the inactivation of Letterman Army Hospital, Presidio of San Francisco, William Bovard, nephew of Evangeline Bovard, requested that the Army Nurse of the Year (Bovard) Award be transferred to either Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where Evangeline Bovard was stationed, or to Madigan U.S. Army Medical Center. The request for transfer to Madigan Medical Center was approved by the Surgeon General.

Jun 1995 Three ANC brigadier generals, Nancy R. Adams, Anna Mae V. Hays (Ret.), and Hazel W. Johnson Brown (Ret.), participated in the groundbreaking for the Women in the Military Service for America (WIMSA) Memorial with President Bill Clinton. This is the first national memorial commemorating the contributions and achievements of all military women, in all wars, all grades, and all periods of time. Brig. Gen. Connie Slewitzke, ANC (Ret.) serves as Vice President of WIMSA.

27 Jul 1995 The Korean War Veterans Memorial (KWVM) was dedicated in Washington, D.C. The memorial is a tribute to veterans of the Korean War, their deceased, and their comrades missing in action. Col. Rosemary T. McCarthy (ANC, Ret.) was three-time presidential appointee to serve on the KWVM Advisory Board. She also served on the design committee and was selected as Vice-Chair of the Board in 1991.

20 Sep 1995 The Lane Volunteer Center, Fort Hood, Texas, was dedicated in memory of 1st Lt. Sharon Lane, who was killed in action in Vietnam. The center is the headquarters for the post's many volunteer programs and family support group training classes.

18 Oct 1997 The Women in Military Service for America Memorial (WIMSA) was dedicated. The memorial is located at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. The computerized database or register, with photographs and individual stories of female veterans from all eras, forms the heart of the memorial. The purpose of WIMSA is to recognize all women who served in the armed forces; to document the experiences of women; to make their contributions a visible part of history; to illustrate their partnership with men in defense of our nation; and to inspire others as role models.

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27 Jul 1999 The Colonel Mildred I. Clark Health Clinic at Womack Medical Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was named in honor of Col. Mildred I. Clark, the twelfth Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She is the author of The Prayer of an Army Nurse.

Nov 1999 The U.S. Army Reserve Center in Tumwater, Washington, has been named in honor of the late Col. Edith Nuttall, who served as an Army nurse during three wars and rose through the ranks of Army nursing to retire as Assistant Chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. This marks the first time that such a facility has been named for a woman. The senior Army Reserve organization based at the Tumwater facility is the 654th Area Support Group and supports up to 200 soldiers.

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