Remembering the Nurses Who Served: Honoring Military Nurse Veterans This Veterans Day
This Veterans Day, we pause to honor the incredible nurses who have served our nation on the frontlines of war, in field hospitals, and in every corner of the world where compassion met courage. These nurses didn’t just treat wounds; they offered hope, humanity, and strength in the darkest of moments.
From the battlefields of the Civil War to the military hospitals of World War II, and through to the conflicts of modern times, nurse veterans have embodied the very soul of nursing: service, sacrifice, and steadfast care. Their stories remind us that healing is as vital to freedom as any act of valor.
Some of these nurses served in uniform. Others, including Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman and Mary Ann Bickerdyke, cared for Union soldiers as civilian volunteers, because women could not formally join the Army as nurses until the Army Nurse Corps became permanent in 1901.
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- Aleda E. Lutz: A World War II flight nurse who flew 196 air evacuation missions before she was killed when her plane crashed in France in November 1944. She was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
- Angels of Bataan and Corregidor: 77 Army and Navy nurses were taken prisoner in the Philippines in 1942 and held until February 1945 at the Santo Tomas and Los Baños internment camps, where they kept caring for fellow prisoners. All 77 survived. Army nurse Ruby Bradley, captured separately in December 1941, was also held at Santo Tomas. She later served as chief nurse of the Eighth Army in Korea and received 34 medals and citations. Image source: U.S. Navy, NHHC
- Anna Mae Hays: Chief of the Army Nurse Corps from 1967 to 1971, she became the first woman in the U.S. armed forces to reach general officer rank when she was promoted to brigadier general on June 11, 1970. She served in World War II and the Korean War and pushed for policy changes that expanded opportunities for women in the military.
- Clara Barton: Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” Barton provided critical care and supplies to soldiers during the Civil War and went on to found the American Red Cross, forever changing disaster relief and humanitarian care.
- Diane Carlson Evans: An Army nurse in Vietnam, she started the campaign for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in 1984. The memorial was dedicated on the National Mall on Veterans Day, November 11, 1993. She died on May 20, 2026, at 79.
- Florence Blanchfield: Served as an Army nurse in both World Wars and led the Army Nurse Corps during WWII. She pushed for equal rank, pay and benefits for military nurses, and in 1947 became the first woman to receive a commission in the Regular Army.
- Grace Elizabeth Farley: Served in the Army Nurse Corps as part of the 231st Station Hospital during WWII, providing skilled, compassionate care to soldiers in wartime conditions.
- Harriet Tubman: Beyond her heroic work with the Underground Railroad, Tubman served as a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, caring for soldiers and formerly enslaved people.
- Hazel Johnson-Brown: Joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1955. In 1979 she became the first Black chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and the first Black female brigadier general, and she led the corps until she retired in 1983.
- Joan A. Furey: A Vietnam War Army nurse who earned the Bronze Star for her service. She later became a national advocate for women veterans and PTSD awareness.
- María Inés Ortiz: An Army Nurse Corps captain with the 28th Combat Support Hospital, she was killed by enemy mortar fire in Baghdad’s Green Zone on July 10, 2007. She was the first Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War.
- Mary Ann Bickerdyke: Helped establish or improve about 300 hospitals during the Civil War as a U.S. Sanitary Commission agent. After the war, she helped veterans and more than 300 Civil War nurses secure federal pensions.
- Nancy Leftenant-Colon: Joined the Army Nurse Corps Reserve in 1945. In 1948, after the military was desegregated, she became the first Black woman in the Regular Army Nurse Corps. She later served as an Air Force flight nurse, retired as a major in 1965, and died in January 2025 at 104.
- Opal Grapes: Joined the Army Nurse Corps in WWII and tended to wounded soldiers in England, exemplifying compassion and composure under pressure.
- Sharon Ann Lane: The only American servicewoman killed by enemy fire in Vietnam. Her courage and dedication continue to symbolize the sacrifices of women in military nursing.
- 1st Lt. Louise Lomax: Joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1943 and served at Tuskegee Army Air Field alongside the Tuskegee Airmen, earning the World War II Victory and American Campaign Medals.
- Maj. Della Raney: Joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1941 and served at Tuskegee Army Air Field during WWII, where she became the first Black chief nurse in Army Nurse Corps history. She was promoted to major in 1946.
Thinking about serving? Read our guide on how to become a military nurse.
This Veterans Day, we honor these nurses — and all military nurses — for their unwavering dedication to both country and humanity. Their service reminds us that behind every act of valor is a healer’s heart.
