In 1901, Congress established the Nurse Corps as an auxiliary of the Army, and seven years later, on May 12, 1908, the Navy followed suit. Although nurses were not granted full military status until 1944, they were officially recognized as a necessary and permanent part of the Army and Navy. By the time World War I approached, the nursing services were organized and ready to go. More than 23,000 women served as nurses in the Red Cross and Army and Navy Nurse Corps.
Wherever U.S. forces could be found during World War II, there were nurses who followed closely in support of the fighting men. They endured relentless bombing and strafing on land, torpedoing at sea, and antiaircraft fire in the air. As flight nurses, they provided care on air evacuation flights, a concept employed for the first time in World War II.
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Lt. Sammie Rice was among the first African American nurses to serve in an overseas theater during World War II, arriving in Liberia in March 1943. She is standing in the middle with two other Army nurses at Ft. Bragg, N.C., probably in 1942. (Sammie Rice Collection, #WV-0257) |
Army nurses served overseas in almost every theater of operation. These women are in Mindanao, Philippines, in 1945. (Mary Jane DeWan Collection, #WV-0027) |
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Army nurses and their patients outside at Ft. Ord, Calif., c. 1942-1943. (Rachel Brower Twiddy Collection, #WV-0133) |
Initially nurses were sent straight to the wards, but by the end of 1943 a two-week training course had been created for them. This Navy nurse is wearing the standard blue World War II nurse's cape. (Edna Andrews Weston Collection, #WV-0091) |
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The Army Nurse was subject to most of the same rigors of warfare as soldiers, with the exception of combat. Consequently, the nurse needed to have clothing that was as rugged and well designed as that of the combat soldier. This type of field uniform was also worn by members of the Women's Army Corps. (Alice Boehret Collection, #WV-0166) |
Army Nurse boots worn with field jacket and trousers. (Alice Boehret6 Collection, #WV-0166) |
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This one-piece, wrap-around, brown and white seersucker dress was worn by Army nurses serving in hospitals overseas. In 1945 nurses serving in the continental United States could also wear this uniform. The blue cape was worn over the ward uniform. (Mattie Donnell Hicks Collection, #WV-0044; Rachel Brower Twiddy Collection, #WV-0133) |
Navy blue Navy Nurse Corps cape with black braid trim and velvet collar. (Walta Mae Schreiber Collection, #WV-0207) |
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The Navy Nurse Corps service hat with white cover was worn with the uniform prior to 1944, when a garrison cap was introduced. (Walta Mae Schreiber Collection, #WV-0207) |
Navy blue Navy Nurse Corps uniform, circa 1944. (Walta Mae Schreiber Collection, #WV-0207) |
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The Cadet Nurse Corps was established in July 1943 to meet the critical need for nurses during wartime. Nurses were trained in exchange for a promise to serve with the military or some other government or civilian agency upon graduation. Cadet Nurse hospital ward dress. (Florence Leonard Collection, #WV-0010) |
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