U. S. BUREAU OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
WHITE TASK FORCE My congratulations to the members of the 
Nurse Corps, United States Navy, past 
and present, for a proud record of service 
covering more than thirty-seven years. 
My sincere gratitude, also, to the nursing profession as a whole 
for its splendid cooperation, without which the outstanding 
achievement of the Navy Nurse Corps would not have been possible. 
(/%L. o 
Ross T McIntire, 
Vice Admiral, Medical Corps, U. S. N., 
The Surgeon General of the Navy. From the time of Pearl Harbor, when the first enemy gun agaiyist our country was 
fired in World War II, until the last signatures dried on the peace documents in Tokyo Bay, 
Japan, Navy Nurses were with the fleet, caring for its men. Through the smoke and fire and 
ruin of Pearl Harbor they worked heroically to save lives without thought of their own 
safety, as well as through the succeeding long months of combat, wherever they were needed. 
At the war's dramatic end they were with the fleet at the gates of Tokyo in several large hos- 
pital ships, to care for omy emergencies which occurred and to take off United States prison- 
ers of war from Japan. 
Then came the aftermath—the weeks and months of healing those wounds of body and 
mind sustained by the fighting men—just as in the years and the wars before. Down 
through Time's unfailing past have Navy Nurses proven themselves equal to their inceptors' 
fondest hopes. But let the long memory of history speak for itself.  
It was 1811—9 years before even the birth 
of Florence Nightingale—and a young Navy surgeon 
was recommending that nurses be included among 
the personnel of Navy hospitals. This surgeon, Dr. 
William Paul Crillon Barton, had been commissioned 
by the Secretary of the Navy to put down on paper 
“such ideas as he entertained respecting the proper 
and systematic mode of conducting hospitals and 
institutions for the sick.” 
“Such ideas as he entertained” in a world 
where compassionate and scientific care of the sick 
had not yet entered heavily into man’s social con- 
sciousness were remarkably far sighted. Regarding 
the part nurses were to play he was fairly explicit. 
“The nurses whose numbers should be propor- 
tionate to the extent of the hospital and number of 
patients, should be women of humane disposition and 
tender manners; active and healthy. They should be 
neat and cleanly in their persons; and without vices 
of any description. They should reside in small con- 
venient apartments adjoining the wards they belong 
to. They are to attend with fidelity and care upon 
all the sick committed to their charge; should 
promptly obey their calls, and, if possible, anticipate 
their reasonable wants. They should administer all 
medicines and diets prescribed for the sick, in the 
manner and at the times specified in their directions. 
They should be watchful of the sick at all hours and 
should, when required, sit up with them at night. 
They should attend the physician and surgeon in their 
visits to the wards, to give information respecting 
the patients, and to receive orders and directions. 
They should make up all the beds, and keep the wards 
clean and should report to the assistant physician and surgeons’ mates, whenever it is necessary to 
have them washed; and should not wash them, when 
they think proper, for the sake of the sick, to omit it 
at that time. They should report all sudden changes 
in the disorders of the sick, and all deaths, imme- 
diately to the assistant physician or surgeons’ mates. 
They should obey punctually all orders from their 
superiors; and should exact a ready acquiescence in 
their commands, from the attendants under them.” 
Nonetheless, it was almost 100 years later— 
May 13, 1908—before Dr. Barton’s recommendations 
on inclusion of nurses bore fruit, even though in 1842 
he was made first Chief of the Bureau of Medicine 
and Surgery and he and others after him took up 
the cudgel from time to time. Taking concrete form 
in 1902 and again in 1904, bills, in the inception of 
which Surgeon General Rixey was instrumental, 
were actually submitted to establish a corps of 
trained women in the United States Navy, But it 
was still a man’s Navy, and men were reluctant to 
allow women within its portals. 
obligation. 
It was in accord with this trend that a Bureau 
of Medicine and Surgery was established by Act of 
Congress in 1842, and in 1898 the Hospital Corps was 
authorized, raising the status of the “baymen”— 
referring to the men in attendance in the ship’s sick 
bay—to an organized group of corpsmen, with 
specified qualifications and duties. 
Meanwhile, the development of nursing, first 
as a vocation and art, and later as a science as well, 
had proceeded steadily in all civilized countries of the 
world. What had begun as the merciful ministration 
of untrained women, many from religious orders, had 
grown into a young, but uniquely endowed profes- 
sion. This profession brought education and train- 
ing to the inherent arts and sensitivities that made 
women so peculiarly adapted to caring for the suf- 
fering. By the close of the nineteenth century, the 
work of these pioneer nurses had gained recognition, 
not only from the medical profession but also from 
the general public. Women nurses began to be con- 
sidered as indispensable in the conduct of all hos- 
pitals of repute. 
It was natural that the medical officers and 
others interested in the welfare of the Navy should 
begin to seek the aid of this new profession. During 
the Crimean campaign, Florence Nightingale had 
set off an irresistible trend. Many military leaders 
opposed her. They regarded her openly as a trouble- 
some, meddling woman. Other influential Britons 
looked upon any participation of women in war as 
abhorrent and fantastic. But she persevered. The 
practical results of her work were so evident as to 
be indisputable. Four months after the arrival of 
her nurses, the death rate in military hospitals in 
the Crimea had dropped from 42 percent to 2 percent. 
Citizens of all countries were appalled at the condi- 
tions revealed in military medical facilities. They 
were amazed by the improvements accomplished by 
her small company. They could not but admire the 
woman who believed in her purpose enough to say for 
all the world to hear, “I can stand out the war with 
any man!” 
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The ships’ surgeons who cared for the men of 
the fleet were still to carry on without trained 
nurses. The colorful pages in the history of the 
United States Navy contain many testimonials to the 
surgeons’ courage and resourcefulness. Their only 
assistants were members of the crew assigned to 
them, these men being called “loblolly boys,” after 
the “loblolly,” a porridge, which was the standard 
ship’s diet for the sick. More and more these sur- 
geons, however, charged with the care of the sick 
and wounded, felt the need for trained workers. 
More and more, as the science of medicine and gen- 
eral concern for a humane social order developed, did 
medical care for the armed forces grow in importance, 
both to those whose interests were in an efficient 
military organization and to those who held the lives 
and welfare of our fighting men to be a vital m^mm 
During the Civil War, American women, 
mostly volunteers without training, had done a cou- 
rageous service with the wounded on both sides. The 
horrors of that war did much to stimulate wide 
interest in trained nursing. The red rover, a river 
steamer captured from the Confederates, was fitted 
by the Navy as its first floating hospital. After the 
siege of Vicksburg, Catholic nuns of the Sisters of 
Mercy went aboard to care for the wounded. 
The first trained nurses in the Navy, though 
not an official unit, were a group of women employed 
at the Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Va., in 1896, to care 
•for the sick and wounded of the Spanish-American 
War. This group were neither enrolled nor enlisted, 
nor were they sure of being paid. A verbal agree- 
ment was made that they should be reimbursed for 
traveling expenses and receive moderate pay if 
means could be found for such. Later, they were 
naid from a fund not appropriated by Congress. 
They served for 50 days. 
At other various times, on recommendation 
of its medical officers, the Navy employed trained 
nurses on a contract basis to meet nursing needs in 
certain naval facilities. 
Upon establishment of the Nurse Corps as an 
integral unit of the Navy in 1908, nurses were as- 
signed to the Naval Medical School Hospital in Wash- 
ington, D. C. The group consisted of a superintend- 
ent, a chief nurse, and 18 nurses. As the Navy did not 
provide quarters for these nurses, it was necessary 
for them to rent a house and open their own mess. 
Who would have thought then that in less than 
40 years their numbers would have grown to a full 
11,054, serving the largest Navy in history, their pro- 
fessional talents an accepted necessity? Who would 
have dared to see them then serving in all parts of the 
world—flying with wounded from battle areas, work- 
ing with the fleet on 12 large hospital ships, or 
administering wards and teaching and supervising 
corpsmen and members of the Women’s Reserve in 
the Navy’s hospitals and dispensaries in this country 
and overseas? 
Early in 1909, nurses were sent to the naval 
hospitals in Annapolis, Md., and Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Soon they were receiving orders for duty at Mare 
Island, Calif., and other naval hospitals. In 1910, the 
Navy sent its first nurses to the Philippine Islands, 
and soon after to Guam, Honolulu, Yokohama, Samoa, 
the Virgin Islands, Haiti, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
As the only women of the Navy, the nurses 
were a unique group. Congressional order designated 
them neither as officers nor enlisted men, but they 
had a military as distinguished from civilian status. 
On several occasions the decisions of the Judge Advo- 
cate General officially recognized them as members of 
the naval service, and amenable to naval discipline. 
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With the first World War, came the first great 
challenge to the Navy Nurse Corps. By now, the 
nursing profession had developed into a self-sufficient, 
organized unit. Women had entered into a new era 
of recognition and were participating in many activi- 
ties and occupations from which the prejudices of an 
earlier day had barred them. Schools of nursing had 
been elevated to high standards, and the training of 
nurses was a well-ordered educational process. It 
was well for the Nation that this body of trained nurses was ready to assist in caring for the wounded 
and ill of the armed forces. The epidemic of influenza 
which swent the civilian population as well as the 
military establishments, added to the urgency of 
nursing needs. 
During that first World War, the professional 
nurses of the United States established their worth 
for all time, and their sacrifices, their courage, their 
devotion to duty, as well as their achievements, earned 
them the respect and love of the fighting men and of 
their countrymen. 
Navy Nurses shared creditably in this coming- 
of-age, and their record during that war is an envi- 
able one. They were assigned to hospitals in England, 
Ireland, Scotland, and the coast of France. On loan 
to Army medical facilities, some Navy Nurses served 
with field units in France. Four Navy Nurses were 
awarded the Navy Cross for outstanding service, 
three of the awards being made posthumously; two 
other nurses received the Army citation “for special, 
meritorious, and conspicuous service.” 
In January 1945, a destrover, the U. s. s. 
higbee was named after Lenah S. Higbee, the second 
superintendent of the Nurse Corps, and one of the 
four women of the Navy who received the Navy 
Cross. This was the first time in the history of the 
naval service that a fighting ship was named after a 
woman in the service. 
brought enrichment of tradition and more as*ired 
acceptance of the nurses within the 
The opportunities for travel and serviijb in 
far-flung stations under pioneer conditions attracted 
many young women of spirit and imagination to the 
Navy. These nurses animated the corps, and counter- 
acted any tendency toward relaxation into a routine- 
bound, uninspired service unit. Wherever the Ameri- 
can Fleet sailed, Navy Nurses followed, caring for 
the men and aiding in public-health programs con- 
ducted by the medical department in remote stations. 
The record is filled with varied and rich experiences, 
from the teaching of native girls in primitive Pacific 
isles to assisting with major surgical operations at 
sea, aboard the white hospital ships. 
Along with these colorful accounts, the log 
shows the steady progress of the corps through the 
years, with the introduction of special courses of 
study, among them coarses in diet therapy, physio- 
therapy, anesthesia, and neuropsychiatry. New meth- 
ods were developed and organization was improved to 
further the efficiency of the service. 
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Soon after World War I, the Nation began a 
program of disarmament. War-weary citizens turned 
away from all things military. With an abandon 
that seems almost fantastic today, the United States 
Navy, along with the other services, was stripped of 
power and ships and men. 
The Nurse Corps was reduced in numbers until 
in 1935, under the Economy Act, its 
dwindled to 332. 
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After the war, the Nurse Corps advanced 
steadily in military and professional standing, and 
experience brought new gains. In addition, time /Oi0ae£ 
Some months before the Japanese struck, 
American dependents of servicemen, along with 
other women nationals, were evacuated from most 
of the Pacific islands. But Navy Nurses stayed on 
at their stations to care for the men of the service. 
When the attack came, Navy Nurses were on duty 
at Pearl Harbor, Kaneohe Bay, the Philippines, 
Guam, and aboard the u. s. s. solace. 
Five nurses were captured at Guam, but were 
repatriated after being interned in Japan for 6 
months. One of these nurses returned to Guam in 
January 1945, with the first nurses to set foot on 
that island again after it was retaken from the 
Japanese. 
Eleven Navy Nurses, taken at Canacao in the 
Philippines, were freed in February 1945 at Los 
Banos, near Manila, 25 miles inside enemy lines, 
after 37 months of imprisonment by the Japanese. 
In March 1945, the nurses arrived in San Francisco 
by Naval Air Transport. All during imprisonment 
these courageous women cared for the sick and 
wounded in the internment camp, working under tre- 
mendous difficulties. All were awarded, in September 
1945, the Bronze Star Medal by the Army for meri- 
torious service in the Philippines; a Gold Star in lieu 
of a second Bronze Star Medal by the Navy; and the 
Army’s Distinguished Unit Badge. 
One Navy Nurse, part of a Navy operating 
unit serving with the Army on Bataan, escaped from 
Corregidor in a submarine to Australia and in July 
1942 returned to the United States. This nurse was 
the first person in the entire naval service to receive 
the Legion of Merit, an honor designated by Congress 
for outstanding devotion to duty. This nurse also 
wears the Army’s Distinguished Unit Badge. 
All American nurses are honored by the fact 
that theirs is the only women’s profession that the 
country deemed so essential as to be placed under the 
4 War Manpower Commission to insure the maximum 
utilization of their abilities during the war. 
In 1939, shortly before the storm broke over 
Europe, the country began to awaken to its danger. 
Some fanatical opposition still flared, but all military 
services fought for public support in the preparation 
for the trials to come. 
Mobilization began. Selective Service began 
to operate. The Navy recruited men and officers and 
began an intensive training program. Through the period of retrenchment, there had 
been no enrollment of nurses into the Reserve Corps. 
In 1939, under authority of the Naval Reserve Act, 
qualified nurses began to be recruited for the Reserve 
Nurse Corps, to be ready immediately for active 
duty in the event of a national emergency. 
All through the war, thousands of Reserve 
Nurses served beside the members of the Regular 
Corps all over the world. On July 31, 1945, a fort- 
night before the surrender of Japan, the grand total 
of nurses was 11,021; 1,799 of whom were in the 
Regular Corps and 9,222 in the Reserve. 
In spite of acute shortages throughout the 
country, the Navy was still able to hold to its stand- 
ards and enroll nurses of outstanding qualifications 
and experience. In the Nurse Corps they have found 
opportunities for the exercise of all their special 
abilities and skills. Thousands of young men of the 
Navy had to be trained during the war to be Hos- 
pital Corpsmen. The majority of these hospital ap- 
prentices and pharmacists’ mates had never been 
inside a hospital before their enlistment. Their 
teaching and supervision were important duties of 
the Navy Nurses, many of whom were experienced 
instructors, with degrees and other teaching creden- 
tials. Their contribution to this work was inval- 
uable. Navy Nurses were proud of the record of 
these men who tended our naval and marine casual- 
ties aboard fighting ships and on invasion beaches, 
where nurses were not assigned. 
To assist the medical officers in carrying out 
complex modern surgery, chemotherapy, and med- 
ical procedures, the Corps has provided nurses with 
the most advanced training and experience in such 
specialties as surgery, orthopedics, anesthesia, con- 
tagion, dietetics, and physiotherapy. Nurses trained 
and experienced in public health have aided in the 
organization of nursing services and in the under- 
standing of underlying factors in the care of large 
groups of men of widely varying backgrounds. 
Interest in the psychiatric field of military 
medicine has grown rapidly in.recent years. This 
work has helped our fighting men to withstand and 
recuperate from the violent shock and fatigue of bat- 
tle experience. In those cases where the mind or 
nerves have broken, remarkable results are obtained 
from expert treatment. Again, the Navy’s eminent 
psychiatrists rely on the specially trained nurse, 
whose background of study enables her to interpret 
the patients and treatments correctly, and whose 
experience and understanding gain the confidence of 
the distressed men and hasten their rehabilitation.   
The skill and science that the Navy Nurse’s 
professional training has given her, have not obscured 
the unselfish solicitude that has marked her calling 
through the ages. She finds a great though humble 
satisfaction in knowing that while she cannot replace 
a man, no one else can replace her in sustaining and 
comforting the fighting men of her country. 
In World War II, especially, did nurses come 
into their own. 
In the Pacific, Navy Nurses were the first 
American women to be sent to the islands north of 
New Caledonia, the first group going to Efate, in the 
New Hebrides. There they cared for the wounded 
from the long Guadalcanal campaign, Army as well 
as Navy and Marine personnel. Others were sta- 
tioned in New Caledonia, the Solomons, the Russells, 
New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, and Hawaii. 
The Coral Sea, Savo, Tarawa, Attu, Adak, Dutch 
Harbor, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Leyte, Samar, 
Iwo Jima, Okinawa—in these strange and famous 
places Navy Nurses kept their rendezvous. In Oran, 
England, and Italy, they cared for our men who won 
victory from the Nazis. 
In Trinidad, Panama, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, 
and Brazil, they served with our defense forces. 
Aboard hospital ships, Navy Nurses followed the fleet 
in its thrilling assaults, going in to the beaches with 
the fighting men to pick up the wounded and carry 
them back to base hospitals. One such ship carried 
1,965 patients from Iwo Jima in two trips, and 4,009 
patients from Okinawa in seven trips. Throughout 
the war, care was taken to observe all the rules of 
the Geneva Conference with regard to hospital ships. 
There were occasions when Japanese hospital ships 
were boarded by naval forces and found to be violat- 
ing Geneva regulations and carrying troops and am- 
munition. One Australian hospital ship was sunk 
ruthlessly by the Japanese, with great loss of life. 
The u. s. s. comfort, a Navy ship, but staffed by 
Army medical men and nurses, was deliberately 
attacked in April 1945, with some loss of life. The 
ship itself, though badly damaged, did not sink. 
Several Allied hospital ships were sunk by the 
Germans. In view of these evidences of our enemies’ 
disrespect for humane codes as well as international 
law, it is fortunate that no American hospital ship 
has been lost. Early in the war, the u. s. s. solace 
and the U. S. s. RELIEF ploughed the seas alone; but 
before the end of the war they were joined by the 
SAMARITAN, BOUNTIFUL, REFUGE, HAVEN, RESCUE, CON- 
SOLATION, BENEVOLENCE, TRANQUILLITY, REPOSE, and 
SANCTUARY. Navy schools for teaching native nurses on 
Samoa and Guam have through the years been per- 
forming a real service. After Guam fell to the Japa- 
nese in 1941, native girls trained by Navy Nurses 
supplied the only skilled care to their people during 
the occupation. The school was reopened a few 
months after our forces retook the island from the 
Japanese in 1944. Native girls must qualify to enter 
for a probationary period of 6 months, following 
which if they prove satisfactory, they continue for a 
well-planned course of instruction, designed to fit 
them for work among their people. Upon gradua- 
tion, they become licensed nurses. These native 
nurses have a splendid influence among Guamanians 
and do much to improve health conditions on the 
island. 
The school for native nurses on American 
Samoa also has a proud record. Since 1916, 57 
nurses have graduated from the Samoan Hospital 
Training School. Of this number, 12 are now doing 
district nursing for the public health department of 
the government of American Samoa, where their 
duties are much the same as those of district nurses 
in this country. The work of this school was not in- 
terrupted to a large extent by the war. The native 
girls make good nurses, are highly respected by the 
people of the villages, and by the time the girls are 
through they are quite conscious of their influence 
for better public health on the island. 
The schools on the Virgin Islands and Haiti 
were maintained for some years by the Navy, but 
gradually these schools were turned over to the gov- 
ernments of those islands as Navy facilities there 
were reorganized. 
In World War II, many awards have been 
made. One nurse, already referred to, has been the 
recipient of the Legion of Merit, for exceptionally 
meritorious service. Thirteen nurses have been 
awarded Bronze Star Medals, for meritorius achieve- 
ment and service in the performance of duty; 11 
have received Gold Stars in lieu of a second Bronze 
Star Medal; 7 have been awarded Commendation Rib- 
bons for outstanding service in both European and 
Pacific theaters. Twelve nurses wear the Distin- 
guished Unit Badge of the Army, for especially meri- 
torious service in the Philippines, and 42 have Navy 
Unit Commendations for distinguished service aboard 
the U. s. s. solace and at the Naval Hospital, Pearl 
Harbor, at the time of the Japanese attack. Letters 
of Commendation have been awarded to several 
nurses for meritorious service aboard hospital ships. 
Late in 1943, two Navy Nurses were sent to 
Brazil, at the request of the Brazilian government, to 
establish and train a Nurse Corps for that country’s 
Air Corps. In spite of great handicaps of language 
and a reluctance on the part of the women of Brazil 
to enter nursing or other occupations, these two 
nurses have made excellent progress. The school 
opened September 11, 1944, and the first class com- 
pleted the 8-week course in November. Classes were 
held in a part of the Government’s airfield at Rio de 
Janeiro especially set aside for the flight nurses. 
Only nurses graduated from 3-year schools of nursing 
are included in the course. A “mock-up” of a trans- 
port plane, equipped with stretchers, provides for 
practice of specific flight nursing techniques. Any 
nurse who wishes receives instruction and practice in 
parachute jumping. Physical education routines are 
followed daily. Swimming, lifesaving, and manage- 
ment of life rafts, in addition to muscle condition- 
ins’—all are part of the program. Because of large 
jungle areas and mountainous terrain, transport of 
sick and injured by plane from these areas is an im- 
portant health advance in Brazil. To the nurses 
there, learning the art of caring for the sick while 
traveling by plane, comes the satisfaction of pioneers 
making history for their country. 
At home, the first class of 24 flying Navy 
Nurses completed flight indoctrination January 22, 
1945. They immediately started active flying service 
on 24 flying teams, consisting of a nurse and a phar- 
macist’s mate. Each 12-plane squadron operated 
with the following medical personnel: One flight sur- 
geon, 24 flight nurses, 1 Hospital Corps officer, and 
24 pharmacists’ mates. After some transcontinental 
trips with wounded, the teams went to the Pacific to 
serve in the Naval Air Evacuation Service, the first 
arriving in Guam in early February 1945. They worked tirelessly during the Iwo Jima and Okinawa 
campaigns flying out the wounded, sometimes having 
to circle the fields for as long as an hour because the 
airstrips were under fire. Within 30 days, approxi- 
mately 4,500 injured men were flown out. 
An efficient procedure for aerial evacuation 
from target areas was developed. The squadron flight 
surgeon and several pharmacists’ mates were on the 
first hospital plane to land on the captured airfield. 
The surgeon established an evacuation clearing sta- 
tion adjacent to the airstrip, where, with the help of 
his corpsmen, he collected patients from the first-aid 
and holding stations and screened them for air trans- 
port, giving necessary treatment prior to flight. As 
soon as a hospital plane landed the flight nurse 
aboard received her orders. The plane was loaded 
and usually took off again in about 45 minutes after 
landing, the flight nurse responsible for all patients 
aboard. She dressed wounded, with the aid of the 
corpsmen, administered whole blood or plasma, gave 
medications, fed and cared for the patients. 
There were three main flights of air evacua- 
tion planes to which flight nurses were assigned over- 
seas. First, from target areas to forward hospitals, 
such as Guam; second, from Guam to Pearl Harbor; 
and third, from Pearl Harbor to continental United 
States. Nurses were rotated so that flight hours did 
not exceed 100 per month and they were also rotated 
between combat and noncombat flights. The nurses 
were “sold” on this method of evacuation. Even 
eliminating all the advantages of speed in getting 
patients back to base hospitals where there were all 
the best facilities, the effect of flight evacuation on 
morale alone made everything worth while. 
Each of the first 12 nurses who pioneered the 
group received a commendation “For excellent serv- 
ice as a flight nurse in the forward area, Central 
Pacific, during the first quarter of 1945, for participa- 
tion in numerous areas of the Pacific Ocean and con- 
tributing materially in the successful evacuation of 
wounded from the battle area of Iwo Jima. The 
skill, care of patients, and devotion to duty through- 
out were worthy of the highest praise.” 
The purpose of transcontinental United States 
flight transference of patients was (1) to equalize 
patient-loads between naval hospitals in the United 
States; (2) to give men specialized treatment at hos- 
pitals which concentrated on certain types of cases; 
and (3) to take men to hospitals as near their homes 
as possible, wherever the exigencies of the service 
permitted. 
Another of. the many new and rewarding re- 
sponsibilities of our Navy Nurses in World War II 
was the training of young Women Reservists (waves) 
for the Hospital Corps. These trained young women 
replaced corpsmen in their many duties in hospitals 
in this country and Hawaii, relieving those men for 
duty in forward areas. For waves, schools were 
established at the National Naval Medical Center, 
Bethesda, Md., and at the U. S. Naval Hospital, Great 
Lakes, 111,, with Navy Nurse instructors. 
Also at home, the successful establishment of 
the Cadet Nurse Corps in naval hospitals has won 
recognition *and support from foremost educational 
and nursing institutions. The Cadet program was 
begun in July 1943, with the passage by Congress of 
the Bolton Act. Under its provisions the U. S. Public 
Health Service gave all-expense scholarships to young women enlisting in the U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps and 
pledging themselves to essential nursing, military or 
civilian, for the duration of the war. The final 6 
months of her training the Cadet Nurse spent in her 
home hospital, in another civilian hospital, in public 
health agencies, or in military or other Federal hos- 
pitals, depending on her choice. 
Nine large naval hospitals in this country were 
designated as centers for training Cadets who had 
indicated a desire for Navy service. They were at 
Seattle, Wash.; Oakland and San Diego, Calif.; Chel- 
sea, Mass.; St. Albans and Sampson, N. Y.; Ports- 
mouth, Va.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Great Lakes, 111. 
In these centers, Cadet students were put through a 
complete course of indoctrination in naval customs, 
etiquette, history, and traditions. Navy Nurses with 
teaching experience were responsible for seeing that 
the students had the proper class and clinical work 
and had been given instruction and practice in the 
problems of ward administration. Reports from the 
hospitals indicated a successful program for the 
Cadet Nurses and for the Navy.  
, With the great expansion and multiplication 
of duties of the nurses of the Navy, new recognition 
came to the Corps. On July 3, 1942, an Act of Con- 
gress granted nurses permanent relative rank of com- 
missioned officers. Corresponding base pay and, 
with some exceptions, allowances, were legislated De- 
cember 22, 1942. With that legislation, Navy Nurses 
did not receive rental and subsistence and travel al- 
lowances for their dependents, but this was corrected 
in a bill passed by Congress effective October 1* 1944. 
On February 26, 1944, Congress provided that Navy 
Nurses, during the present war and for 6 months 
thereafter, should have actual commissioned rank. 
Navy Nurses do not advance in pay grade by 
the same steps as other commissioned officers, but 
continue to receive longevity pay on the basis of an 
increase of 5 percent of base pay for each 3 years of 
service. Benefits for retired officers of the Nurse 
Corps are computed on the base pay of the Permanent 
Pay Readjustment Act of 16 June 1942, rather than 
on the base pay of the Temporary Pay Act of 22 De- 
cember 1942. 
Six months after the official termination of the 
war, unless other legislation is enacted, members of 
the Nurse Corps will revert to the pay provisions of 
the Permanent Pay Readjustment Act of 16 June 
1942. By this Act, the base pay of a nurse with the 
relative rank of Ensign is set at $90 per month, in 
contrast with her present $150. 
Although members of the Corps always re- 
ceived the courtesies and enjoyed many of the priv- 
ileges of officers of the Navy, the new recognition 
brought them honor and dignity, as well as definitely 
increased authority consistent with the degree of re- 
sponsibility which they carried. Here again, unless 
further legislation is forthcoming, members of the 
Nurse Corps will revert to their permanent status of 
relative rank rather than that of actual commission. 
With the great expansion of responsibilities of 
the nurses, actual rank was only a just recognition 
and protection. It defined the position of the nurses 
within the Navy organization and invested them with 
authority next after commissioned officers of the 
Medical and Dental Corps in all medical and sanitary 
matters, and within the line of their professional 
duties in and about naval hospitals and other Medical 
Department activities. For many years, leaders in 
the Medical Corps had recommended rank for nurses 
as a means of increasing operating efficiency of the 
nursing service. Also, the firm establishment of 
nursing as a profession in the country made formal 
recognition of the nurse in military orders imperative. 
There was considerable opposition, chiefly 
from those who retained old prejudices regarding 
woman’s place in society. 
Many of the nurses themselves were reluctant 
to accept military rank, fearing that their strictly 
medical standing might be confused or their identity 
as nurses be endangered. However, most military 
nurses became convinced through experience that 
indefinite military status hindered them greatly in 
their professional functions, since, in carrying out 
their duties, nurses form an essential link in the 
chain of command. Also, many occasions arose when 
this indefinite status caused embarrassment and con- 
fusion to others as well as to the nurses. 
When war broke, all who thought seriously 
realized the necessity of providing the same protec- 
tion to nurses serving in dangerous areas all over the 
world as is provided for doctors, dentists, and chap- 
lains, with whom their work is so closely joined. 
Legislation is being proposed that commissioned rank 
for members of the Nurse Corps will be made per- 
manent as a part of postwar adjustment. mmw /, 
r/wmsm// 
/ 
The command of the Nurse Corps centers in 
the Surgeon General of the United States Navy. 
Vice Admiral Ross T. Mclntire now holds this office, 
directing the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which 
includes the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Nurse 
Corps, and Hospital Corps. 
Under the leadership of Admiral Mclntire, the 
naval medical service has developed into a modern 
organization of renowned accomplishment. The 
young surgeon entered the Navy Medical Corps as a 
lieutenant, junior grade, in 1917. Rising rapidly, he 
became Surgeon General in 1938. In February 1944, 
his present Vice Admiralty was conferred by Con- 
gress. He is the first medical officer to achieve this 
rank while serving as Surgeon General. 
In this war, medicine has been forced to adapt 
itself suddenly to unprecedented expansion and to 
radically new concepts and methods of warfare. In 
addition, the service has had to assimilate and apply 
the rapid advances of medical science, with conse- 
quent sweeping changes in treatment. Medicine has 
become an important tactical adjunct in modern war- 
fare, and naval medicine has distinguished itself in 
this new role, as well as carrying on in the noble 
tradition of aid and restoration of the wounded and 
ill. 
Captain Sue S. Dauser (NC) USN 
Taking high ideals and high standards of ex- 
cellence in personnel, equipment, and methods, Ad- 
miral Mclntire has guided and disciplined these ma- 
terials into a smooth-working, effective military 
medical service. With the same inspired blending 
of the ideal and the practical, he has led the expan- 
sion and development of the Nurse Corps. 
Administration is directed by the Superintend- 
ent of the Nurse Corps, and Capt. Sue S. Dauser now 
holds this office. 
In 1917, a few years after her graduation from 
the California Hospital School of Nursing, Miss 
Dauser joined the Naval Reserve. Soon she was 
transferred to the Regular Corps, in which she has 
remained ever since. In 1917 and 1918, she served as 
Chief Nurse of Naval Base Hospital No. 3 in Edin- 
burgh, Scotland. 
After the war, Miss Dauser held the position 
of chief nurse in many naval medical facilities, at 
home, abroad, and at sea aboard hospital ships and 
transports. 
In 1939, when she became Superintendent of 
the Nurse Corps, Miss Dauser took on wider duties 
and graver responsibilities than had fallen to any of 
her predecessors. Under her administration, the 
membership of the Nurse Corps grew from 436 in 
1939 to over 11,000 in 1945. In July 1942, she was invested with the permanent relative rank of lieu- 
tenant commander. A temporary appointment raised 
this rank to captain in December of the same year. 
At this time, Miss Dauser became the first woman to 
wear the four gold stripes of a Navy captain on the 
sleeves of her Navy blue uniform. In February 1944, 
her relative captaincy was changed to actual commis- 
sion for the duration of the war plus 6 months. 
Working earnestly, with quiet, unassuming 
dignity, Captain Dauser not only has led the Nurse 
Corps to its present achievement, but also has won 
the confidence and respect of leaders in military and 
civilian medical circles. In spite of the pressure of 
work, she has maintained close personal contact with 
members of the Corps and this friendly solicitude is 
reflected in the affection and loyalty of the nurses 
who serve under her. Her quiet voice and gentle 
manner connote those beloved attributes of the nurse, 
whose mission, even when serving in battle, remains 
one of womanly compassion. 77rr/// 7/f/r I 
NAVY CROSS 
Lenah S. Higbee (Supt. NNC) 
Lillian Murphy 
Edna E. Place 
Marie Louise Hidell 
LETTER OF COMMENDATION 
Mary Elder kin 
Jeannette McClellan 
Ww/t/WwI! 
LEGION OF MERIT 
Lt, Ann Agnes 
Bernntitus 
BRONZE STAR MEDAL 
Lt. Comdr. 
Faye Elmo White 
Mary Martha Heck 
Comdr. 
Lt. Comdr. 
Laura May Cobb 
Lt. Bertha 
Rae Evans 
Lt. Helen Clara 
Gorzelanski 
Lt. Mary 
Chapman Hays 
Lt. Goldia 
Aimee Merrill 
Lt. Margaret 
Alice Nash 
Lt. Ma/ry 
Harrington Nelson 
Lt Eldene 
Elinor Paige 
Lt. Susie 
Josephine Pitcher 
Lt. Dorothy Still 
Lt. 
C. Edwina Todd GOLD STAR IN LIEU OF SECOND 
BRONZE STAR MEDAL 
Lt. Comdr. Laura May Cobb 
Lt. Bertha Rae Evans 
Lt. Helen Clara Gorzelanski 
Lt. Mary Chapman Hays 
Lt. Goldia Aimee Merrill 
Lt Margaret Alice Nash 
Lt. Mary Harrington Nelson 
Lt. Eldene Elinor Paige 
Lt. Susie Josephine Pitcher 
Lt. Dorothy Still 
Lt. C. Edwina Todd 
NAVY COMMENDATION RIBBON 
Lt. Clyde Pennington 
Lt. Anna M. Kreider 
Lt. (jg) Mary J. Lindner 
Lt. Catherine Richardson 
Lt. Catherine M. Kain 
Lt. (jg) Stephany J. Kozak 
Lt. (jg) Dymphna M. Van Gorp 
DISTINGUISHED UNIT BADGE 
(ARMY) 
Lt. Ann Agnes Bernatitus 
Lt. Comdr. Laura May Cobh 
Lt. Bertha Rae Evans 
Lt. Helen Clara Gorzelanski 
Lt. Mary Chapman Hays 
Lt. Goldia Aimee Merrill 
Lt. Margaret Alice Nash 
Lt. Mary Harrington Nelson 
Lt Eldene Elinor Paige 
Lt. Susie Josephine Pitcher 
Lt. Dorothy Still 
Lt C. Edwina Todd 
NAVY UNIT COMMENDATION 
Lt. Comdr. Gertrude B. Arnest 
Lt. Lorene E. Alkire 
Lt. Freda Conine 
Lt. Ann M. Davidson 
Lt. Ellen M. Dolloff 
Lt. Evelyn I. Erickson 
Lt. Ruth Erickson 
Lt. Helen Entriken 
Lt. Winnie Gibson 
Lt Evelyn Hogue 
Lt. Rosella Nesgis 
Lt. Catherine Richardson 
Lt. Clara Shaeffer 
Lt. Frances L. Sonsalla 
Lt. Lenora Terrell 
Lt. Valera C. Vaubel 
Lt. Otilla J. Zalmon 
Lt. D. Dorothy Bogdon 
Lt. Lorraine D. Ceaglske 
Lt. Ruth M. Cohen 
Lt. Hilda W. Combes 
Lt. Anna Danya 
Lt. Teresa M. Duggan 
Lt. Margaret L. Haley 
Lt. Comdr. Grace B. Lally 
Lt. Agnes G. Shurr 
Lt. Ida K. Thompson 
Lt. Marjorie E. Von Stein 
EX-MEMBERS OF NNC 
Lillian Banks 
Elsie L. Christensen 
Violet Clohessy 
Phyllis Dana 
Loretta M. Eno 
Bertha Houck 
Beatrice Jenkins 
Nelly C. Semon 
Margaret M. Swann 
Ann C. Tucker 
Geneva Van de Drink 
Irene D. Galiley 
Genevieve T. Hickey 
Eva Antonelli 
LETTER OF COMMENDATION 
Lt. (jg) Nell P. Seroka 
Lt. Ruth Toenberg 
Lt. Mary E. Gregory 
Lt. (jg) Martha N. Blackman 
Lt. Constance G. MacDonald jmima/MM* .. 
Comdr. Loretta M. Lambert (NC)USN (Ret.) 
Service USN December 1917 to October 1944 
Comdr. Mary D. Towse (NC)USN (Ret.) 
Service USN January 1918 to October 1945 
Comdr. Helen M. Bunty (NC)USN 
Service USN October 1918 to 
Comdr. Elizabeth M. O’Brien (NC)USN 
Service USN May 1919 to 
Comdr. Mary Martha Heck (NC)USN 
Service USN November 1918 to 
Comdr. Anna G. Keating (NC)USN 
Service USN October 1917 to 
Comdr. Ruth E. Anthony (NC) USN 
Service USN May 1918 to “From personal observation in many hospitals in the 
South Pacific Area, in hospital ships of the THIRD 
Fleet Command and more recently in the Western 
Pacific Ocean, the members of the Nurse Corps have 
magnificently upheld the highest traditions of the 
United States Naval Service. 
“Many times amidst primitive living conditions and 
often in trying circumstances these women, far from 
home, many for the first time, conducted themselves 
in a manner their country may well be proud of. 
“Their untiring services, their professional skill, and 
their ability to sustain the unparalleled morale of 
the wounded in their care, will always reflect the 
highest credit to the Nurse Corps, United States 
Navy. 
“I would like to pay personal tribute to these officers 
for their gallant devotion to duty and outstanding 
achievement in the line of their profession.” 
(signed) W. F. Halsey, 
Fleet Admiral, U. S. Navy. 
26 November 19UU 
“Officers of the JJavy Nurse Corps are serving 
aboard hospital ships operating with forces of the 
Pacific Fleet and in hospitals at rear and advanced 
bases in the Pacific Ocean Areas. These nurses 
bring to the hospital organizations in the Pacific War 
Theater the high standard of nursing service pro- 
vided in naval hospitals in the United States. Their 
specialized knowledge and training and their devo- 
tion to duty are invaluable in providing the excellent 
hospital care given our sick and wounded. 
“Although primarily concerned with the professional 
care of their patients, recognition is due our nurses 
for their work in supervising and training hospital 
Corpsmen, for their services as competent technical 
assistants to medical officers, for the influence of 
their presence and counsel in restoring the morale 
of patients under their care. 
“To these nurses who have volunteered their services 
wherever they may be required, we give our heart- 
felt thanks for duty well done.” 
(signed) Chester W. Nimitz, 
Fleet Admiral, U. S. Navy. 
S November 19UU  
HISTORY AND ADMINISTRATION 
Bowman, J. Beatrice. “Disability bill for Army and 
Navy Nurses.” The American Journal of 
Nursing, 30:101(i, August 1930. 
. “History of nursing in the Navy." 
The American Journal of Nursing, 28:883-889, 
September 1928. 
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy De- 
partment, Navy Nurse Corps: relative rank 
and uniform regulations. Washington, D. C. 
U. S. Government Printing Office, August 
(U. S. Navy Department, The Bureau 
of Medicine and Surgery.) 
4 “The Navy Nurse Corps.” Wash- 
ington, D. C. U. S. Government Printing 
Office, 1943. (U. S. Navy Department, The 
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.) 
Dauser, Sue S. “The Naval Reserve Nurse Corps." 
The American Journal of Nursing, 41:385-38(i, 
April 1941. 
. “Red Cross nursing and the Navy.” 
The American Journal of Nursing, 40:981-984, 
September 1940. 
Dock, Lavinia L., Picket, Sarah E., Noyes, Clara D., 
and Others. “History of American Red Cross 
nursing.” New York, the MacMillan Co. c!922. 
p. (>85-755. (Out of print.) 
Editor. “Army and Navy Nurse Corps insignia." 
The American Journal of Nursing, 41 '440, 
April 1941. 
Goodnow, Minnie. “Outlines of nursing history;” 5th 
ed. Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Co. cl 933. 
p. 240. 
Laird, Thelma F., Lt., Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“R. H. I. P. In The Navy Nurse Corps.” 
American Journal of Nursing, November 1944.  . The Naval Reserve Nurse Corps. 
The American Journal of Nursing, 44:19, Jan- 
uary 1944- 
McCorkle, Edna M. “Nursing in the Navy.” The 
American Journal of Nursing, 41:1326-1327, 
November 1941. 
Towse, Mary D. “Naval Hospitals in San Diego.” 
The American Journal of Nursing, 43:268-269, 
March 1943. 
PROFESSIONAL 
Albers, Genevieve P., Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. 
“Malaria.” Trained Nurse and Hospital Re- 
view, February 1945. 
Ballantyne, Carolyn, R. N. “The Navy Faces Re- 
habilitation.” R. N. Magazine, January 1945. 
Brown, Mary Jane, Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“Psychiatric Nursing in United States Naval 
Base Hospitals.” American Journal of Nurs- 
ing, December 1944- 
Byers, Jean. “Visual Education in the Navy.” The 
American Journal of Nursing, 43:446-447, 
May 1943. 
Danyo, Anna, Lt., Nurse Corps, U. S. N. “The Navy 
Trains Operating Room Technicians.” Ameri- 
can Journal of Nursing, September 1945. 
Davis, Dorothy M-, Lt.(Jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“The Navy Nurse Teaches As She Serves." 
Pacific Coast Journal of Nursing, September 
1942. 
Schmidt, Esther, Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N., and 
Meredith, Catherine, Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, 
U. S. N. R. “The Senior Cadet Program In A 
Naval Hospital.” American Journal of Nurs- 
ing, March 1945. 
Schmidt, Esther L., Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. 
“Training of Waves For Hospitals.” Ameri- 
can Journal of Nursing, August 1943. 
HOSPITAL SHIPS 
Navy Nurses on the U. S. S. Solace. The American 
Journal of Nursing, 41 -'1173-1175, October 
1941- 
Miller, Jean Dupont. “Shipmates in White,” Navy 
Nurses on sea duty. Dodd, Meade and Com- 
pany. 1944- 
Lochridge, Patricia. “Solace at Iwo.” Woman’s 
Home Companion, May 1945. 
Lorrimer, Sarah. “Life Line.” Ladies Home Jour- 
nal, July 1943. 
Shaw, Catherine. We Traveled by Transport. The 
American Journal of Nursing, 43 .'1022-1024, 
November 1943. 
Shaw, Catherine E., Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. 
“Aboard The Hospital Ship Solace.” Trained 
Nurse and Hospital Review, December 1944. 
FLIGHT NURSES 
. “Flight Nurse, United States 
Navy.” Charm Magazine, March 1945. 
Kempner, Mary Jean, “Flying Ambulance . . . Oki- 
nawa,” Vogue, August 1945. 
McCoole, Ellen. “Flight Nurse, United States Navy.” 
Mademoiselle Magazine, April 1945. 
BIOGRAPHY 
Dauser, Sue S. Current Biography, Year Book, 1944. 
Geister, Janet M. “Our Military Nurse Leaders.” 
Trained Nurse and Hospital Review, May 1944• 
Murphy, Mark. “A Reporter At Large, You'UN ever 
Know !” New Yorker Magazine, 12 June 1943. 
. “Name Of Warship To Honor 
Woman.” _ U. S. Navy Magazine, August 1944- 
GENERAL 
Boyer, Olive, Ensign, Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R., and 
Felder, Mary E., Ensign, Nurse Corps, U. S. 
N.R. “The Navy Cares For Its Own.” Trained 
Nurse and Hospital Review, February 1943. 
Bridgman, Juliet. “Nurses To The Front.” Liberty 
Magazine, March 1945. 
Cooper, Page. “White Task Force.” Whittlesey 
House, McGraw-Hill, 1945. 
Desmarais, Mary B., Ensign, Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“Navy Nursing On D-Day Plus Four.” 
American Journal of Nursing, January 1945. 
. “The Girls With The Gold Braid.” 
Seapower Magazine, February 1945. 
Goldthwaite, Marjorie, Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. 
N. R. “She Pitched Right In!” Trained 
Nurse and Hospital Review, May 1945. 
Goodrich, Anne M., R. N. “Lady With A Past And 
Future.” R. N. Magazine, December 1944. 
Hartley, Reba K., Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“A Nurse Looks At The Navy.” American 
Journal of Nursing, April 1945. 
Hayes, Teresa M., Lt. (jg), Nurse Corps, U. S. N. R. 
“It Was Hot On The Islands.” American 
Journal of Nursing, November 1944. 
Hyman, Jerome. “Thank You, Jenny.” Seapower 
Magazine, February 1945. 
Jackson, Leona. “I TPas On Guam.” American 
Journal of Nursing, 42:1244-1246, November 
1942. 
Lees, Hannah. “Salute To The Navy Nurse.” Sea- 
power Magazine, January 1943. 
Main, Dorothy L., Ensign, Nurse Corps, U. S. N. 
“Sailors and Marines Come Back ” American 
Journal of Nursing, April 1944- 
O’Toole, Sarah. “Pm In The Navy Now.” The 
American Journal of Nursing, 43:1077, De- 
cember 1943. 
Ripperger, Henrietta. “What It Means To Be A 
War Nurse.” Redhook Magazine, April 1945. 
Scheips, Edna Marie. “Navy Nurse Officers’ Club.” 
American Journal of Nursing, 43:816, Sep- 
tember 1943. Mw/ f /w/.} ////// 
WORLD WAR I 
Grand Total Nurses 1,460 
Overseas 327 
In United States 1,133 
Where Nurses Served: 
England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Guam, Philip- 
pines, Japan, Virgin Islands, Samoa, Haiti. 
World World 
Military Awards as of 30 September 1945 War II War 1 
Total Awards — 91 6 
Navy Cross 0 4 
Legion of Merit. 1 0 
Bronze Star Medal. 13 0 
Gold Star in Lieu of 2d Bronze Medal.. 11 0 
Navy Commendation Ribbon. 7 0 
Distinguished Unit Badge (Army)... 12 0 
Navy Unit Commendation 42 0 
Letters of Commendation 5 2 
Grand Total Nurses for Following Years: 
1919. —. 1,203 1935.. 332 
1920 535 (Following Economy Act) 
1921. 475 1939. 442 
1922.. 479 1941, Dec. 3.— 828 
1923.. 484 1942. 2,919 
1924. - 498 1943.. 7,076 
1944 9,190 
Deaths in Navy Nurse Corps: 
1908 to beginning of World War I. 1 
During last War—Official War 
Period Apr. 6, 1917, to Mar. 3, 1921 36 
By enemy action. 0 
Interim—World War I and World War II.. 21 
In Retirement- 29 
During World War II—Overseas 8 
In U. S. A 21 
By enemy action 0 
116 
WORLD WAR II 
Number of Nurses in Navy Nurse Corps— , 
30 September 1945 
Total... ; 10,914 
On Land: In Continental U. S. A.. 9,121 
Outside Continental U. S. A 1,495 
With Air Evacuation Service. 108 
On Hospital Ships 298 
Number of Negro Nurses in Navy Nurse Corps... . 4 
In Continental U. S. A.. 4 
Outside Continental U. S. A 0 
Number of Nurses Authorized 1945-1946 
Navy Nurse Corps... 11,000 
Number of Stations at Which Navy Nurses Were 
Serving—30 September 1945 
Total Stations... 318 
In U. S. A. Proper. 263 
Hospital Ships ...'. 12 
Outside U. S. A. Proper 43 
Where Nurses Served Outside U. S. 
Australia Africa 
New Guinea Samoa 
Marianas Puerto Rico 
Okinawa Trinidad 
Philippines Alaska 
New Caledonia Newfoundland 
Russell Islands Bermuda 
Admiralties Cuba 
Hawaiian Islands Brazil 
Canal Zone Aboard 12 Hospital Ships 
England Aboard Air Evacuation Planes 
Where Nurses are serving at Home 
In nearly all States of the Union. 
it U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1945 O 672037 V. S. Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland NAVMED 939 
BUREAU OF MEDICINE 
AND SURGERY, 
UNITED STATES NAVY