Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)



Date of Award


Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Stephen Fritz

Committee Members

William Burgess, Brian Maxson


World War II was the most devastating war in human history in terms of loss of life. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, plunged the United States into war. Less than seven thousand military nurses were on active duty at the time of the attack. By the end of the war, there were over fifty-thousand active-duty nurses. The army nurses performed under fire in field and evacuation hospitals, on hospital trains and ships, and as flight nurses on medical evacuation transport aircraft. The skill and dedication of the Army Nurses Corps insured a 95% survival rate for the wounded soldiers who received medical care in a field or evacuation hospital. Two hundred and one nurses lost their lives during World War II and sixty-seven nurses were captured and held as prisoners of war. Sixteen hundred medals, citations and commendations attest to the nurses’ courage and dedication.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted


Copyright by the authors.