IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 808 

Recognizing the life and legacy of the first woman to achieve the rank 

of general in the United States Military, Anna Mae Hays. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2018 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself and Mrs. WALORSKI) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 

Services 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the life and legacy of the first woman to achieve 

the rank of general in the United States Military, Anna 

Mae Hays. 

Whereas Anna Mae Hays was born in Buffalo, New York, on 

February 16, 1920, to her parents Daniel Joseph 

McCabe and the former Mattie Humphrey; 

Whereas as a young woman growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Hays practiced nursing by tying bandages 

around the legs of a kitchen table where her parents, Salvation Army officers, often invited the ill to eat dinner; 

Whereas at the age of 22 in May 1942, Hays joined the 

United States Army in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to 

serve as a nurse during World War II; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 808 IH 

Whereas Hays deployed to Assam, India, where she helped 

treat some of the more than 49,000 patients taken to the 

20th General Hospital, including troops injured in combat in Burma, and those who required amputations inside 

operating rooms constructed from bamboo; 

Whereas Hays endured austere living conditions, weathered 

monsoon season, burned leeches from her skin, and 

placed herself at risk for deadly diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, for two and one-half years during 

World War II; 

Whereas Hays completed her initial commitment and decided 

to continue her service in the Army; 

Whereas Hays answered her country’s call again when the 

Korean war broke out on June 25, 1950; 

Whereas Hays landed on the shores of Inchon, South Korea, 

amid a United States naval bombardment of North Korean forces; 

Whereas Hays helped set up one of the first military hospitals, the 4th Field Hospital, in Inchon, South Korea; 

Whereas Hays worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to help 

render medical aid to more than 25,000 patients by physically assisting in creating sleeping quarters and performing her duties through frigid weather and supply 

shortages; 

Whereas Hays reported for duty as the head emergency room 

nurse at what was then named Walter Reed Army Medical Center in May 1956 and, in the following month, was 

assigned to care for President Dwight D. Eisenhower 

throughout his 23-day hospital stay; 

Whereas Hays earned a bachelor’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1958; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 808 IH 

Whereas Hays was sworn in as the 13th Chief of the Army 

Nurse Corps on September 1, 1967; 

Whereas Hays traveled to Vietnam three times to assess the 

state of nursing during the Vietnam war, oversaw a drastic increase in the number of nurses deployed overseas, 

and helped modernize Army nursing practices; 

Whereas Hays earned a master’s degree from the Catholic 

University of America in Washington, DC, in 1968; 

Whereas Hays paved a career path for other women in the 

military by recommending the end to a policy that automatically discharged those who became pregnant; 

Whereas, on June 11, 1970, Hays was promoted to brigadier 

general, the first woman in the United States Military to 

attain the rank of general officer; 

Whereas Hays recommended the removal of a policy that prevented women with young children from joining the Army 

Nurse Corps; 

Whereas Hays worked tirelessly on behalf of Army nurses, relieving nursing shortages, increasing educational opportunities, bettering the status of and gaining greater peer 

recognition for nurses, enforcing stronger practice standards, and enhancing utilization; 

Whereas Hays retired in 1971 after more than 29 years of 

service with many awards and honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit with 

Oak Leaf Cluster; and 

Whereas Hays’ life and legacy cleared a path for women in 

the military to obtain high ranks and helped create a 

stronger force for defending our Nation: Now, therefore, 

be it 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 808 IH 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog2 nizes the life and legacy of the first woman to achieve the 

3 rank of general in the United States Military, Anna Mae 

4 Hays. 

Æ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS