IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 90 

Recognizing the dedication and honorable service of members of the Armed 

Forces who are serving or have served as military nurses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2007 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 

Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. 

MCCOTTER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the dedication and honorable service of members 

of the Armed Forces who are serving or have served 

as military nurses. 

Whereas military nurses have served as bright examples in 

leadership, courage, and service before self, with their 

service to the United States beginning on the battlefields 

of the American Revolution, when women serving as 

nurses tended to the sick and wounded; 

Whereas during the Civil War, more than 5,000 women 

served as nurses, under the leadership of such legendary 

figures as Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix, and these 

nurses dramatically advanced patient care and profoundly 

transformed military nursing; 


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Whereas nurses staffed government and regimental hospitals 

of both the Union and Confederacy and provided care at 

the front lines, and their service saved lives and cemented 

the importance of nurses in post-war professional medicine; 

Whereas over 1,500 nurses served with the Army during the 

Spanish-American War in Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, 

and Puerto Rico, on the hospital ship Relief, and in 

State-side hospitals, and their nursing skills so lowered 

mortality rates that the Army and Navy were inspired to 

create official uniformed nursing corps; 

Whereas Dita Kinney, a former contract nurse, became the 

first Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901, 

and Esther Voorhees Hasson, one of the nurses on the 

hospital ship Relief during the war, became the first Superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908; 

Whereas the first uniformed women to go overseas during 

World War I were military nurses who served without 

rank and without the pay and benefits of other military 

members, but they nevertheless served on the battlefields 

of that war, and, ultimately, more than 23,000 Army and 

Navy nurses proudly served during that war, including 

400 nurses who died in the line of duty; 

Whereas approximately 70,000 Army and Navy nurses served 

during World War II, providing care as officers with ‘‘relative rank’’ in every theater of war, on the seas and in 

the skies, and military nurses accompanied invasion 

forces setting up hospitals and carrying for the sick and 

wounded; 


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Whereas approximately 239 Army and Navy nurses died in 

the line of duty during World War II, and 83 military 

nurses became prisoners of war; 

Whereas many women supported the war effort during World 

War II by joining the Public Health Service, working 

hand-in-hand with the military, and nursing care was so 

vital that the Government formed the Cadet Nurse Corps 

and trained approximately 124,000 women as nurses; 

Whereas by 1945, the fear of a nurse shortage was so great 

that the President requested a nurse draft, and the resulting bill passed the House of Representatives, but the 

war ended in Europe before it was considered by the Senate; 

Whereas, while it was always understood that nurses would 

be a part of the military, their status as commissioned 

officers in the Army and Navy was formalized in 1947 

with the Army-Navy Nurse Act, and, when the Air Force 

was established following the war, its Nurse Corps was 

soon created; 

Whereas during the Korean War, hundreds of military nurses 

were quickly deployed to the battle theater with Army 

nurses serving close to the front lines, Navy nurses 

aboard hospital ships offshore, and Air Force nurses on 

medical evacuation flights; 

Whereas 17 military nurses died in the line of duty during 

the Korean War, and more than 10,200 military nurses 

served during the Korean War, caring for the sick and 

wounded overseas and members of the Armed Forces and 

their families in the United States; 

Whereas nearly 6,000 American military nurses served in 

Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, assigned to 


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military hospitals, air evacuation units, hospital ships, 

and field units; 

Whereas some of these military nurses were wounded and 

eight died in the line of duty, one as a result of enemy 

fire, and the eight nurses are memorialized on the wall 

at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial; 

Whereas on November 8, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90–130, which removed the limitations on the promotion of female members of the 

Armed Forces that had kept women out of the general 

and flag officer ranks, and in 1970, the first woman ever 

to be promoted in the Armed Forces to general officer 

was a nurse, Anna Mae Hayes; 

Whereas in 1979, another Army nurse became the first African-American women general officer in the history of the 

Armed Forces, and each of the military services now has 

at least one nurse who is a general or flag officer; 

Whereas American military nurses were deployed for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm and 

have supported United States military operations in Grenada, Panama, Honduras, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, 

Rwanda, Haiti, and the Middle East; 

Whereas as of today, military nurses serve across the spectrum of military medicine, from commanding hospitals to 

serving in field operating rooms, on hospital ships and 

medical evacuation aircraft, and in family practice clinics, 

psychiatric wards, and research facilities, literally everywhere military medicine is needed by the Armed Forces; 

Whereas hundreds of military nurses are serving currently in 

locations around the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, 

Kuwait, Europe, and the Far East, and military nurses 


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persevere in providing outstanding healthcare in a dangerous world; 

Whereas terrorist organizations continue to challenge the 

peace and security of the United States, and natural disasters have taken a huge toll in death and devastation, 

but military nurses are trained, well equipped, and ready 

to respond anytime, anywhere at the call of their country; 

Whereas military nurses provide the world’s best healthcare 

services to wounded soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and 

Coast Guardsmen, and are saving the lives of people with 

injuries that would have been fatal in earlier wars;; 

Whereas during World War I, 8.1 percent of the wounded 

died of their wounds, but now lifesaving medical capability is closer to the battlefield than ever before, and in 

Iraq only 1.4 percent of the wounded die of their wounds; 

and 

Whereas the synergy of advanced nursing practice, combining 

aeromedical evacuation crews with critical care air transport, additional high-technology equipment, advances in 

pain management, and more extensive nurse training has 

enabled the Armed Forces the opportunity to transport 

more critically ill patients than ever before: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress acknowledges and recognizes 

3 the dedication and significant contributions of all members 

4 of the Armed Forces, especially members who are serving 

5 or have served as military nurses, and supports programs 

6 to strengthen and increase the nursing workforce. 

Æ 


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