World War I Army Nurse Corps

Military Service Report

A Military Service Report is being prepared for over 21,400 members of the Army Nurse Corps who served in World War I and upon completion will be made available for purchase. To search for a member of the Army Nurse Corps type a name in the search box.

Supreme Sacrifice Report

There were 322 members of the Army Nurse Corps who died in service during World War I.  The Supreme Sacrifice Report is being prepared and upon completion will be available for purchase. To search for a member of the Army Nurse Corps type a name in the search box.

The Army Nurse Corps (1901-1923)

The Army Nurse Corps was established on February 2, 1901, with 202 charter members appointed as Army nurses in the Regular Army for a three-year period.  The American Red Cross was designated as the primary source of reserve nurses for the Army and by 1913 there were over 4,000 volunteer nurses eligible to be called into active military service in time of war, epidemic, or other crisis as required.

Dora E. Thompson was appointed the fourth Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps on September 22, 1914, and would serve until December 29, 1919.

The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917, and there were 403 nurses on active duty, including 170 Reserve nurses who had been ordered to duty in twelve Army hospitals in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.  These Army hospitals were in support of troops ordered in 1916 to secure the southern border.

Superintendent Thompson increased the Army Nurse Corps to 21,480 nurses serving on Armistice Day November 11, 1918, in the United States, Europe, and the Philippines.  More than ten thousand nurses had served in overseas areas in France, Belgium, England, Italy, and Servia, as well as in Siberia, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  Army nurses were assigned to casualty clearing stations and surgical teams in field hospitals as well as to mobile, evacuation, base, camp, and convalescent hospitals.  They also served on hospital trains and transport ships.

Secretary of War Newton D. Baker awarded Superintendent Dora E. Thompson the Distinguished Service Medal in November 1919.  She resigned as superintendent on December 29, 1919. Julia Catherine Stimson was appointed the fifth Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps on December 30, 1919.

Members of the Army Nurse Corps were stationed with the Army occupation forces in Germany until 1923 when the US Army returned to the United States.