Anna Mae Hays - First Woman General

[uniformcollector]

Yesterday, Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays passed away at the age of 97. She made history as the first woman to be promoted to flag rank. I had the honor of meeting the General a few years ago and spoke to her numerous times on the phone--she was incredibly kind, down to earth and truly patriotic. Rest in peace, General.

 

[huntssurplus]

RIP

[cutiger83]

She had an AMAZING career and did a lot to help with advances for women serving in the military. RIP.

 

Following her high school studies, Hays enrolled at the Allentown General Hospital School of Nursing, from which she graduated in 1941. In May 1942 she joined the Army Nurse Corps, and was sent to India in January 1943, to the town of Ledo in Assam. She served in the PTO until the end of the war.

 

In 1950 she was deployed to Inchon to serve in the Korean War. She was posted to a field hospital for seven months, and later described the conditions in the hospital there as worse than those in India in WWII, due to the cold temperatures in the operating room and a lack of supplies.

 

A succession of academic posts followed including a stint as head nurse of the emergency room at Walter Reed Hospital. During this time she was selected as one of three private nurses for President Dwight D Eisenhower after he became ill with ileitis; on her retirement she said that this experience was one of the most memorable of her nursing career. In July 1967 she was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and on September 1 of the same year she was appointed chief of the Corps, a position she held until her retirement on August 31, 1971.

 

During the Vietnam War Hays travelled to Vietnam three times to monitor American nurses stationed there. She also managed the development of new training programs and a significant increase in the number of nurses serving overseas.

 

Hays was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on June 11, 1970, after being appointed by President Nixon on May 15 of that year.

 

Hays made a number of recommendations to the military regarding the treatment of women which were accepted into policy, including to not automatically discharge officers for becoming pregnant and to not determine appointments to the Army Nurse Corps Reserve based on the age of the nurse's dependents. In addition, regulations were changed to allow spouses of female service members to claim similar privileges to spouses of male service members.

 

Her awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with OLC, Army Commendation Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one service star, WWII Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal with OLC, Korean Service Medal with 3 service stars, United Nations Korea Medal.

[hbtcoveralls]

She was from Allentown PA which is close to my old hometown

 

She has a display at the Lehigh county museum as well

 

An amazing career for an amazing officer

 

Tom Bowers