Tag: Colonel Florence Blanchfield

August 14, 1945: VJ Day

On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Victory over Japan—or VJ—Day was celebrated across the United States and in every West Virginia town. The Mountain State had contributed greatly to the war cause. West Virginia had the fifth-highest percentage of servicemen, with nearly 6,000 sacrificing their lives.

Many West Virginians distinguished themselves throughout the war. “Woody” Williams earned the Medal of Honor for his valor on Iwo Jima, “Spanky” Roberts became the first African-American cadet in the Army Air Corps, and “Chuck” Yeager shot down five German planes in one day.

Some 2,000 West Virginia women served in the armed forces. Winifred Love commanded the first contingent of WAVES overseas, Dolores Dowling was among the first American nurses to land in Sicily after D-Day, Florence Blanchfield was superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps, and Ruby Bradley nearly starved to death in a concentration camp—while nursing other prisoners.

West Virginians also supplied more than 600 million tons of coal to fuel the war; established the world’s largest synthetic rubber plant; and produced steel, gun barrels, and ships.

May 12, 1971: Nurse Col. Florence Blanchfield Dies at 87

Colonel Florence Blanchfield died in Washington on May 12, 1971, at age 87. She was born in Shepherdstown in 1884, the daughter of a nurse and a stonecutter. After training as a nurse in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1917 and served in France during World I.

Between the wars, Blanchfield served in various army hospitals and in the surgeon general’s office. She was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1942 and became superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps a year later. During World War II, she oversaw expansion of the corps from 1,000 to 57,000, the largest group of nurses ever to serve on active duty.

After the war, she played an important role in passage of the Army-Navy Nurses Act. It allowed female nurses to hold full rank and receive the same rights, privileges, and pay as commissioned male officers. In 1947, Blanchfield became the first woman to hold a permanent commission in the regular U.S. army. She retired the same year. 

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