The Red Cross
More than 59,000 American nurses served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. Nurses worked closer to the front lines than ever before and served under fire in field hospitals and evacuation hospitals, on hospital trains and hospital ships, and as flight nurses on medical transport planes. The skill and dedication of these nurses contributed to the extremely low post-injury mortality rate among American military forces. Overall, fewer than 4 percent of the American soldiers who received medical care in the field or underwent evacuation died from wounds or disease (14).
Group of Army Nurses of the 10th Field Hospital.
[The Army Nurse Corps]
[The Army Nurse Corps]
Propaganda posters used to recruit Red Cross members
These images represent posters that were created to persuade women to join the American Red Cross during World War II. Many posters attempted to depict nurses as heavenly angels or "The Great Mother" to capture women's attention.