Nurses are…monumental

Did you know that Arlington National Cemetery houses not one but two tributes to nurses?  The Virginia memorial park honors and celebrates the bravery of nurses who served in the armed forces. Nurses, we salute you!
In the Fall 2013 issue of Scrubs, we gave you a few details about the monuments; now, learn more about them below:

Nurses Memorial:

“Against a background of evergreens, the heroic size white marble figure looks out upon the Army, Navy and Air Force nurses who so valiantly earned their right to lie at Arlington. The granite statue of a nurse in uniform, sculptured by Frances Rich, honors the nurses who served in the U.S. armed forces in World War I, many of whom rest among the hundreds of nurses buried in Section 21–also called the ‘Nurses Section.'”

Spanish-American War Nurses Monument:

“The Spanish-American War was the first war involving the United States in which nurses were assigned as a special, quasi-military unit. The Society of Spanish-American War Nurses dedicated a monument to the memory of those brave women volunteers who nursed the wounded and sick during the Spanish-American War. Many of the nurses who served and lost their lives during the war are now buried near the monument in Section 21 of Arlington National Cemetery. The Maltese cross, the insignia of the Society of Spanish-American War Nurses, atop the large granite stone is dedicated to the memory of their ‘comrades.'”