Navy ship named in honor of one of service’s first nurses

[Boats]

Navy ship named in honor of one of service’s first nurses
By: Hunter Boyce - The Atlanta Journal & American Military News - 02-25-23
Re: https://americanmilitarynews.com/202...-first-nurses/

Photo of the ship: On site.
Name: USS Lenah S. Higbee dressed for the ceremony. (Michael Duhe/US Navy/Released)

The USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, a guided-missile destroyer, was recently launched by the United States Navy. The ship, christened in 2021, is named after one of the U.S. Navy’s first ever nurses.

Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee entered service in 1908 as part of the “Sacred Twenty,” the U.S. Navy’s first nurses. Within three years, she had gained leadership of the corps as the forerunner of today’s Director of Nurse Corps.

Rear Admiral Cynthia Kuehner served as the representative of the Chief of Naval Operations at the ship’s christening, where he spoke about what Higbee means to the Nurse Corps and Navy Medicine.

“As the 26th Director of the Navy Nurse Corps I recognize that I am here in no small part because of the vision, initiative and conspicuous achievements of this great warship’s namesake,” Kuehner said. “As the second Superintendent she led the Navy Nurse Corps with awe inspiring distinction. In this evening’s ceremony we celebrate her legacy. We honor her service. And we ensure that the permanence of her indomitable spirit is enshrined and revered by all who behold her.”

Higbee’s care for thousands of casualties in World War I and during the so-called Spanish Flu epidemic that followed ultimately earned her a Navy Cross.

“Lenah Higbee understood in the context of World War I and the influenza pandemic of 1918 that nursing’s presence on the front and in the fight is as essential to victory as any other element of modern warfare,” Kuehner added. “With uncommon vision and valor Superintendent Higbee pursued credible standing for the all-female Navy Nurse Corps, fighting within the institution against overt discrimination and for the common basic features of military service including pay, rank, uniforms and even housing.”
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Personal note: Well done Ladies - It seems in all War's their are Nurse's who
are always there to take care of the wounded. My - Step Mother was a Major
in the US Army during WWII - Her name was Armeda - She didn't talk much
about it but did say she danced with Micky Rooney at one of his overseas
trips during WWII. My real Mother [Rose Marie Sholestrum] was a switch
board operator for the military and also did paintings. Both are gone now
but both contributed to the war's in one way or another like many other
women did in factories or nursing and often times cooked food for those
in hospitals. They also work making war materials since the men were
out of country fighting in lands around the globe. They were a big
part of the war's and USO's who get little credit for their efforts &
sometimes their sacrifice's. GOD BLESS YOU ALL you are not forgotten!
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