The following history is from an article in the Massachusetts Report on Nursing by Dr. Barbara Poremba, Professor Emeritus of Salem State University and Founder/Director of the Friends of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps WWII

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Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Establishment of the
                         ​US Cadet Nurse Corps of 1943                                             
                                   
​                                      by Dr. Barbara Poremba

        “They saved lives at home so others could save lives abroad”

Seventy-five years ago, in 1943, the United States was experiencing a critical shortage of nurses. With 1 out of 4 nurses having volunteered to serve in the armed services, the health care system was on the verge of collapse in the homeland.

Although the value of nurses had been identified in the care of soldiers in the World War I and by the highest rate of civilian mortality caused by the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 where a lack of trained nurses could be directly attributed to mortality, the number of nurses being produced could not keep up with the demands of the country.

In order to meet urgent needs, Representative Frances Payne Bolton of Ohio, a champion of nursing education, introduced legislation for the Nurse Training Act of 1943. She had seen first-hand how nurses made a positive impact on the health of the community while accompanying a public health nurse caring for people who lived in city tenements.

On July 1, 1943, The Bolton Act as it was called, established the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps under the U.S. Public Health Service and military. Founding Director of Nursing Education, Lucile Petry, RN was the first woman to hold such a high office as head of a division in the USPHS, reporting directly to the US Surgeon General Thomas Parran. Upon the insistence of the then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the Cadet Nurse Corps was amended to prevent racial discrimination allowing for 3,240 minorities to join the service as nurses in an era of segregation.

Once meeting accreditation and other standards, 86% or 1,125 of the 1,300 nursing schools in the country were accepted for participation in the nation’s first accelerated nursing education programs. Massachusetts had 58 schools of nursing accepted as cadet nurse training programs. Most offered 24-30 months of curriculum followed by 6 months of what might be called a nurse internship as a Senior Cadet.

Because of a very successful recruiting campaign, 180,000 young women between 17 and 35 with at least a high school diploma and having good mental and physical health answered the call to duty and voluntarily enrolled in the US Cadet Nurse Corps avoiding any need for a nursing draft. They were issued grey and red trimmed military uniforms and beret and entered intensive nursing training, pledging their “service in essential nursing for the duration of the war.”

By the end of the war in 1945, the US Cadet Nurse Corps was providing 80 percent of the nursing care in U.S. hospitals. The Corps remained active until 1948 with a total of about 125,000 women completing their training and caring for wounded soldiers on their return to military hospitals. After their discharge from service, some went on to enlist in the Army or Navy. Others who went into civilian service provided nursing care in their communities for an average of 28 years.

Although the US Cadet Nurse Corps operated under the U.S. Public Health Service and military, it is the only uniformed service that was not given veteran status on discharge. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to rectify this oversight but all have failed.

In Sept of 2018, The Friends of the U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps WWII was formed to pass NEW legislation, "U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act." It was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as HR7258 and in the U.S. Senate as Senate Bill 3729.  There is no financial or VA benefits. These women of the Greatest Generation only request to be honored as Veterans of WWII with an American flag and a gravesite plaque forever marking their proud service to our country during wartime in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps.  

• 36 Points: How the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps WWII Meets the Criteria for Veteran Status​​
• Militarization of the PHS Commissioned Corps
• Militarization of the USCNC
• Hx of USPHSCC
• U.S. Cadet Nurses Corps Members by State
• US Cadet Nurse Corps Education Website
• A Salute to the Cadet Nurses - 50 year Anniversary
• Honorary Veteran Status for Merchant Mariners 1945-1946
• Merchant Mariners struggle for Veteran Status
• Judes Ruling for Merchant Mariners
• Cadet Nurse March
• Cadet Nurse Hymn
• 1945 Testimony to congress
• Information Program for CN 1943
• Reward Unlimited:1944 film
• 1945 Bill to Draft Nurses

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