Today my walk was dedicated in honor of:
Army Veteran Anita McGee, Age 75 of WA.
Died Oct. 5, 1940
Veteran of the Spanish American War
Medical Pioneer. Born Anita Newcomb, she was the first woman US Army Surgeon and founder of the US Army Nurse Corps. After earning her doctor of medicine degree from George Washington University in 1892, she completed an internship at the Women’s Clinic in Washington, D.C. and studied gynecology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Dr. McGee was named acting Assistant Surgeon General of the US Army, making her the first and only woman permitted to wear an officer’s uniform. She helped the US Navy establish a nursing corps and in 1899, wrote a manual on nursing for the military. She was instrumental in organizing the first 1,600 nurses who served during the conflict and wrote the Army Reorganization Act of 1901, which established the Army Nurse Corps as a permanent unit. In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, she offered her services to the Japanese government. She was designated with the rank of Superior Nurse Army officer and the Japanese government honored her with the Imperial Order of the Sacred Crown. In civilian life, she continued her studies in eugenics and lectured on a variety of medical subjects, including women in the military. She also lectured on hygiene at the University of California.
We had a great 10.42 Mile walk this morning. We walked out in the country and we watched the beautiful sunrise come up over Crossville. We stopped to the buffalo for a few min then continued our walk. We stopped down town at the War Memorial Park and then walked over by the high school . I want to thank Compass Realty Group for flying our beautiful colors. I want to thank everyone who honked, waved, and saluted in helping me honor this hero. We had 182 honks this morning. Thank You !
Let us never forget Army Veteran Anita McGee
