The first black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps since leaving the military in the 1940s has died. She was 104 years old.
Lt. Nancy Cullen, who retired as a major and died earlier this month in a New York nursing home, was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career. done
Known as “Lefty,” she was one of six siblings who served in the military, including a brother who was a famous Tuskegee Airman pilot. Tuskegee Airmen Inc. According to Lieutenant-Colonel’s biography on his website, he was killed in mid-air combat in 1945 in Austria. His remains have never been found.
“She was just an awesome person,” her nephew Chris Lieutenant told The Associated Press. “She never made waves when she was doing all this, before this. He never made a big deal of it. It was just happening.”
After the army was desegregated in 1948, Lieutenant-Culin initially joined the all-black 332nd Fighter Group as a nurse. He then joined the US Air Force after disbanding the 332nd Fighter Group, supporting the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
She set up hospital wards in Japan, helped evacuate French legionnaires from Vietnam and was on the first medical evacuation flight to Dien Bien Phu, where the French colonial army was defeated by Vietnamese troops more than 70 years ago. Tuskegee Airmen Inc. She retired as a chief nurse in 1965, according to the website.
From there, she served as a school nurse at Amityville Memorial High School in New York from 1971 to 1984, known for her line “the sky’s the limit,” according to a school district release. The Library Media Center is named in his honor.
He served in the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. from 1989 to 1991. She was also the first woman elected to the presidency.
“He led the way, and he kept all the doors open,” Chris Lafanant said. “She was just the first. But then she started going after someone else whenever and wherever possible.
Suffolk County Legislator Jason Richburg, who presented Lt.-Collin with a proclamation in 2022, remembered him as a “firecracker.”
“It’s a real honor to sit with him,” he said. “She was unapologetically hers, which was great. She was authentic. She was humble. She was direct in her wants and needs. She always told the great stories of her time. [and] his family.”
Like Chris Leffant, Richburg said she remembers not being one to highlight her outstanding accomplishments. “She was modest about her history. She said, ‘I was doing my part.’ As much of a hero as she is to her family, she wanted everyone to know that you can do more,” she said.
Lt. Cullen was born in 1920 in Goose Creek, South Carolina. One of 12 children, she was the granddaughter of a freed slave. His family left the South for Amityville, New York in 1923 – and he died there on January 8.
