2/28/2012 - FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (AFNS) -- An operating room nurse in North Carolina during the early days of World War II would become the first African-American nurse commissioned as a lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps and the first nurse to become part of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
Della H. Rainey was born in Suffolk, Virginia, on January 10, 1912. A graduate of the Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in Durham, N.C., Rainey, in civilian life, had been the operating room supervisor at Lincoln Hospital in Durham.
She was the first African-American nurse to enter the Army Nurse Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was promoted to chief nurse at Fort Bragg in 1942 before a transfer to the station hospital at Tuskegee Air Field, Ala. When a chief nurse job opened up at Fort Huachuca's station hospital in 1943, she filled it, but soon moved on to Camp Beale, Calif. After the war she served in the occupation force in Japan and retired from the Army as a major, the highest rank to be achieved by any African-American nurse in World War II.
As a lieutenant serving at Tuskegee Army Airfield, she was appointed Chief Nurse, Army Nurse Corps in 1942, the first African American to be so appointed. She later served as Chief Nurse at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Rainey was promoted to captain in 1945. After the war, she was assigned to head the nursing staff at the station hospital at Camp Beale. In 1946, she was promoted to major and served a tour of duty in Japan. Major Rainey retired in 1978.
Today, there is a Della H. Rainey Nursing Scholarship that was established by the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Foundation and the National Black Nurses Association for nursing students enrolled in at least their sophomore year at an accredited BSN degree program.
Comments
2/29/2012 5:21:12 PM ET Mr. Slusarski: What's the point of your comment? If you're of the opinion that these types of facts or AF History items are too minority focused or too race biased simply close your window or tab and move on.The Air Force does a pretty good job of recognizing individuals and groups who have defeated stereo types such as WASP and Tuskegee Airmen. These type of articles are eye opening into our past when great opportunities weren't available to every young man and woman who wanted to serve their country.
Capt Adams, San Antonio
2/28/2012 10:13:01 PM ET So who was the first White-American nurse?
