Second Lieutenant
Ruth M. Gardiner
US Army Nurse Corps (1942 - 1943)

      On 26 July 1943, Lieutenant Gardiner was killed in an air crash while on a MEDEVAC mission near  Naknek, Alaska.  She was the first nurse to lose her life in combat theater of operations during World War II.  During the previous 15 months, Lieutenant Gardiner was one of six AIREVAC nurses in Alaska that complied 3,500,000 air miles, evacuating 2,518 cases, all without injury or loss of a single patient.  These sick and wounded resulted from the Japanese occupation of the Aleutians in World War II.

    On 9 July 1944, Gardiner General Hospital, Chicago, Illinois was dedicated to Lieutenant Ruth M. Gardiner.  Though no longer in use, this was the first Army hospital named for a women or nurse.

In 1963, building 4066 was dedicated as Gardiner Hall, a residence for nurses at Fort Wainwright.  After extensive renovation, it was rededicated in 1990 as the Command Headquarters Building, United States Army Medical Department Activity—Alaska.