MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines and Sailors gathered May 12 at the Branch Medical Clinic for a cake-cutting ceremony celebrating the Navy Nurse Corps' 96th anniversary.
"Today we are celebrating who we are, where we came from and where we hope to go," said Cmdr. Rachel Cruiz, Station Branch Medical Clinic's senior nursing officer.
During the ceremony, Cruiz recalled the sacrifices made and the challenges faced by the predecessors of today's Navy Nurse Corps.
This organization of dedicated professionals has served in every major conflict since Congress authorized the establishment of a female Nurse Corps within the United States Navy, May 1908.
According to the United States Navy Web site, the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy were nurses. October of 1908 saw 20 women, who later came to be known as "The Sacred Twenty," appointed to the Corps and preparing for their first assignments at naval hospitals.
During World War I, the Navy nurses not only performed regular hospital and clinic duties, but also trained local nurses in U.S. overseas possessions, and the Navy's male enlisted medical personnel.
By the end of World War I, more than 1,550 nurses had served in naval hospitals and facilities in the United States and abroad.
According to the Web site, World War II brought tremendous growth in the number of nurses serving active duty - nearly 800 nurses by Nov. 1941.
It was also at this time that Navy nurses were recognized as commissioned officers.
"Our past certainly impacts our daily actions," said Cruiz. "As we continue to serve Marines, Sailors and other service members, we remember the nurses who have gone before us."
During the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, as well as Desert Storm and the current War on Terror, Navy nurses have continuously supplied quality care, said Cruiz.
"I see the Nurse Corps as part of a health care team," she said. "The team is made up of the patient and health care providers, and we have to work together to accomplish our mission."
The role that Navy nurses serve during peacetime is important too, noted Cruiz.
"It is very important for our active duty service members to be confident that their families are being given quality care," she said.
"Nurses today serve in many capacities," stated Cruiz. "We act as everything from nurse practitioners to midwives, anesthesiologists to women's health advisors and commanding officers to policy makers."
"It's really an honor to be a part of the Navy Nurse Corps," concluded Cruiz.