[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 808 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 808

Recognizing the life and legacy of the first woman to achieve the rank 
        of general in the United States Military, Anna Mae Hays.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2018

 Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire (for herself and Mrs. Walorski) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the life and legacy of the first woman to achieve the rank 
        of general in the United States Military, Anna Mae Hays.

Whereas Anna Mae Hays was born in Buffalo, New York, on February 16, 1920, to 
        her parents Daniel Joseph McCabe and the former Mattie Humphrey;
Whereas as a young woman growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Hays practiced 
        nursing by tying bandages around the legs of a kitchen table where her 
        parents, Salvation Army officers, often invited the ill to eat dinner;
Whereas at the age of 22 in May 1942, Hays joined the United States Army in 
        Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to serve as a nurse during World War II;
Whereas Hays deployed to Assam, India, where she helped treat some of the more 
        than 49,000 patients taken to the 20th General Hospital, including 
        troops injured in combat in Burma, and those who required amputations 
        inside operating rooms constructed from bamboo;
Whereas Hays endured austere living conditions, weathered monsoon season, burned 
        leeches from her skin, and placed herself at risk for deadly diseases, 
        including malaria and dengue fever, for two and one-half years during 
        World War II;
Whereas Hays completed her initial commitment and decided to continue her 
        service in the Army;
Whereas Hays answered her country's call again when the Korean war broke out on 
        June 25, 1950;
Whereas Hays landed on the shores of Inchon, South Korea, amid a United States 
        naval bombardment of North Korean forces;
Whereas Hays helped set up one of the first military hospitals, the 4th Field 
        Hospital, in Inchon, South Korea;
Whereas Hays worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to help render medical 
        aid to more than 25,000 patients by physically assisting in creating 
        sleeping quarters and performing her duties through frigid weather and 
        supply shortages;
Whereas Hays reported for duty as the head emergency room nurse at what was then 
        named Walter Reed Army Medical Center in May 1956 and, in the following 
        month, was assigned to care for President Dwight D. Eisenhower 
        throughout his 23-day hospital stay;
Whereas Hays earned a bachelor's degree from Teachers College at Columbia 
        University in 1958;
Whereas Hays was sworn in as the 13th Chief of the Army Nurse Corps on September 
        1, 1967;
Whereas Hays traveled to Vietnam three times to assess the state of nursing 
        during the Vietnam war, oversaw a drastic increase in the number of 
        nurses deployed overseas, and helped modernize Army nursing practices;
Whereas Hays earned a master's degree from the Catholic University of America in 
        Washington, DC, in 1968;
Whereas Hays paved a career path for other women in the military by recommending 
        the end to a policy that automatically discharged those who became 
        pregnant;
Whereas, on June 11, 1970, Hays was promoted to brigadier general, the first 
        woman in the United States Military to attain the rank of general 
        officer;
Whereas Hays recommended the removal of a policy that prevented women with young 
        children from joining the Army Nurse Corps;
Whereas Hays worked tirelessly on behalf of Army nurses, relieving nursing 
        shortages, increasing educational opportunities, bettering the status of 
        and gaining greater peer recognition for nurses, enforcing stronger 
        practice standards, and enhancing utilization;
Whereas Hays retired in 1971 after more than 29 years of service with many 
        awards and honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the 
        Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; and
Whereas Hays' life and legacy cleared a path for women in the military to obtain 
        high ranks and helped create a stronger force for defending our Nation: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes the life and 
legacy of the first woman to achieve the rank of general in the United 
States Military, Anna Mae Hays.
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