[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 65 (Thursday, May 12, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E873-E874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE 103RD BIRTHDAY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY NURSE CORPS 
                    AND 100 YEARS OF SERVICE ON GUAM

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2011

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 103rd 
birthday of the United States Navy Nurse Corps, and their centennial 
anniversary of service on Guam. The Navy Nurse Corps has a long history 
in Guam and continues to be instrumental in supporting Guam's health 
care system by training local nurses and modernizing health care 
practices on the island. I would like to recognize and commend the Navy 
Nurse Corps's outstanding contributions and service to the United 
States Navy, our nation, and the people of Guam.
  Upon their arrival in 1911, three Navy nurses established the U.S. 
Naval Hospital School for Native Nurses on Guam. This school provided 
important nursing education and training to local nurses who cared for 
patients in acute care hospitals, public health village dispensaries, 
and in people's homes. By

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1941, 89 local, Navy-trained nurses had graduated from the school.
  The Navy Nurse Corps on Guam has also proved to be a critical part of 
the Navy's humanitarian response efforts in the region. In 1975, Navy 
Nurses played an important role in ``Operation New Life,'' which 
brought over 100,000 refugees from South Vietnam to Guam. In 1991, 
following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, Guam Navy 
Nurses supported ``Operation Fiery Vigil,'' which conducted the largest 
peacetime U.S. military evacuation in history, affecting more than 
20,000 military personnel and their families. Guam Navy Nurses also 
provided immediate, critical care as part of the medical teams that 
responded to Korean Airline Flight 801, which crashed in Nimitz Hill on 
Guam in 1997.
  Today, with more than 100 Navy Nurses on Guam, the Navy Nurse Corps 
continues to serve our local community by caring for our active duty 
service members, retirees, veterans, and their families at the U.S. 
Naval Hospital Guam, the Branch Clinic, and the VA Community Based 
Outpatient Clinic. They remain active in the civilian community, 
serving on various committees and projects, including the Guam Nurses 
Association, Guam Association of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, 
the Guam Diabetes Association, the Guam Lions Club, the American Cancer 
Society, and the Guam Memorial Hospital Volunteers Association.
  On behalf of the people of Guam, I express a sincere un dangluko na 
si Yu'os ma'ase to the men and women of the Navy Nurse Corps for 100 
years of exceptional service to our island and community.

                          ____________________