Haze, Anna May

Young years

Anna May Violet McCabe was born on February 16, 1920 in Buffalo , New York ^{[1] [2] [3]} . She was the middle child of three children in the family of Daniel Joseph McCabe II (1881-1939) and Mattie Florence Humphrey (1885-1961) ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} . The father was from Ireland , and the mother was from Wales ^{[6] [4] [5]} . Family ^{[3] [7]} : elder brother - Daniel Joseph III (1917–1981) ^[8] , younger sister - Catherine Evangeline (1922–2009), in marriage Fritschman ^[9] .

Anna May's parents were Salvation Army ^{[2] [3] [10] [11]} . Her family often moved from place to place in the New York and eastern Pennsylvania , including living in for four years, and in 1932, when Anne May turned 12 years old, settled in Allentown , Lehigh district ^{[1] [2] [3] [12] [13]} . Parents raised in their children a commitment to serving society and self-sacrifice ^{[6] [10]} , in particular, during the years of depression , the poor and hungry invited home for lunch ^{[7] [14]} . As a child, Anna May bandaged the legs of tables and chairs with bandages, planning to become a nurse in the future ^{[12] [14]} . She studied , which she graduated in 1937 ^{[2] [12]} . Anna May had a musical talent, played the piano , organ and horn , wanted to go to the Juilliard school and get a musical education, but she didn’t have enough money for her family, but she still had a love of music ^{[2] [3] [ 12]} .

Military Medical Careers

In 1939, McCabe enrolled in , which she graduated in 1941 with honors and with a ^{[1] [2] [7] [12] [ 16]} . After that, she stayed to work in the hospital and, like many other nurses, joined the Red Cross as a volunteer ^{[2] [3] [10]} . In 1941, a few months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor , McCabe drove 60 miles by to Philadelphia and enrolled in the United States Army , along with her sister, who lives with a widowed mother, and enrolled in the United States Army Marine Corps ^{[2] [3] [7] [12] [17]} . Upon reaching the age of 22 years, in May 1942 she was enrolled in active military service with the rank of second lieutenant ^{[2] [7] [11] [16] [17]} . Intending to serve her country, at the same time as the wave of patriotism growing in the newspapers, McCabe clearly understood what she was doing in wartime , but she probably didn’t imagine how successful her career would be ^{[7] [13] [17] [18]} .

McCabe began her service in the reserve unit of the ^[19] . In its composition, she traveled by train to Clayborn Base, Louisiana , where she underwent basic military training, but also showed her musical talent by playing the piano on the weekly church services ^{[1] [3] [7] [10 ] [13]} . Together with her fellow nurses, McCabe expected a secondment to Europe , but she only received the true destination at the last moment ^[7] . In January 1943, she was sent to India , where she served in the operating room of the 20th field hospital in the city of in Assam , a thousand miles north of Calcutta ^{[10] [13] [17] [20]} . The hospital stood at the beginning of the Ledo road and was designed to provide medical assistance to soldiers engaged in its construction through the jungle in the direction of Burma to with the help of “ ” who raided the Japanese positions ^{[2] [3 ] [17] [21]} . McCabe served in the Sino-Burmese-Indian Theater of War ^{[14] [22]} , where she met such famous personalities as Generals Joseph Stilwell and , Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek and British Admiral Louis Mountbetten , ^[12] . Living and working conditions were rather primitive: bamboo huts, various diseases, including dengue fever , malaria and dysentery , invasion of cockroaches , leeches and snakes , especially during the ^{[3] [10] [12] [ 12] 17] [18] [23]} . During the two years of work through the hospital, that is, the hands of Anna May and another 31st nurse, more than 49 thousand patients passed ^{[6] [10] [17] [18]} , gangrene and amputation were not uncommon ^{[3] [24]} .

After two years of service in India, in April 1945, McCabe was promoted to ^{[2] [10] [18] [26]} . The war ended when McCabe was on vacation in the United States, after which she decided to remain in the Corps service, although she wanted to become a flight attendant , who also required nursing knowledge ^{[2] [3] [13] [17] [18]} . For twelve hours a day and 6 days a week, she worked as an administrator in the operating room, and then, as an older sister, at General Hospital, based at , New Jersey ^{[2] [3] [10 ] [13]} . In January 1947, McCabe was promoted to captain ^{[2] [10]} . In recognition of her organizational skills, she was appointed administrator of the obstetric department at in Phoenixville , Pa. , And then became an older sister at the clinic in Virginia ^{[27] [3] [10] [13]} . McCabe attended the University of Pennsylvania and attended neonatology courses, where she got acquainted with new methods of caring for premature babies , and then was accepted at Columbia University , but her further curricula were interrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War ^{[2] [10]} .

In August 1950, McCabe was sent to Incheon , on the eve of the Incheon operation , marked by the victory under the command of General Douglas MacArthur ^{[28] [6] [3] [13] [29]} . She entered the location of the 4th field hospital at Fort Benning , Georgia , which landed on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula in September of the same year ^{[30] [10] [12]} . After a swift enemy offensive , in February 1951, in the middle of the night, she and her comrades were evacuated by train to Daegu , waiting for the entire trip to blow up a railroad overpass ^{[31] [17] [18]} . In Korea , according to McCabe's recollections, conditions were even worse than in India during the Second World War, including due to low temperatures in the operating room, lack of basic tools, lack of firewood for heating and even water ^{[30] [7] [10 ] [17]} . Nevertheless, it was in Korea that McCabe witnessed the introduction of the latest advances in the field of medicine, from , antibiotics and painkillers to the rapid evacuation of wounded soldiers by helicopters ^{[3] [10] [17]} . Thus, from September 1950 to July 1951, a team of 32 nurses, including Anna May, was able to provide assistance to more than 25 thousand patients ^{[6] [10]} , including those suffering from severe injuries and hemorrhagic fever ^{[ 12]} . During their stay in Daegu, 700 people were admitted to the 400-seat hospital one night only ^{[31] [18]} , sometimes there was simply not enough time to clean the caked mud from some of the wounded, and therefore had to be operated as it is ^[26] . As in India, McCabe helped the and played at the field harmonium at weddings and church services, which sometimes took place at the front line ^{[28] [13]} .

After spending seven months in Korea, in April 1951, McCabe was transferred to the , where she worked on simplifying administration and supply, as well as improving patient care ^{[28] [32] [10] [13]} . A year later, in April 1952, she was assigned to the post of administrator of obstetric and pediatric departments at , Pennsylvania ^{[28] [32] [10] [13]} . First in her class, McCabe graduated from Fort Sam Houston , Texas , nursing service administration, then in May 1956 she was appointed elder sister in in Washington, DC ^{[32] [10] [12] [13] [18]} . In June 1956, as a member of a team of three personal nurses, she nursed President Dwight Eisenhower , who was hospitalized for 23 days and operated on because of , inflammation of the small intestine ^{[28] [3] [7] [10] [18] [33]} . Sitting by his bedside, McCabe Haze became close friends with the president, subsequently stayed at in Gettysburg , and their friendship continued until his death in 1969 ^{[7] [10] [12] [18]} . She later said that getting to know the president was one of the most memorable moments in her career ^[33] .

In 1957, Haze enrolled at Columbia University , graduating in 1958 with a 's ^{[28] [2] [10] [16]} . After that, she was appointed senior sister of the radioisotope clinic , but was not satisfied with this position due to the lack of personal contact and direct work with patients and soon transferred to the post of administrator of the clinic, where she worked for seven months ^{[32 ] [10]} . After the death of his mother, Haze petitioned for a business trip to Korea, where she arrived in October 1960, becoming the eldest sister in the 11th evacuation hospital in Busan ^{[32] [10] [13]} . At the beginning of 1962, she returned to the post of administrator at the Reed Center, and then became one of only two nurses who graduated from the management school of the US Army based at , Virginia ^[10] .

In 1963, Haze was promoted to lieutenant colonel , while most nurses left the service in the rank of major ^{[32] [18]} . In May of the same year, she went to work at the office of Colonel Margaret Harper , head of the Corps, where she worked on a variety of issues, including the obligatory issuance of uniforms to army nurses ^[10] . After Harper resigned and Colonel Mildred Clark joined her, on September 1, 1963, Haze was appointed Assistant Chief of the Corps, replacing Major Harriet Dowley ^{[34] [35] [10] [18]} . After the start of the Vietnam War in 1965, Hayes’s organizational, administrative, and leadership skills were extremely in demand for assessing patient care, the medical care situation and the subsequent improvement of the Corps, which at that time consisted of only 2,000 nurses ^{[32] [3 ] [10]} . To this end, she personally traveled to the front three times in Vietnam ^{[32] [3] [10] [18]} . At the same time, Haze, along with Clark, played an important role in creating the Walter Reed Nursing Institute, qualified nurses and improving teaching ^{[32] [3] [10]} . In July 1966, she was promoted to the rank of colonel ^{[32] [10] [18]} . On August 31, Haze handed over the powers of an assistant corps chief to lieutenant colonel Gladys Johnson ^{[34] [35]} .

On September 1, 1967, Haze was appointed head of the Nursing Corps, replacing Clark and becoming the 13th in this position ^{[36] [37] [32] [10] [16] [18]} . The commencement of Colonel Haze’s tenure was marked by the fact that on November 8 of the same year, in the White House, in the presence of members of the Nursing Corps and its president, Lyndon Johnson, signed 90-130, which eliminates barriers against service to the highest officer ranks ^{[38] [10] [17] [29] [39]} . At the peak of Haze’s career, there were 7,000 professional nurses under her leadership, including 2,000 civilians, as well as 10,000 paraprofessionals ^[11] . Haze was actively engaged in the development of new curricula and long-term development priorities for the Corps, focusing on improving clinical practice, professional development and keeping officers in the service for as long as possible ^{[10] [18]} . She initiated a change in the army policy regarding the , which in 1970 canceled the rules on the automatic dismissal of officers in pregnancy and on limiting the definition of nurses to the Corps reserve depending on the age of their children ^{[28] [3 ] [10] [20]} . In addition, the spouses of female soldiers were allowed to have the same privileges as those of male military personnel ^{[28] [10] [18]} .

In 1968, Haze received a ’s from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC ^{[28] [32] [10] [16]} . At that time, under her leadership, work was carried out to significantly increase the number of nurses working in military conflict zones abroad, which was especially relevant in the context of the “ Tet offensive ” of January 1968, which in terms of the number of casualties was the bloodiest battle for the entire period of the Vietnam War ^{[ 10] [18]} . The nursing recruitment strategy has also been improved, during which a nursing school was established in each district at the offices of the ^[10] . Haze also came up with the idea of ​​sending army nurses to civilian schools to get diplomas and doctoral degrees, in particular, she organized several nursing courses and established an anesthesia master program sponsored by the University of Hawaii and the , Hawaii ^[28] . A year later, thanks to Haze’s efforts, the number of undergraduate nurses increased from 11 percent to 42 percent ^[10] . Her work increased the prestige and professionalism of the Nursing Corps, contributing to the growth of respect for nurses and women, both in the army and throughout the country ^[17] . In 1971, Haze was recognized as the best officer in the Nursing Corps and received the award by Anita Newcombe McGee ^{[41] [42] [35] [10]} , and also won awards at Columbia and Catholic Universities, an honorary Dr. ^[42] .

On May 15, 1970, Hayes was promoted to by the historic decision of President Richard Nixon ^{[37] [42] [43]} . Nixon was the first of the presidents to take advantage of this right for the first time since the adoption of the relevant law in 1967 and for the entire 196-year ^[11] . Haze found out about her promotion from journalists, but didn’t immediately believe it ^[43] . The title award ceremony was held on June 11, 1970 at the Pentagon in the presence of Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland and Secretary of the Army Stanley Reso , members of Congress, officials, and brother and sister Hayes ^{[19] [10] [13] [44]} . She became the first woman and first nurse in the history of the US Army, elevated to a brigadier general; the second after Hayes was Elizabeth Hosington ^{[45] [16] [20] [46]} . In this case, the assignment of titles to them took place during one ceremony, however, Hayes got her stars a few minutes earlier than Husington in alphabetical order and, therefore, "technically" is considered the first woman - Brigadier General ^{[14] [17] [20]} . General Westmoreland attached silver stars to Hase's epaulettes along with the ^{[47] [42] [10] [14]} . At the request of the widow of Eisenhower, Mamie , these were the same stars that her husband received in 1941, when he became a brigadier general ^{[48] [3]} . In her address to the audience, Haze said that these general stars are evidence of "the devoted, selfless, and often heroic efforts of army nurses around the world since 1901 in times of peace and war" ^[13] , citing Albert Einstein as a creed of serving his country: “Every day I have to remind myself that I belong to the lives of other people and that I have to make such efforts so that I can give them the same things that they gave me” ^[10] . Westmoreland kissed Hayes on the lips, jokingly beginning the tradition of congratulating female generals, but also seriously noted that she and Hizington were the first women commanding officers in the West since the days of Joan of Arc ^{[47] [3] [14] [20] [29] [44]} . After that, Huizington and Haze became the media personas, appearing on television shows by and David Frost , the popular shows Today and " ^[49] .

On August 31, 1971, Haze retired at the age of 51 after 30 years of military service, three wars and four years as a Corps Chief ^{[42] [38] [32] [10] [12] [21]} . She retired at the same time as Huizington ^[50] . At a farewell ceremony at the Pentagon office in Westmoreland, the general awarded Haze the Army Medal for Distinguished Service , the highest non-combat military award of the United States ^{[51] [10] [12]} . In her speech on that day, she particularly said: “I realized that when I drove about 60 miles by tram from Allentown to Philadelphia in 1942, I became part of the best medical unit of the Second World War ... and there is something special is to be an army nurse ” ^[12] . Brigadier General ^{[36] [52] [53] [54]} became the next corps head after Haze.

Personal life

In July 1956, Anna May McCabe married William Hayes, director of in Washington, who provide jobs for people with disabilities ^{[3] [7] [12]} . They met when William was involved in the affairs of persons with disabilities in the Reed center ^[3] ; he also worked as a dean of student affairs ^[38] and was a specialist in education at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare ^[11] . In marriage, Haze took her husband's name ^[14] . She was widowed in 1963, six years after her marriage ^{[32] [7]} . Последующее десятилетие ознаменовалось большими карьерными успехами в жизни Хейз, однако было омрачено смертью супруга ^[32] . На следующий день после присвоения звания Хейз встретила в парикмахерской жену генерала Уэстморленда, Китси, которая пожелала ей снова выйти замуж, отметив: «Я хочу, чтобы хоть кто-то узнал, что значит состоять в браке с генералом» ^{[47] [3] [13] [14]} . Тем не менее Хейз больше никогда не выходила замуж ^[55] , не имела детей ^[14] , но у неё было много племянников и племянниц ^[3] .

Хейз не была феминисткой , но, став , послужила символом нарождающегося ^{[14] [24]} . Впоследствии в Армии США появились и женщины — ^[20] : первой в 2008 году стала Энн Данвуди ^{[56] [57] [58]} .

After the resignation of Haze settled in his native Allentown, each year leaving for a few months to rest in Marbella , Spain ^{[42] [32] [10] [33]} . She lived in an apartment overlooking the Potomac and collected paintings ^[11] . Hayes’s life was filled with music and the church, helping others and the problems of his hometown, as well as talking to his Corps mates ^{[42] [32] [10] [33]} . In 1975 she became an honored guest at the celebration of the 74th anniversary of the founding of the Corps ^[34] . In 1978, Haze was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the ^{[59] [60]} . In 1995, Haze, along with brigadier generals Nancy Adams and attended the opening ceremony of President Bill Clinton’s memorial to in Arlington , Virginia, the first national monument in honor of women soldiers ^{[61] [62]} .

Haze left memories of life and service, recorded in 1983 on the oral history program of senior officers of the US Army ^{[15] [25] [40] [63] [64] [65]} . Her archive is kept in at the Library of Congress ^[66] .

In recent years, Haze lived in a Knollwood near Washington, DC, but she always visited Allentown every year ^[12] .

Death and Funeral

Anna May Violet McCabe Haze died on January 7, 2018 in Nollwood (Washington, DC) from complications due to a heart attack at the age of 97 ^{[3] [12] [33]} . She bequeathed to bury herself next to her father at the Grandview Cemetery in , despite the fact that she had the right to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery ^[12] by status and military rank. The funeral was held on January 12 with full military honors under the salute of the ^{[67] [68]} ; relatives asked instead of offering flowers to make a donation to the Salvation Army ^[69] . By decision of the governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolfe, in memory of Hayes , the state flags over the Capitol and all Commonwealth agencies were lowered for three days ^[70] .

The name of Haze is the nursing education program at ^[72] . Some of her personal items, including military uniforms, are exhibited in ^{[12] [73]} . In 2012, the name Hayes was entered into the Lehigh County Hall of Fame ^{[74] [75] [76] [77]} . In 2015, the Copley-Northampton bridge was named after her on the border of the Lehigh and Northampton counties ^[78] . In 2017, at the ceremony on the day of the veterans Haze was given a blanket "Flag of Valor" ^{[12] [79]} .

• Anna Haze (Neopr.) . Find a grave .