Sharon Ann Lane

Sharon Ann Lane. Vietnam War. Ms. Lane joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve on April 18, 1968. She completed her training at Fort Sam Houston on June 14, 1968, and reported for duty at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado, just 3 days later. She worked there until April 24, 1969, when she reported to Travis Air Force Base, California, with orders sending her to Vietnam., 1LT Lane arrived at the 312th Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai on April 29, 1969. She was originally assigned to the Intensive Care Unit, but was reassigned to the Vietnamese Ward. This work was often physically and emotionally challenging, yet Lane repeatedly declined transfers to another ward. She worked five days a week, twelve hours a day in Ward 4, and spent her off-duty time taking care of the most critically injured American soldiers in the Surgical ICU. , On the morning of June 8, 1969, the 312th Evacuation Hospital was struck by a salvo of 122mm rockets fired by the Viet Cong. One rocket struck between Wards 4A and 4B, killing two people and wounding another twenty-seven. Among the dead was 1Lt Lane, who died instantly of fragmentation wounds to the chest. Sharon Lane was the only American nurse killed as a direct result of hostile fire. , For her service in Vietnam, 1Lt Sharon Ann Lane was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star with "V" device, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the National Order of Vietnam Medal, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross (with Palm).