East Dover Hundred in Kent County, Delaware — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

We hold in respectful memory…

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 28, 2022

1. We hold in respectful memory… Marker

Inscription.
We hold in respectful memory those Delaware women, known and unknown, who have given their lives in service to our nation.

Among the thousands of Delaware women who have served our nation throughout our history. The names of most have been lost from the historical record. Some of these women gave their lives in national service. Among them, ten women are known to us. Two of them lost their lives in World War I and seven died during World War II. The tenth is Senior Airman Elizabeth Loncki of New Castle, Delaware, who died in Baghdad, Iraq in 2007. Ms. Loncki and at least one other Delaware woman are known to have died as the result of hostile enemy action. We honor the memory of these ten women and others, known only to God. Who also gave their lives for our nation.

Senior Airman Elizabeth Loncki of New Castle, Delaware Elizabeth Loncki grew up in New Castle. She entered the Air Force in 2003. When she was deployed to Iraq, she was assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron in Iraq, where she volunteered to be a member of the 4-person Team Lima, which was responsible for disarming improvised explosive devices (IED's). SrA Loncki was one of three airmen on Team Lima killed by a large vehicle borne improvised explosive device in Baghdad on January 7, 2007. She was 23 years old at the time of her death. She was a true Delaware hero.

Two Young Delaware Nurses Gave Their Lives during World War I Two young Delaware women were casualties of the First World War. One of them died at sea as she made her way to France to serve the Red Cross in a front line hospital. The other died on her return home from the stresses and strains of her service in France.

Ruth MacGregor of Wilmington, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, enlisted in the Red Cross for service in France after training in hospitals in Wilmington and New York City. It was her intention to do hospital work in France, but an attack of influenza on the overseas journey cost her life. She was buried at sea. The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 to which she fell victim killed some 50 million people worldwide and look the lives of many more service members than died from wartime injuries.

The second, Reba J. Taylor, a one-time resident of Hockessin, died in Washington, D.C. shortly after her return from France, as the result of overwork incidental to a heroic record of service in the ranks of the American Red Cross nurses during the World War. She was the first Red Cross nurse to volunteer for service in Europe when the World War began. She went abroad in 1914 and worked for months in England caring for Belgian refugees before entering Red Cross hospital service in France.

Two Delaware Service Members of World War II:
2Lt. Rachel Hannah Sheridan and Alice Levinia Brittingham

Second Lieutenant Rachel Hanna Sheridan She graduated from the Delaware State Hospital School for Nursing as a registered nurse. She enlisted in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps on February 5, 1942 at Camp Upton, N.Y. AFter stateside training and service, she sailed in January 1943, for North Africa, where she was one of 15 persons who died in an airplane crash in Algeria on November 24, 1943, after the plane had come under hostile fire.

Alice Levinia Brittingham Alice grew up in Wyoming, Delaware, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 1, 1943. She was in the the 21st Training Regiment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia She died of appendicitis at Fort Oglethorpe on May 1, 1943 at age 24.

Delaware women have risked their lives in our nation's defense not just in military service but in other ways as well — as nurses for organizations like the Red Cross and as workers in war industries, for example. Such service is not without danger, as the account, below of five women who lost their lives in a 1943 munitions plant explosion in Milford illustrates.

Five Delaware Women lost their lives in a Munitions Plant Explosion in Milford, Delaware on Tuesday, March 19, 1943 According to an April 28, 2018 articule by writer Terry Rogers for the website,
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MilfordLive.com, the Milford Ordinance Plant, which manufactured munitions for the war effort, "was in full operation" on March 19, 1943, "when a spark of static electricity ignited gunpowder in one of the manufacturing sheds." The explosion was described as a flash blast that ripped the end out of one of the assembly buildings. Five women working in the end of the powder loading room were killed. Louise Hill of Milford, Katherine Thomas of Milton, Edith Marker of Georgetown, Pauline Maloney of Georgetown and Eleanor Spence of Camden all died in the blast. There were 33 injuries reported as well, five of them serious. Maloney and Hill both died the same day of the blast while Marker, Thomas and Spence died the next day. Although some of the injured were treated and released, Mary Jerman of Milton, Marie Bowers of Georgetown, Madeline Oliphant of Laurel, Alice Mason of Seaford, Mildred McGee of Seaford, Jerdy Jenkins of Greenwood and Whitely Lewis of Laurel suffered serious burns and lacerations."

Erected by The State of Delaware.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: War, Afghanistan • War, World I •

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 28, 2022

2. We hold in respectful memory… Marker

War, World II • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is January 7, 2007.

Location. 39° 9.458′ N, 75° 31.22′ W. Memorial is in Dover, Delaware, in Kent County. It is in East Dover Hundred. It is at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North and Legislative Avenue, in the median on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 401 Federal St, Dover DE 19901, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in the American Mid-Atlantic,

on the Delmarva Peninsula,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Women of the Delaware Women's Military Service Monument (here, next to this marker); Delaware Women's Service Monument (here, next to this marker); Legislative Hall: Delaware's Capitol Building (a few

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steps from this marker); Delaware Women's Suffrage Memorial (a few steps from this marker); The First State Heritage Park of Dover (a few steps from this marker); Delaware Public Archives (within shouting distance of this marker); The State of Delaware Historical Markers Program (within shouting distance of this marker); USS Delaware (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dover.

Regarding We hold in respectful memory…. The word "Ordnance" is misspelled on the marker as "Ordinance", a very common misspelling.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 30, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 1,782 times since then and 125 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 30, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.