Video

Video by Maria Christina Yager

Champions of Equality: Col. Florence Blanchfield

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

Aug. 18, 2020 | 3:42

As the nation celebrates Women's Equality Day, Aug. 26, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, on Fort Campbell, Kentucky, stands as a lasting tribute to a trailblazer in Army Medicine and public service. The hospital’s namesake, Col. Florence A. Blanchfield, joined the Army during World War I and the influenza pandemic of 1918 that killed an estimated 50 million people around the world. She went on to lead the Army Nurse Corps during World War II, placing nurses in combat zones because she said that is where their care was most needed to save service members’ lives. In return for their dedication, she championed and obtained equal rank, pay and benefits for nurses while helping pave the way for women to follow.

Produced by Fred Holly and Maria Yager