Okaloosa Island remembrance cites First Lt. Sharon A. Lane and women who served in Vietnam

At Women Veterans Park on Okaloosa Island, a speaker recounted the service of American women in the Vietnam War and the death of First Lieutenant Sharon A. Lane, a U.S. Army nurse killed in Vietnam on June 8, 1969.

The remarks noted that more than 265,000 American women served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, including about 11,000 who served in Vietnam; the speaker said roughly 90% of those women worked as volunteer nurses. The speaker also said eight women were killed in the conflict and that their names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

According to the recounting, First Lt. Sharon A. Lane of Ohio joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve on April 18, 1968, and was later sent to Vietnam. The speaker said Lane arrived at Chu Lai on April 29, 1969. On the morning of June 8, 1969, the speaker said the 312th Evacuation Hospital was struck by rockets fired by the Viet Cong; Lane was among those killed, the speaker said, and died instantly of fragmentation wounds to the chest. For her service, the speaker listed awards attributed to Lane: the Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Valor, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, National Order of Vietnam, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm.

The speaker said Lane’s story is remembered at Women Veterans Park on Okaloosa Island alongside other women who served in American combat conflicts. At the end of the remarks the speaker said, “We remember.”