1. According to a 1943 article in the “Christian Science Monitor” Gailya and Thelma Barton, Cherokee sisters, were WAAC’s who served with the Aircraft Warning Service.
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2. Pearl Street Burks, Naticoke, served in the Women’s Army Corps from 1962 – 1965 as a medical specialist.
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3. Pvt. Thomasita Chavez, San Juan Pueblo, was a field musician in the Marine Corps during WW ll . There is a picture of her playing the bugle.
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4. Patricia Curry, Seneca, was a Naval 2nd Class Petty Officer in Avionics during the Vietnam era.
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5. Marilyn Kemp, Quinault, served as a clerk-typist from 1970-1973 in the Women’s Army Corp.
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6. Grace Thorpe, daughter of the famous athlete Jim Thorpe, was a WAC during WW ll.
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7. The first Indian woman to graduate from West Point was Brigitte Wahwassuck, Potawatomi.
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8. Corporal Lillian Lincheze, Navajo, served as a WAC recruiter during WW ll in Gallup, New Mexico.
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9. Currently there are Indian women serving aboard the aircraft carriers the USS Roosevelt and the USS Stennis.
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10. PFC. Blanche West, Chippewa, served as a WAC in England during WW ll.
Brenda Finnicum
Lieutenant Colonel, Army Nurse Corps
Retired
Tribe: Lumbee
Came on Active Duty: September 1978 as a Second Lieutenant
Served 20 years Active and 2 years Reserves
Job Specialist: 66 J-Staff Nurse, 66H- Medical-Surgical Nurse, 66F-Nurse Anesthetist
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Brenda Finnicum Lieutenant Colonel, Army Nurse Corps (retired)
Awards: Meritorious Service medal
Army Commendation medal
Army Achievement medal
Army of Occupation medal
National Defense Service medal
Army Service Ribbon
Overseas Service Ribbon
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Assignments: Tripler Army Medical center, Hawaii; Fort Rucker, Alabama; 114th Evacuation Hospital, (Reserves), San Antonio Texas; Berlin Army Hospital, Berlin, West Germany; Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC; National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California; Keller Army Community Hospital, West Point, New York
Temporary Duty Assignments: Turkey, Italy, West Germany, and various state side assignments to include Fort Lee, Fort Bragg, Fort Sam Houston, Fort Leavenworth
