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Contact Info
Home Town Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Indianapolis, IN
Last Address Alaska
Date of Passing Jul 27, 1943
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
2nd Lt. Ruth M. Gardiner enlisted in the USAAF in 1942 and applied for duty as a nurse. She then went on to become a graduate of the first organized course for flight nurses. This course was conducted at the 349th Air Evacuation Group located at Bowman Field, KY.
After achieving her status as a flight nurse, Lt. Gardiner was assigned to Flight A, 805th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron in the Alaska theater of operations. She assisted in preparing, loading, and treating wounded soldiers being transported from combat areas to rear area hospitals.
On 27 July 1943, she was aboard a C-47 air evacuation flight, she was killed when the aircraft crashed into the sea off Naknek, Alaska. Lt. Gardiner was the first flight nurse killed in action in World War II.
Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois is dedicated in her honor.
