Rosemary Hogan – Colonel, United States Army

ROSEMARY HOGAN

(1912-1964)
COLONEL, U.S. ARMY
WWII NURSE

One of the first woman heroes of WWII, and one of the first nurses to be awarded a purple heart, Rosemary Hogan of Chattanooga, Oklahoma, was known as one of the “Angels ofBataan” for her acts of courage and service to others during the war and while a Japanese prisoner of war.

For a small-town girl who had never been out of Oklahoma, becoming an army nurse and seeing the world was an exciting adventure. She landed on the Philippine Islands in December, 1941, and shortly afterward the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Heavy fighting also broke out in the Philippines and Nurse Hogan was sent to Bataan Peninsula to set up a 1,000-bed hospital. On Christmas Eve, 1941, she took 25 U.S. Army nurses and 25 Filipino nurses with her to Bataan. What had in the beginning been beautiful scenery, was now a frightening piece of  jungle. The nurses arrived at the site of the first hospital in Limay, and found a warehouse with hospital equipment packed for overseas shipment in lieu of an operating hospital. The nurses unpacked, inventoried the supplies and set up medical stations. Soon the hospital was ordered to move closer to the fighting, to a place called “Little Baguio.” Hogan served as Assistant Chief of Nurses until she was wounded April, 1942 while she and another nurse were assisting a surgeon in an operating while they were under attack. They finally took refuge in foxholes. Hogan was badly wounded and the hospital at Bataan was destroyed. Hogan and the other wounded were taken to Corregidor to recover.

As the were being evacuated, their plane was forced to land on Mindanao Island and they were captured by the Japanese. Hogan was imprisoned at Santo Tomas prison Manila until the liberation by American forces in 1945.

After the war, Hogan transferred to the Air Force Nurse Corps, where she served as Chief Nurse at Boling Air Force Hospital; at Technical Training Air Force Base at Biloxi, Mississippi; and at the Tactical Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, the position from which she retired.

Hogan was among the first four women to attain the rank of full Colonel. She married Air Force Major Arnold Luciano and after retirement they made their home in San Antonio, Texas.

Colonel Rosemary Hogan died in 1964 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard