Historical Profile: United States Cadet Nurse Corps

Boston, MA. - From July 1, 1943 - December 31, 1948, the United States Cadet Nurse Corps (CNC) was a program that existed to alleviate the nursing shortage that was occurring in the United States created by World War II. The establishment of the CNC was authorized by the U.S. Congress on June 15, 1943 and the signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Of the 179,294 student nurses that enrolled in the program nationwide, 124,065 graduated from participating nursing schools.

At the Massachusetts State House in Boston, there is a commemorative plaque which pays tribute to the U.S. CNC. This plaque was dedicated on July 1, 2020 by the Friends of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps WWII. More than 9,000 women from Massachusetts trained and served in the CNC program. 

A February 6, 1945 quote from U.S. Surgeon General Thomas Parran, Jr. appears on the plaque. The quote reads: "We cannot measure what the loss to the country would have been if civilian nursing services collapsed, any more than we could measure the cost of failure on the Normandy beachheads." 

US CNC plaque at the Massachusetts State House - Boston

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