In 1885, Julia Lide of Talladega Alabama graduated from a training school for nurses in Washington D.C., and at the age of 23 started a nursing career that would include tours of duty in two different wars.
She first served her country as a nurse in the Spainish American War from 1888 to 1889, and she again answered her nation's call during WW I by signing up with the newly formed Army Nursing Corps in 1917.
While in France she was cited by 3rd division headquarters for exemplory conduct while serving in an evacuation surgical hospital during the battle of Chateau Thierry, and later was awarded The Croix de Guerre (a medal of valor) by the French Government.
Shortly after the war ended, Nurse Lide died in France from complications due to appendicitis and was later buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. She was the only Alabamian to die while in service with the Army Nursing Corps in WW I. A memorial was built in her honor at Fort McClellan. .
Information on Nurse Lide can be found at the Alabama Archives website here
https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/voices/id/2210/
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