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- Sharon Ann Lane was born in Zanesville, Ohio, but grew up in North Industry, Stark County, Ohio. She graduated from Canton South High School in June 1961 and entered the Aultman Hospital School of Nursing the following September. After graduating from Aultman in 1965, she worked at the hospital until May, 1967, when she decided to try her hand in the business world. After three quarters at the Canton Business College she quit to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve on April 18, 1968.
2LT Lane began training on May 5 at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. On 17 June she reported to Fitzsimons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado. While at Fitzsimons, she was promoted to First Lieutenant. On 24 April 1969 she reported to Travis Air Force Base in California with orders for Vietnam.
She arrived at the 312th Evac Hospital at Chu Lai on 29 April and was assigned to the Intensive Care ward for a few days before being assigned to the Vietnamese Ward. She worked 5 days a week (12 hours per day) in this ward and on the sixth day worked in Intensive Care.
At 0605, 8 June 1969, the 74th Medical Battalion reported a rocket hit between Wards 4a and 4b of the 312th Evacuation Hospital. The explosion killed two and wounded 27 US and Vietnamese personnel (see the 67th Medical Group log). 1LT Lane was killed by fragmentation wounds.
Although seven other American military nurses died while serving in Vietnam, 1LT Lane was the only American servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire throughout the war.
A Memorial Service was held at Chu Lai on June 10, 1969, and a Catholic Mass was held June 11, 1969. Services in Canton were held June 14, 1969. 1LT Sharon Ann Lane was buried in Sunset Hills Burial Park, Canton, Ohio.
Source: VirtualWall.org
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Lt. Lane died from shrapnel wounds when the 312th Evac. at Chu Lai was hit by rockets on June 8, 1969. From Canton, OH, she was a month short of her 26th birthday. She was posthumously awarded the the Bronze Star with V device and the Purple Heart. In 1970, the recovery room at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, where Lt. Lane had been assigned before going to Viet Nam, was dedicated in her honor. In 1973, Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, where Lane had attended nursing school, erected a bronze statue of Lane. The names of 110 local servicemen killed in Vietnam are on the base of the statue.
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1943 - 1969 (25 years)
