Mary Ellen Shugart (b. 1942), of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1964-1968 and then again from 1969-1971. She served assignments in Korea and Vietnam and retired with the rank of Captain. Mary Ellen Shugart was born 12 December 1942 in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1960, and began a three year nursing program at St. Francis School of Nursing in New Castle, Pennsylvania that autumn. Her training included psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics, and medical ethics, as well as operating room procedures. She was approached by Army Nurse Corps recruiters during her final year of school and decided to join up, but was unable to report for duty until she earned her registered nurse's (RN) license. She graduated from St. Francis School of Nursing in 1963. While working as a graduate nurse at St. Francis Hospital, Shugart passed the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing exams and received her RN license. In March 1964 she reported for duty at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Shugart received training on a medical ward and spent a week at Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation training in how to operate a field hospital. In May 1964, Shugart received orders to Madigan Army Medical Center (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord) in Fort Lewis, Washington, and was assigned to the female medical ward. In February 1965, having applied to go to Korea, Shugart was sent to the 121st Evacuation Hospital at Camp Market Supply Depot in Bupyeong for a thirteen month tour. She was first assigned to the septic surgery ward, where she assisted with reconstructive surgeries, and then transferred to the emergency room. In April 1966, after returning from Korea, Shugart was sent to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she worked in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Recovery at Womack Army Medical Center, treating soldiers returning from Vietnam. After about seven months, Shugart requested to be sent to Vietnam, and arrived at the 67th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhơn in October 1966. She was assigned to the medical ward, treating patients with malaria and blackwater fever, and assisted in the ICU. After a few months, Shugart was made assistant head nurse in ICU and Recovery, before eventually being promoted to head nurse. She left Vietnam in October 1967. When she returned to the United States, Shugart was assigned to Fort Meade, Maryland, where she worked on the women's ward, but in February 1968 she decided to leave the Army Nurse Corps to go into civilian nursing. Shugart began working as a GS-7 in ICU and Recovery at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in July 1968, and soon met her future husband, Wayne, who was assigned to the Armor Branch and training to become a helicopter pilot. Shugart decided to rejoin the Army Nurse Corps in 1969 with the rank of captain. In July 1969 she received orders to Fort Stewart, Georgia where she and Wayne married on 5 September 1970. at Main Post Chapel on the base. At Fort Stewart, Shugart worked in the obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) clinic, as well as the emergency room. In November 1970, both she and her husband received orders to Vietnam. Shugart was assigned to 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, first as the head nurse of the Vietnamese and prisoner-of-war (POW) ward, and then to the emergency room. She and her husband returned from Vietnam in November 1971 and were assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, but Shugart soon decided to leave the Army Nurse Corps.
