Sandra Van Neel Ross (b. 1946), of Rochester, New York, served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1965-1985. She retired with the rank of Major. Sandra Van Neel Ross was born 14 January 1946 in Rochester, New York, but grew up in nearby Spencerport. She attended Churchville High School, where she took courses to prepare her for a nursing career, and participated in the Future Nurses Program. After graduation, Ross began a three year nursing certificate program at the Genesee Hospital School of Nursing in Rochester. In September 1965, during her third year of training, Ross joined the Army Nurse Corps. They assisted with her final year of tuition, and she graduated in 1966. She began training in October 1966 at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Around Christmas 1966, Ross was sent to her first duty station at Fort Knox, Kentucky. With an interest in intensive care, she worked with primarily young soldiers in both medical and surgical wards. In 1968, Ross requested to be sent to Vietnam. She arrived at Tan Son Nhut airport in Saigon on 4 March 1968, and then went to Long Binh, to the 24th Evacuation Hospital. She had the opportunity to assist with head injuries and spinal taps, participated in MEDCAPs (medical civil action programs) and DENTCAPs (dental civil action programs), and was also tasked with taking care of Viet Cong prisoners of war. In spring 1969, Ross received an inter-theater transfer to the army hospital at United States Army Garrison Heidelberg, Germany, where she began work in the recovery room, and then the Intensive Care Unit, where she received her first head nurse position. In January 1971, Ross married her husband, a former enlisted soldier. In June 1971, after returning from Germany, Ross began six months of training at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) school at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, after which she received orders to the same hospital and started work in the medical ICU ward, eventually becoming head nurse. She had her first child, a daughter, in June 1973. In 1975, and while she was pregnant with her second child, Ross received orders to United States Army Hospital at Camp Kuwae in Okinawa, Japan. There she worked in the emergency room, and then as head nurse of the recovery room. Her son was born in March 1976. In 1977, Ross requested to be stationed at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and moved back to the United States She held numerous positions during her four years there, including medical supervisor, evening and night supervisor, and assisting the nursing methods analyst. She also earned a bachelor's degree in management from Golden Gate University during this time. In 1981, Ross received orders to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where she participated in the Veterans Affairs Learning Opportunities Residency Program, or VALOR, and the Baylor University Health Care Administration Master's Program. From 1982 to 1984, Ross completed a nursing residency at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, before receiving orders back to Fort Bragg. In 1985, after having served for twenty years, she retired from the military with the rank of major promotable. After retirement, Ross used her GI Bill benefits to complete a master's in counseling from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1991, as a result of Operation Desert Storm and a shortage of healthcare workers in the Army, Ross began nursing again at Fort Bragg, assisting in the surgical ward with orthopedics, gynecology, and podiatry, among other things.
