Josephine Heffernan

Josephine Heffernan
Heffernan in uniform as a Second Lieutenant in 1920
Born(1876-03-11)11 March 1876[1]
Dublin, United Kingdom
Died1962[2]
Bray, Republic of Ireland
NationalityIrish, American
OccupationRegistered Nurse
Years active1913–1935
Known forChief Nurse U.S. Army Nurse Corps

Josephine E. Heffernan (11 March 1876 – 1962) was an Irish-American nurse who served during the First World War. She was born in Dublin and immigrated to the US in 1906, where she joined the United States Army in 1913. She served as a nurse in California and Mississippi, before being stationed at the American hospital at Rimaucourt, France. After the war, Heffernan went on to see service in China, the Philippines, and Pearl Harbor.

In 2002, a bracelet belonging to Heffernan was discovered by a schoolboy in Rimaucourt, who enlisted the aid of his teacher to return the piece to Heffernan's family. The efforts to identify Heffernan and return the bracelet were the subject of a 2017 film documentary which first aired in January of 2018.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference CWH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ind was invoked but never defined (see the help page).