"Nancy Leftenant"[1934]

When she entered the U.S. Army in 1945 as reservist,she knew there would be obstacles.But her quiet strenght and insurmountable courage helped her turn every obstacle into an an advantage,opening doors for those who would follow in her footsteps.Nancy made history in the Army as the first Black member of the Regular Army Nurse Corps.Nancy served in the Air Force as a flight nurse and made history again as the only woman to hold the presidency of the Tuskegee Airmen (1989-91).She became a registered nurse in the mid 1940s,at a time when it was difficult for black women obtain professional training.Nancy graduated from the Lincoln School for Nurses in the Bronx,which served minority students.A photo piqued her interest in the Army."I saw a a picture of an Army nurse with her cap,"she told newsday."She looked so good  so good straight and tall.I wanted to do my part." She was accepted into the ranks,but not as a member of the Regular Army Nurse Corps,then an all-white institution that did not admit blacks.She and other Black nurses were considered second-class,but they were first-class in performance.In fact,they were so good at their jobs,many were promoted from second to first lieutenants in 11 months.Nancy known to her colleagues as "Lefty," was included.With the difficulties just to exist in the Army,many of her colleagues quit.But she did not.Nancy went on doing her best job she could,and in 1948she applied for regular status as a nurse.Officials approved,and she became the first Black nurse in the Regular Army Corps.Nancy did not stop there.The next year,she transferred to the Air Force and became a flight nurse.She recalled in Newsday the hard times in the military-like being unable to eat while traveling to bases in the South and driving hundreds of miles out of the way to stay with friends because blacks were denied rooms at most motels.But in general she said the military offered a "great life."She said the quality of a person's work counted,not the color of skin.In the service she through of herself as nurse,not a racial statistic.In 1965,she retired as a major and went back to Long Island where her husband,Bayard K. Colon,who was a captain in the Air Force reserve,had part ownership in a funeral home and worked as  a guidance counselor.He died in 1972.She worked as a nurse Amityville High School from 1971-84,a job she said she loved.