Section 13. Brigadier General Anna Mae V. McCabe Hays Memorial Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) In 1941, Anna Mae V. McCabe Hays graduated with a degree in nursing from the Allentown General Hospital School of Nursing.
(2) After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a sense of duty inspired her to join the Army Nurse Corps and she entered active duty in 1942.
(3) In 1943, she was deployed for two and a half years to Ledo, Assam, India, where she was assigned to the operating room and her unit provided care to more than 49,000 patients, including American soldiers who were building an overland communication route to China, fighting the Japanese in Burma and flying supplies over the Himalayan Mountains to Chinese forces.
(4) In 1945, she was promoted to first lieutenant and chose to remain on active duty after World War II when she was assigned to Tilton General Hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as an operating room supervisor and later as head nurse.
(5) In 1947, she was promoted to captain and subsequently became the obstetrics supervisor at Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville.
(6) In 1950, after hostilities broke out in Korea, she mobilized with the 4th Field Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia, where she participated in the notorious Inchon Landing on September 15, 1950, and assisted the 4th Field Hospital in caring for more than 25,000 patients.
(7) In May 1956, she reported for duty as head nurse of the Emergency Room at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, DC, where she was one of the private nurses to care for President Dwight D. Eisenhower while he was hospitalized there for 23 days after suffering an ileitis attack.
(8) In 1958, she graduated from Columbia University Teacher's College with a bachelor of science degree in nursing education.
(9) In October 1960, she became chief nurse of the 11th Evacuation Hospital in Pusan, South Korea.
(10) In September 1963, she was selected as Assistant Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.
(11) On September 1, 1967, Anna Mae V. McCabe Hays was sworn in as the 13th Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, where she guided the Army Nurse Corps during the worst fighting of the Vietnam War.
(12) In 1968, she was promoted to colonel and received a master of science in nursing from the Catholic University of America.
(13) On June 11, 1970, Anna Mae V. McCabe Hays was promoted to brigadier general and became the first woman in the United States Armed Forces to achieve the rank of general.
(14) Her recommendations to Surgeon General Hal B. Jennings led to groundbreaking reforms in personnel policies, including the elimination of automatic discharges for married officers who became pregnant and the elimination of restrictions on the age of dependents of female nurses seeking appointment in the Army Nurse Corps Reserve.
(15) She retired as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps on August 31, 1971, after serving in the position for four years.
(16) On January 7, 2018, she passed away at the age of 97, and Governor Tom Wolf ordered the Commonwealth flag at the Capitol Complex and at all State facilities in Allentown to fly at half staff in honor of her memory.
(17) Her numerous awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Army Commendation Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one service star, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Korean Service Medal with three service stars and the United Nations Service Medal (Korea).
(b) Designation.--The bridge located on that portion of State Route 4001, also known as Henry Avenue, over the Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia County, is designated as the Brigadier General Anna Mae V. McCabe Hays Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to traffic in both directions on the bridge.