‘Trailblazing Women Veterans’ Part 2: Angels of Anzio

The second episode in a four-part podcast series saluting women veterans through U.S. history remembers the heroic life-saving service of 56th Evacuation Hospital Unit nurses who treated wounds on the coast of Italy during World War II at a time when enemy planes paid no heed to the red crosses atop field hospitals.

Offered the opportunity to move to safer locations, the “Angels of Anzio” refused and one, 2nd Lt. Ellen Ainsworth was killed after getting hit with shrapnel while caring for patients. Her fellow nurses – 1st Lt. Mary Roberts, 2nd Lt. Elaine Roe and 2nd Lt. Rita Rourke – continued to work, 12 to 15 hours straight during the bloody battle to secure Italy. Their calm under pressure, which included the safe evacuation of 42 patients during one strafing, earned the four women the Silver Star, third highest medal for valor.

“Trailblazing Women Veterans” is hosted by U.S. Army National Guard veteran Ashley Gorbulja and American Legion Media & Communications Director Jeff Stoffer. In tribute to Women’s History Month, a new episode is posted each Wednesday through March.

• Episode 1, which posted March 6, describes the story of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman so far to receive the Medal of Honor. The Civil War surgeon and prisoner of war broke ground for women not only in the military but in medicine, as well. The episode also looks back to women who served during the Revolutionary War, others in the Civil War and additional 19th century military conflicts.

• The series shifts in Episode 3 from the Angels of Anzio to the U.S. Air Force aviator known as the “Angel of Death” – Alison Black, whose combat action and “death ray” in the early stages of the war in Afghanistan befuddled enemy targets on the ground and inspired a new era for women in combat specialties. That episode posts on March 20.

• The final episode, scheduled for March 27, shares the harrowing experience of Pvt. Shoshana Johnson, the first Black female held as a prisoner of war and the determination it took for her to survive captivity with bullet wounds in her ankles and abuse from her captors. 

“Trailblazing Women Veterans” is available in video and audio formats at legion.org/tangoalphalima. The series can also be downloaded on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and other popular podcast hosting sites. Listeners of the series are asked to share stories of extraordinary military service among women using the hashtag #MilitaryWomenWednesday.