“Angels of the Air: Flight Nurses in WWII” with April Cheek-Messier, President and CEO of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation

During World War II, 31 medical air evacuation squadrons helped tend to over one million servicemen between 1943-1945, a remarkable feat given that air evacuation was a relatively new concept at the start of the war. Providing comfort and care to those patients were 500 flight nurses serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Seventeen of these flight nurses were killed during the course of the war. Discover the history, highlights, and perils of flight nursing in WWII through the eyes of Evelyn Kowalchuk, and the 818th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, who landed in Normandy on D+3. Her story, told by Foundation President April Cheek-Messier, sheds light on the little-known story of these pioneers in history and the difference they made for patients and the future of combat medicine.