Bronze Star With "V" Device For HeroismCitation Army General Orders NUMBER 5984 July 1969 TC 320. The following AWARD is announced posthumously.
LANE, SHARON A OFFICER FIRST LIEUTENANT ARMY NURSE CORPS 312TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL UNITED STATES ARMY. Awarded: Bronze Star with "V" DeviceDate of Action: 8 June, 1969Theater: Republic of Vietnam
Authority: By direction of the President under the provisions of Executive Order 11046, 24 August 1962, AR 672-5-1, and USARV Reg 672-1.Reason: For heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force. Lieutenant Lane distinguished herself by exceptionally valorous actions during a rocket attack on the 312th Evacuation Hospital. Since her arrival at the hospital, her untiring efforts as a general duty staff nurse have made her ward a particularly outstanding one. It was through the application of rare foresight and sound principals of management that Lieutenant Lane overcame and minimized the problems inherent in providing medical support in a combat environment. As the sounds of the first incoming rockets reported throughout the hospital, Lieutenant Lane, thinking only of the welfare of her patients, rushed to her ward in an effort to protect her charges from harm. At this time the ward took a direct hit from an enemy 122mm rocket. The resultant explosion produced metal fragments that struck Lieutenant Lane, taking her life. As a result of Lieutenant Lane's courageous actions in the face of adversity, total disaster to the ward was prevented and many lives were saved. Lieutenant Lane's personal bravery and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon herself, her unit and the United States Army. FOR THE COMMANDER:
OFFICIAL:
JAMES H. LINDAHL
CPT, MSC
Adjutant

ROGER S. SCHENKE
CPT, MSC
Asst Adjutant _________________________________________________ Remembrance From The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Site: Maggie Wildenborg Quinn, RN, US Army NurseSharon you are still remembered every day for your dedication and sacrifice to nursing. I was on duty that same day, and remember the terror we all had when we heard that one of our own was killed. You weren't with the 312th long but you loved the nursing duty on the Vietnamese ward. There is a memorial to you on the old Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center - your first duty station. I see it every day and think of you and 41 years ago seems to be just like yesterday when we were young nurses trying to save the world. One day we will meet again.
Thank you for your sacrifice.January 2010 Not Long Known, But Long RememberedGary Del CarloI was the Supply Sergeant at the 312th Evacuation when Sharon was killed. Because there were a couple of medical personal in my hooch that worked on Ward 4, I had met Lt. Lane. The night before she died, I was sitting in front of my hooch when Sharon walked by on her way to work. We called to her and she came over. We were drinking beer. I asked if she wanted a beer. She said she would take half a glass. That was unusual, because mostly no one drank beer from a glass, and a "half" at that. I gave her the beer. I usually took some sort of food up to Ward 4 in the evening. That night I had a very large can of raviolis and I cooked them up and took them to Ward 4. I don't know if she ate any or not. When the rocket hit, we went to the bunker out back. Then someone said it hit Ward 4. We ran up there but...... well, there was a gaping hole where the hallway was between Ward 4A and Ward 4B. I guess I also inventoried her belongings. I went to her services. We all cried. I cry every time I go to The Wall and see her name there. Not long known, but long remembered!
God Bless You Missy.December 2002

Remembrances From The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Wall-USA Web Site: Mary Jo Downes (Bertolucci), MAJ (Retired)
Fellow alumnus of Aultman Hospital
To my fellow friend and soldier, my nurse hero.
To the family of Sharon: I remember writing and receiving back a letter from Sharon's mother shortly after I entered the Air Force in 1974. I too am a graduate from Sharon's school of nursing in Canton, Ohio. Every day while doing my clinicals at Aultman I would look at the statue that Aultman erected in her memory. I too went into the Air Force at the end of the Viet Nam era and later became a flight nurse and served in Desert Storm. The 26 years of my military life and experiences are owed to Sharon's memory. I still have the letter that her mother wrote back to me and will treasure it forever. I have visited the museum in Massillon, Ohio where some of Sharon's military articles are kept for the viewing public. She will always be my personal hero and she was someone that all of the nurses that graduate from Aultman Hospital School of Nursing will always look up to and be proud to be a part of what she shared during her training there.
May 2008 John N. Baldwin, MAJ, MD FACS
A Tribute to the Nurses who Served in Vietnam.
I was honored to serve as general/chest/vascular surgeon in III Corps at the 24th Evacuation Hospital from May 68-May 69. I read with shock three weeks after returning "home" of Lt. Lane's instant death. Know this: Every single nurse in Vietnam with the US Army was a volunteer; a person who put herself in harm's way for the greater good. Nowhere in the annals of military history have nurses given more, worked harder and saved more lives than they did in Vietnam. I could not have been a surgeon without their superb backup, because once the operation was over, they became doctors; starting IVs, picking antibiotics, hanging blood, preventing bed sores, changing dressings, putting in tubes and catheters, comforting, and loving. Without them we were nothing. There is a special place in Heaven for Sharon Ann Lane who will now be forever young and beautiful.as she was the day she gave her last measure of devotion in what we now know was a rather senseless conflict. The falsehood of that war in no way diminishes the tremendous sacrifices we saw. Indeed in my mind it makes them all the more magnificent. We served. We went. Some did not come home. God bless.
April 2006 Jay Maloney
Friend
I was stationed at the 312th Evacuation Hospital when Sharon was killed. The damage to Ward 4 was quite severe that day. The round was a 122. I've read that she died of a single frag wound to her throat, but I recall seeing a single wound just below her clavicle. Memory does odd, unimportant things. It doesn't matter, does it? I recently returned to Vietnam (March 2001) and visited a new clinic built in the little Village of Tan Hiep, [Tan Hiep Commune-Chu Lai, Vietnam] 3 or 4 miles from the site of the old 312th, right on Highway 1. The clinic was paid for by Vietnam Vet nurses. The place was built in Sharon's memory. My wife and daughter were with me on that trip. My daughter's birthday is the same as Sharon's. 40 years to the day. '43 to '83. Interesting how time freezes for the dead. Sharon was a pretty 26 year-old. Now she'd be nearly 60.
July 2001

By Wes Haun, SGT, 23rd MP Company, Chu Lai
I was the MP Desk Sgt on Sunday morning, June 8,1969 when we took incoming rockets into Chu Lai from the mountains several miles away. One hit the 312th Evac Hospital and killed Lt Lane and wounded one of the MPs there guarding the Ward. I hit the Siren Alarm that was activated when there was incoming fire at Chu Lai. It was a very short time later that we learned of her death. In 2001 her mother attended the Americal Division Reunion in Ohio and many visited her grave. She is always remembered, never forgotten and beloved by fellow veterans for her service and sacrifice. RIP.
June 2016
Kerry PardueField Medic in Vietnam "Sharon Lane, the All-American Girl" She came to Vietnam not to fight or warrior to be
but to serve a higher purpose across the sea. She knew the hurt, the pain, the dying
Sharon came to heal them and to stop the crying. With purpose in her steps she made her rounds
To give hope to the soldier and to turn his frown upside down. Whether it be the boy from back home or the Viet Cong
She did her job with care--she knew this is where she belonged. She was cut down in the middle of the night
A piece of flying metal took her life. She died alone
So far from home. Her life was taken from us
Sharon's presence we still miss. Let us never forget that freedom has a cost
Sharon became our hero-our hearts are empty by her loss. Sharon was the All-American girl
She was perfection in an imperfect world.2001

Lane, Sharon Ann, 1LT