One of the most celebrated women war heroes of WW2, Aleda Ester Lutz[i] was born on November 9, 1915 in Freeland, Saginaw County, Michigan. Her parents were farmer Friederich Georg Lutz, born in Bay County, MI[ii] and his wife, a homemaker[iii] Magritha Sibella Hitz Lutz, born in Kochville, MI[iv]. Aleda’s grandparents were all born in Germany.

A farm girl, she was the youngest of 10 children. Her siblings included Herbert, Walter, Arthur, Barbara Hulda, Erna, Andrew Conrad, Margarett, Lulu, and Lizette.[v] She was not alone in her family’s military service to her country. Her older brother Walter served as a private first class during WWI in Company L of the 47th Infantry.[vi] Another older brother, Arthur, was a veteran of WWI serving as a private in the 148th Field Artillery, 41 Division.[vii] Her brother, Andrew Conrad, joined the medical division during WWII,[viii] and can be seen in his military uniform portrait.[ix]

Known as “Lutzy” by her friends, she attended Wellman Country School, Freeland School and graduated from Saginaw Arthur Hill High School in 1933. During her school years and after, she enjoyed knitting[x] was active in tennis, dance, ice skating and bowling. The family belonged to St. John Lutheran Church-Amelith. In 1937 Lutz graduated from Saginaw General Hospital School of Nursing. In 1940, she, at age 25, was a private nurse working in a private practice and living in a boarding house with her sister Hulda Lutz whose occupation was a private duty nurse at Saginaw General Hospital.[xi]

HER MILITARY STORY

Aleda E. Lutz, an army nurse, served in the Army Air Forces in the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. She enlisted in the Army Air Forces Army Nurse Corp on February 10, 1942.[xii] (Service number N-730648}

Lutz began her military career as a general duty nurse in the Station Hospital at Selfridge Field in Mount Clemens, Michigan, where she wrote describing being the only nurse on duty with 25 patients. As the war progressed, she expected the workload to increase as more nurses were being sent overseas.[xiii] She volunteered for duty as an Air Evacuation Nurse[xiv], passing the pilot’s physical.[xv]

With a promotion to 1st Lieutenant on December 17, 1943, Lutz was transferred to the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron 51st of the United States Army’ 12th Air Force, Troop Carr W G[xvi], and sent to Sarasota's Morrison Field in Florida.

Her nephew, Paul Vasold, remembers his aunt as an outgoing, funny person who once sent him a whole coconut through the mail, addressed by the postcard stapled to the shell. “Shell and all, she mailed it to me from Florida while she was in training,” he said.[xvii]

From Florida, they headed overseas. Based in North Africa, she was part of a highly classified unit that used unmarked C-47 cargo planes to fly to the battle front with supplies and return with the wounded. Patients were brought to the airport from casualty clearing stations near the front. Blood transfusions could be performed aboard ship in emergencies.[xviii] She accompanied air combat missions in Tunisia, Sicily, Naples, and Rome in Italy and southern France.[xix] She helped to evacuate wounded soldiers from the Anzio Beachhead while under fire from the German Army.[xx] She helped to evacuate more than 3,500 men.[xxi] “

“Transporting by air the wounded from battle areas to base hospitals is the work that we do here,” Lutz wrote in January 1944, shortly after she was promoted from second to first lieutenant.[xxii]

She had the most evacuation sorties (196), most combat hours flown by a flight nurse (814) and the most patients transported by any flight nurse (3,500.)[xxiii]

The Flight Nurse’s Creed[xxiv]

I will summon every resource to prevent the triumph of death over life.

I will stand guard over the medicines and equipment entrusted to my care and ensure their proper use.

I will be untiring in the performances of my duties and I will remember that, upon my disposition and spirit, will in large measure depend the morale of my patients.

I will be faithful to my training and to the wisdom handed down to me by those who have gone before me.

I have taken a nurse’s oath, reverent in man’s mind because of the spirit and work of its creator, Florence Nightingale. She, I remember, was called the “Lady with the Lamp.”

It is now my privilege to lift this lamp of hope and faith and courage in my profession to heights not known by her in her time. Together with the help of flight surgeons and surgical technicians, I can set the very skies ablaze with life and promise for the sick, injured, and wounded who are my sacred charges.

. . . This I will do. I will not falter in war or in peace.[xxv]

HER LAST DAY

On November 1, 1944, Lutz was 28 years old and was flying on a Medevac C-47 with nine wounded American soldiers and six wounded German prisoners of war from Lyon, France to a hospital in Italy. Weather conditions of fog, rain, and frost[xxvi] forced the squadron to fly low and to navigate by following the Rhine River. Nine of the ten planes returned to base.[xxvii]

Lieutenant Colonel J. L. Lee of the troop carrier unit commented at the time that the pilots “have a tougher job than commercial pilots back home because they must fly over mountainous and desert terrain with heavier loads than would be permitted in the States. The perils are such that the flying ambulances frequently must proceed with fighter escorts.”[xxviii]

The pilot of Lutz’s plane lost control of the plane in the violent storm, crashing on the northern flank of the Pilat massif in the commune of Doizieux[xxix] near St. Chamond, France. There were no survivors.[xxx] Some hold that the plane may have been shot down.[xxxi] Her hospital plane went down during her 196th mission.[xxxii]

COMMENDATIONS

Lutz received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the first given to an Army Nurse in World War II. The medal was received by her father, Fred G. Lutz, in a ceremony at Selfridge Field, where her military career began.[xxxiii] The citation read: "For outstanding proficiency and selfless devotion to duty."[xxxiv] It also stated “For extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a flight nurse of a C-47aircraft. Throughout her long period of service Lt. Lutz distinguished herself through her professional skill and courage. Flying on more than 190 missions to evacuate wounded from forward areas, Lt. Lutz’s resourcefulness and determination have been of high aspiration to those serving with her. Her selfless devotion to duty and outstanding proficiency have reflected the highest credit upon herself and the Armed Forces of the United States.” It was presented posthumously by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[xxxv]

She was also honored with the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart.[xxxvi] She also earned the European African Middle Eastern Campaign medal, the Red Cross Medal and six battle starts: Tunisia, Sicily, Rome-Arno, Southern France, and North Apennines.[xxxvii] She received the Nurse Corps Badge, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation and the Army Good Conduct Medal.[xxxviii]

MEMORIALS

1945: Lutz was honored by having an 800-patient U.S. Army hospital ship, the former French liner Colombie, renamed as the USAHS Aleda E. Lutz.[xxxix] In 1946, the ship was returned to French ownership and the name was restored to Colombie.[xl]

1945 to 1969: The Aleda E. Lutz Nursing Award was given annually by the Saginaw General Hospital's Nursing School until its closing.[xli]

1945: Captured in the Congressional Record, the Honorable Fred L. Crawford of Michigan shared with the House of Representatives the story of the pride of Michigan, Aleda E. Lutz. The Congressional Record contains the entire broadcast tribute from WRVA, Richmond, VA, by H.B. Kenny.[xlii]

1945: A new C-47 airplane was named Miss Nightingale III in honor of Aleda’s service. Her sister Hulda, a Saginaw General Hospital nurse, was the special guest when the Army Air Force was presented an $80,000 check from the Women’s International Bowling Congress. Aleda Lutz had been an avid bowler.[xliii]

1950: In honor of her sacrifice, The Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center was established in September 1950. Located in Saginaw, MI, it consists of a VA Medical Center with an independent Community Living Center, and a VA Healthcare Annex. It offers mental health, social work, and primary care services.[xliv]

1988: A display case in the lobby of the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center, containing Lutz’s portrait, uniform and newspaper articles, was dedicated to her.[xlv]

1990: The Aleda E. Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center was rededicated as the Aleda E. Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center by Congressional Decree. It was the first time a medical facility was congressionally named after a woman. [xlvi]

1993: Named to the Saginaw Hall of Fame.[xlvii]

1994: She was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.[xlviii]

2010: Enshrined into the Air Zoo’s Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame.[xlix]

Aleda E. Lutz was inducted into the Michigan Military and Veterans Hall of Honor with these words “Indeed, the patriotic contributions of Second Lieutenant Lutz must be recognized, as in all who have served the United States of America in this capacity. The personal sacrifice so selflessly offered by these brave men and women for the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness must never be forgotten. Aleda Lutz embraced the essence of American heroism and should be recognized as a role model by all individuals. In special tribute, therefore, we honor Second Lieutenant Lutz for her exemplary service to the United States of America, and to commemorate her induction into the Michigan Military and Veterans Hall of Honor.”[l]

HER GRAVE

She is buried with full military honors at the Rhone American Cemetery Draguignan, France.[li] Her memorial ID# is 6754861.[lii] This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.[liii]

A stele (monument), near Doizieux, France on Mt. Pilat, exists at the crash site. The monument was erected in 2005 and every September there is a memorial service.[liv]

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.