Viviana Cronin was born 3 July 1917 in Butte, Silver Bow county, Montana to Frank D. and Anna Cronin; she had four siblings. She attended the Butte High School and was in the Dramatic Club her senior year. She also attended the St. Louis University in 1941; being in the Glee Club there.

2Lt Viviana Cronin (service number N-788474) joined the Army Nurse Corp. and was assigned to the 818th Medical Evacuation Transportation Squadron. She assisted in the medical evacuation of D-D casualties at Normandy. Medical Air Evacuation squadrons served in every combat theater in WW II. In 1944, 18% of all Army casualties were evacuated by air. There was no physician to accompany the nurses and they were trained to do tasks reserved for physicians including starting IVs and oxygen, handling shock, hemorrhage, and sedation. In early August 1944, she learned that her 14-year old brother was seriously ill and she arranged to transfer to another unit leaving for the US so that she could be with him. Unfortunately, she was not able to be with him before he died. After attending his burial, she headed back to Europe when her plan crashed in heavy fog over Scotland on 28 August 1944 taking all passengers. She has a memorial at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in England as well as one in Mountainview Cemetery in Butte, Montana. She was awarded a Unit Citation.

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 saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES: Find-a-Grave; Ancestry.com; HonorStates.com; Montana Standard 3 Sep 1944

Vivianna Cronin