Nancy Leo, the Only Woman Born in Luxembourg American Cemetery
Nancy Leo. Cumberland Goes to War
Lieutenant Nancy Leo is the only woman buried in Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, and just one of 6,453 soldiers who didn’t return to Maryland. Army nurse Nancy Jane Leo of the 216th General Hospital, is the only woman among the 5,076 soldiers buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial near Hamm, Luxembourg. The journey of 23-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Nancy Leo from her hometown of Cumberland, Maryland, to a grave in a foreign country was a journey often repeated in the World War Two years.
The Leo Family of Cumberland, Maryland
The United States Federal Census of 1930 showed a young Leo family. The father, Francis Patsy Leo, 37, listed his occupation as a policeman. His wife, Mary E. Leo, 40, stayed at home to care for their children, Angela M., 10, Nancy J., 8, Rosemary, 1, and Richard, six months old.
Nancy and her sisters grew up at 328 Frederick Street in peaceful Cumberland, Maryland, while the world maneuvered itself into another global war. By the time Angela and Nancy had graduated from high school and nursing school, Europe had been at war for two years and the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Angela and Nancy graduated from Catholic Girls’ Central High School. Angela graduated from the Allegheny Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1940, and Nancy graduated with the Class of 1942.
Angela Leo (Lambert) was assigned to the 62 Field Hospital in the European Theater as an operating room nurse. She served from October 1, 1942 until November 27, 1945.
Nancy Leo Joins the 216th General Hospital
The 216th General Hospital was activated on June 1, 1941, at Camp Forest, Tennessee. When it left the United States on March 21, 1944, Nancy Leo was one of the Army nurses who went with the hospital and landed at Grenock, Scotland, eight days later. From April 1944, until June 1945, the 216th General Hospital operated at Longleat, Warminister, England, and then on June 16, 1945, it embarked for Le Havre, France, arriving on June 17, 1945. Later, the 216th moved to Etretat and then to Verdun.
When Nancy Leo arrived in France, she immediately contacted her sister Angela who was stationed in Paris. On July 23, 1945, Army nurse Angela Leo received a telephone call from her sister Nancy. Nancy was coming to Paris to see her the next day.
Liberated Paris, France, 1945
Paris in July 1945, almost one year after French and American forces liberated it from the Germans, was a city of chaotic traffic jams and often shoulder to shoulder people. Hunger and apprehension about another winter without fuel hung like thunder clouds in the summer air.
People were happy to be free of the German occupation, and in the evening crowds often lined the Champs Elysses to watch the activities of the liberating soldiers. The United States military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, reported on Tuesday, July 24, 1945, that riding around Paris in military vehicles had reached dangerous proportions. Brigadier General Pleas B. Rogers, Paris troop commandant, had assigned members of the 787th Military Police, to take up posts on the Champs Elysses and stop all army vehicles containing women or which "looked as though they were being used for a joy ride."
The Stars and Stripes noted that several Army nurses were prevented from delivering gifts to wounded soldiers.
1st Lieutenant Angela Leo Writes Sad News to Her Aunt Ruth
Angela Leo waited and waited for her sister to arrive, until finally her telephone rang once again. The military person on the other end informed her that her sister Nancy had been killed and two other nurses injured when the jeep in which they were riding was forced off the road, perhaps by speeding joy riders. Nancy had suffered a severe head injury and died on the way to a Paris hospital. Nancy would have been 24 years old on August 15, 1945.
Angela immediately wrote a letter to her Aunt, Mrs. Ruth Atwell of 36 Emily Street, in Cumberland, giving her the sad news and telling her that a beautiful funeral service was held in Paris and Nancy was buried there. She asked her Aunt Ruth not to tell her mother about Nancy’s death until the Army had notified her.
Mrs. Mary Leo Hears About Nancy’s Death From Everyone but the Army
Back in Maryland on Frederick Street, Mrs. Mary Leo, already in mourning over the death of her husband Francis Patsy in 1944, still hadn’t heard from the Army about Nancy’s death. Then Mrs. Leo’s telephone rang. Mrs. Johnson, a resident of Baltimore Avenue in Cumberland, told Mrs. Leo that her son had written home about a beautiful grave he had seen in Paris while riding past a cemetery. The abundance of flowers had attracted his attention, so he had taken a closer look. The grave belonged to 2nd Lieutenant Nancy J. Leo.
Mrs. Leo’s sister Ruth also tearfully showed her the letter from her daughter Angela in Paris. Finally, one day came a knock at the door and a Western Union boy stood there holding a telegram. Mary Leo had finally heard from the Army.
Mary Leo’s daughter Nancy’s grave was later removed from Paris to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial near Hamm, Luxembourg. Nancy J. Leo lies with her soldier companions who fought for the liberation of France and Belgium as fiercely as she fought for their lives in the 216th General Hospital Unit.
References
Cumberland Goes to War, Allegheny County Department of Tourism, Accessed July 24, 2010
Fessler, Diane Burke, No Time for Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II, Michigan State University Press, 1996
Kuhn, Betsy, Angels of Mercy: The Army Nurses of World War II, Aladdin, 1999
Monahan, Evelyn, Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary, And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II, Anchor, 2004
Medical Bulletin 1950, Vol. 2, No. 5,
Tomblin, Barbara Brooks, Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996
Stars and Stripes, Germany Edition, Paris, Tuesday, July 24, 1945
Stars and Stripes, Germany Edition, Paris, Friday, July 27, 1945
The Leo Family of Cumberland, Maryland
The United States Federal Census of 1930 showed a young Leo family. The father, Francis Patsy Leo, 37, listed his occupation as a policeman. His wife, Mary E. Leo, 40, stayed at home to care for their children, Angela M., 10, Nancy J., 8, Rosemary, 1, and Richard, six months old.
Nancy and her sisters grew up at 328 Frederick Street in peaceful Cumberland, Maryland, while the world maneuvered itself into another global war. By the time Angela and Nancy had graduated from high school and nursing school, Europe had been at war for two years and the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Angela and Nancy graduated from Catholic Girls’ Central High School. Angela graduated from the Allegheny Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1940, and Nancy graduated with the Class of 1942.
Angela Leo (Lambert) was assigned to the 62 Field Hospital in the European Theater as an operating room nurse. She served from October 1, 1942 until November 27, 1945.
Nancy Leo Joins the 216th General Hospital
The 216th General Hospital was activated on June 1, 1941, at Camp Forest, Tennessee. When it left the United States on March 21, 1944, Nancy Leo was one of the Army nurses who went with the hospital and landed at Grenock, Scotland, eight days later. From April 1944, until June 1945, the 216th General Hospital operated at Longleat, Warminister, England, and then on June 16, 1945, it embarked for Le Havre, France, arriving on June 17, 1945. Later, the 216th moved to Etretat and then to Verdun.
When Nancy Leo arrived in France, she immediately contacted her sister Angela who was stationed in Paris. On July 23, 1945, Army nurse Angela Leo received a telephone call from her sister Nancy. Nancy was coming to Paris to see her the next day.
Liberated Paris, France, 1945
Paris in July 1945, almost one year after French and American forces liberated it from the Germans, was a city of chaotic traffic jams and often shoulder to shoulder people. Hunger and apprehension about another winter without fuel hung like thunder clouds in the summer air.
People were happy to be free of the German occupation, and in the evening crowds often lined the Champs Elysses to watch the activities of the liberating soldiers. The United States military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, reported on Tuesday, July 24, 1945, that riding around Paris in military vehicles had reached dangerous proportions. Brigadier General Pleas B. Rogers, Paris troop commandant, had assigned members of the 787th Military Police, to take up posts on the Champs Elysses and stop all army vehicles containing women or which "looked as though they were being used for a joy ride."
The Stars and Stripes noted that several Army nurses were prevented from delivering gifts to wounded soldiers.
1st Lieutenant Angela Leo Writes Sad News to Her Aunt Ruth
Angela Leo waited and waited for her sister to arrive, until finally her telephone rang once again. The military person on the other end informed her that her sister Nancy had been killed and two other nurses injured when the jeep in which they were riding was forced off the road, perhaps by speeding joy riders. Nancy had suffered a severe head injury and died on the way to a Paris hospital. Nancy would have been 24 years old on August 15, 1945.
Angela immediately wrote a letter to her Aunt, Mrs. Ruth Atwell of 36 Emily Street, in Cumberland, giving her the sad news and telling her that a beautiful funeral service was held in Paris and Nancy was buried there. She asked her Aunt Ruth not to tell her mother about Nancy’s death until the Army had notified her.
Mrs. Mary Leo Hears About Nancy’s Death From Everyone but the Army
Back in Maryland on Frederick Street, Mrs. Mary Leo, already in mourning over the death of her husband Francis Patsy in 1944, still hadn’t heard from the Army about Nancy’s death. Then Mrs. Leo’s telephone rang. Mrs. Johnson, a resident of Baltimore Avenue in Cumberland, told Mrs. Leo that her son had written home about a beautiful grave he had seen in Paris while riding past a cemetery. The abundance of flowers had attracted his attention, so he had taken a closer look. The grave belonged to 2nd Lieutenant Nancy J. Leo.
Mrs. Leo’s sister Ruth also tearfully showed her the letter from her daughter Angela in Paris. Finally, one day came a knock at the door and a Western Union boy stood there holding a telegram. Mary Leo had finally heard from the Army.
Mary Leo’s daughter Nancy’s grave was later removed from Paris to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial near Hamm, Luxembourg. Nancy J. Leo lies with her soldier companions who fought for the liberation of France and Belgium as fiercely as she fought for their lives in the 216th General Hospital Unit.
References
Cumberland Goes to War, Allegheny County Department of Tourism, Accessed July 24, 2010
Fessler, Diane Burke, No Time for Fear: Voices of American Military Nurses in World War II, Michigan State University Press, 1996
Kuhn, Betsy, Angels of Mercy: The Army Nurses of World War II, Aladdin, 1999
Monahan, Evelyn, Neidel-Greenlee, Rosemary, And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II, Anchor, 2004
Medical Bulletin 1950, Vol. 2, No. 5,
Tomblin, Barbara Brooks, Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996
Stars and Stripes, Germany Edition, Paris, Tuesday, July 24, 1945
Stars and Stripes, Germany Edition, Paris, Friday, July 27, 1945
