Adm. Duerk, who oversaw a broad expansion of the Nurse Corps and came to represent the dawning of a new, more equitable era for women in the Navy, died July 21 at her home in Lake Mary, Florida.

Adm. Duerk, who oversaw a broad expansion of the Nurse Corps and came to represent the dawning of a new, more equitable era for women in the Navy, died July 21 at her home in Lake Mary, Florida.

From 1918 to 1947, Navy nurses actually used an insignia identical to Medical Corps (gold oak leaf with silver acorn) and distinguished only by the letters “NNC” (for Navy Nurse Corps).

In addition to her combat duty, Duerk had been the first Nurse Corps officer to be assigned as special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for health and environment, from 1966-1967.

When Alene B. Duerk joined the Navy Nurse Corps, leaving her nursing job at a Toledo department store at the height of World War II, she envisioned a few months’ service to her country followed ...