The Angel of Anzio
by Camryn Dreyer
Gertrude Warner
November 23, 1915-October 29, 1999
There are 2,371 people interred in Fort Logan who have received the Purple Heart, an award that is given to those in the military who are wounded or killed in battle. Of those 2,371 veterans, two are women. The first, Gertrude Warner, was born in Washington DC[1] in 1915 and raised in New York.[2] She joined the military in 1942[3] after the US entered World War Two. She followed her brother, James, who had enlisted one week prior. [4] She was a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps. During her service she was wounded in Anzio, Italy. She was working at the 95th evacuation hospital close to enemy infantry, and experienced heavy bombardment. At least 200 nurses took part in the campaign at Anzio. It was a brutal affair the nurses endured there. As they cared for the sick and wounded they heard constant gunfire and bomb blasts and occasionally dove into foxholes themselves to avoid enemy artillery.[5] Gertrude recovered from her wounds and carried on, eventually entering Germany with Allied forces in 1945. After the war, Gertrude made her home in Ocala, Florida where she was a doctor at Munroe Memorial Hospital.[6] She was among three doctors in Marion Country on hand to handle certain kinds of birth defects,[7] and the only woman pathologist in the country during the 1960s and 1970s.[8]
Gertrude was the last medical examiner in Marion County. After she retired a central morgue was set up in a different county which handled the deaths from Marion. She testified in court numerous times as the associate medical examiner of Ocala.[9] In one instance, she testified on the cause of death for a child, and the jury subsequently ruled that the death was accidental.[10] In another she testified that a woman’s death could have been the result of accidental poisoning by a household cleaner.[11]
Gertrude was a lifelong philanthropist and during the late 1970’s she donated a two-bedroom house to the Rape Crisis/Domestic Violence Center to be used as a shelter for woman in need. Following this donation, she sat on the board of the directors for the organization for many years.[12] She was also involved with the American Cancer Society and a medical advisor for the local chapter of Cerebral Palsy and Birth Defects Foundation.[13] Upon her death in 1999 she chose to be buried in Fort Logan where her brother was interred.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, prepared by Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census (Washinton DC, 1920). https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/6061/4295774-00237/19696638?backurl=https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/family-tree/person/tree/26457907/person/12533314053/facts/citation/22096113050/edit/record
[2] Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, prepared by Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census (Washinton DC, 1920). https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/2442/m-t0627-02775-00742/13886465?backurl=https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/family-tree/person/tree/26457907/person/12533314053/facts
[3] U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2441&h=9397235&ssrc=pt&tid=26457907&pid=12533314053&usePUB=true
[4] U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006. National Cemetery Administration. https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8750&h=3271232&ssrc=pt&tid=26457907&pid=12533314058&usePUB=true
[5] “Indianapolis nurse was the Angel of Anzio.” Indy Star, (Indianapolis, IN), March 1, 2018.
[6] “Organic Phosphorus Said Death Cause.” Tampa Bay Times, (St. Petersburg, FL), December 9, 1965. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21987510/tampa_bay_times/
[7] “Defects subject of talk.” Orlando Sentinel, (Orlando, FL), May 14, 1965. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21987362/the_orlando_sentinel/
[8] “Dr. Warner, ME, Woman pathologist helped county in many ways.” Ocala Star-Banner, (Ocala, FL), August 8, 1996.
[9] “Probe Death by Insecticide.” Tampa Bay Times, (Tampa, FL), December 10, 1965.
[10] “Juries rule on deaths in Marion.” Tampa Bay Times, (Tampa, FL), September 30, 1966.
[11] “Organic Phosphorus said death cause.” Tampa Bay Times, (Tampa, FL), December 9, 1965.
[12] “Forensic Pathologist Gertrude Warner Dies.” Ocala Star-Banner, (Ocala, FL), November 5, 1999.
[13] “Forensic Pathologist Gertrude Warner Dies.” Ocala Star-Banner, (Ocala, FL), November 5, 1999.
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