OSTEN TO SEEK VETERAN STATUS FOR CADET NURSES DURING 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and four of her colleagues will introduce a bill during the 2019 legislative session asking the federal government to give veteran status to cadet nurses who provided medical care to American civilians during World War II.

Osten announced the proposal in a news release Thursday afternoon. The bill also seeks to make June 15 “Cadet Nurse Corps Day” in Connecticut in order to recognize and honor the service of Connecticut’s cadet nurses.

State Reps. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville; John Hampton, D-Simsbury; Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, and Mike France, R-Ledyard, will co-sponsor the bill.

“Two years ago I submitted similar legislation seeking federal recognition for our cadet nurses — who are really an unsung part of America’s great sacrifices during World War II — and it went nowhere. But there has been renewed interest recently on a national level in cadet nurses, and I’m hoping that Connecticut’s push can be part of this broader effort to give these women the recognition and the thanks that they deserve,” Osten said in a statement.

On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is co-sponsoring legislation that also seeks to recognize cadet nurses as veterans. A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the U.S. House by U.S. Reps. Cheri Buston, D-Ill., and Greg Gianforte, R-Mont.

The U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps was established by the U.S. Congress on June 15, 1943, and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 1, 1943. Its purpose was to ensure the country had enough nurses to care for its citizens at home and abroad during World War II. It is estimated that by the end of the war in 1945, about 125,000 cadet nurses were providing 80 percent of the nursing care in American hospitals while other nurses served overseas.