First Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after desegregation dies
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on January 15, 2025
Nancy Leftenant-Colon, the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps when it was desegregated after World War II and the sister of one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen pilots, died Jan. 8 in Amityville, N.Y. She was 104.
Leftenant-Colon died peacefully at Massapequa Center Rehabilitation and Nursing in Amityville, where she had lived for the past year, a nephew, Chris Leftenant, told NPR.
"Aunt Nancy had a long, blessed life," a niece, Cheryl Leftenant, said.
Leftenant-Colon graduated from Amityville Memorial High School in 1939 . . .
