Charlotte E. Stryker Blaser

Charlotte Blaser joined the first class of Cadet Nurses at Russell Sage College in Troy. Blaser said she knew she wanted to be a nurse before the attack on Pearl Harbor launched the United States into World Warr II. This desire turned into a patriotic duty when as many as 250,000 nurses were sent to the front lines to care for troops, leaving such a void on the homefront that hospitals in the United States were canceling immunizations and even closing down. 

Cadet Nurses were anything but coddled. They worked six days a week, taking classes during the day and putting their knowledge to the test, working weekend and evening shifts at hospitals. Blaser said the physical and mental stress was too demanding for some women, and not everyone made it through the whole program.  Read more