Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who was the first Black woman in Army Nurse Corps, has died

The first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s has died. She was 104.

Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who retired as a major and died earlier this month at a New York nursing home, was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career.

Known as “Lefty," she was one of six siblings who served in the military, including a brother who was a famed Tuskegee Airmen pilot. He was killed in a mid-air collision over Austria in 1945, according to a biography of Leftenant-Colon on the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. website. His remains have never been found.

“She was just an awesome person,” her nephew Chris Leftenant told The Associated Press. “She never created waves when she was doing all this first this, first that. She never made a big thing of it. It was just happening.”

After the military was desegregated in 1948, Leftenant-Colon initially joined the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group, as a nurse. She then joined the U.S. Air Force after the 332nd Fighter Group was disbanded, supporting the Korean and Vietnam wars.

She set up hospital wards in Japan, helped evacuate French Legionnaires from Vietnam and was on the the first medical evacuation flight into Dien Bien Phu, where more than 70 years ago the French colonial army was defeated by Vietnamese troops. She retired as a chief nurse in 1965, according to the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. website.

From there, she served as a school nurse at Amityville Memorial High School in New York from 1971 to 1984, known, according to a school district release, for her line “The sky is the limit.” The library media center has been named in her honor.

She also was the first woman elected to the presidency of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., serving from 1989 to 1991. In 2007, President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by Congress, to the Tuskegee Airmen as a group.

“She led the way, and she kept all the doors open doors behind," Chris Lefenant said. “She was just the first one. But then she made it whenever and wherever possible for someone else to follow behind.”

Suffolk County Legislator Jason Richberg, who presented Leftenant-Colon with a proclamation in 2022, recalled her as a “firecracker."

“It was a truly an honor to sit with her,” he said. “She was unapologetically her, which was awesome. She was authentic. She was humble. She was direct in her wants and needs. She always told great stories of her time her family.”

Like Chris Lefenant, Richberg said he remembered that she wasn't one to highlight her significant accomplishments. “She was humble about her history. She said ‘I was doing my part.’ As much a hero she is to her family, she wanted everyone to know you can do more,” he said.

Leftenant-Colon was born in Goose Creek, South Carolina, in 1920. One of 12 children, she was the granddaughter of a freed slave. Her family left the South for Amityville, New York, in 1923 — and that is where she died Jan. 8.