Who is the first female Brigadier General in the United States Armed Forces?

Anna Mae Hays joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1942, she was one of many women who wanted to serve their country after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In January of 1943, Hays was deployed to India to the town of Ledo in Assam, where she was assigned to take care of American soldiers who were building a road to China. More than two years later, she was promoted to First Lieutenant.

After WWII ended, Hays remained on active duty and deployed to the Korean War in 1950. Hays went on to lead the emergency room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; President Eisenhower was one notable patient. Hays became Chief of the Army Nurse Corps in 1967 after a series of promotions. She was promoted to Brigadier General on June 11, 1970 after being appointed by President Richard Nixon on May 15 of that year. She was instrumental in the recruitment efforts to send more nurses to the Vietnam War.

But today's women have Hays to thank for plenty of advances: her recommendations led to policy changes like no longer automatically discharging married officers for becoming pregnant.