Aleda E. Lutz

On Saturday, April 17, 2010 Lutz, along with four other former military members with Michigan connections will be enshrined into the Air Zoo's Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame.

A stele (monument) exists at the crash site which states Lt. Lutz was the first American woman who died in action during World War II. The stele is near Doizieux, France on Mt. Pilat. The monument was erected in 2005 and every September there is a memorial service. A local citizen has written a book about the crash and has interviewed all the witnesses.

In 1993, Lutz was inducted into the Saginaw (Michigan) Hall of Fame and in 1994, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in Lansing, Michigan.

To carry on her legacy, her family and members of the Women's International Bowling Congress joined together to lobby Congress to pass a bill that allowed medical hospitals to be named in honor of women. The effort to rename the facility after Lutz, who was an athlete in bowling and half a dozen other sports, continued to be recognized by women bowlers. They responded to a request at the 1990 WIBC's annual meeting to stir up national support for renaming the center. The vast majority of Saginaw citizens thought the hospital was already named after Aleda Lutz—after all, it was dedicated in her honor in 1950 and again in 1988—but it was never officially recognized by Congress. In fact, the congressional resolution was first offered in 1949, but died in committee because she was a woman. WIBC delegates spread the word that legislation needed to be approved by Congress before the center could officially be named after Lutz. By writing letters and telephoning congressional leaders, they made it happen

On October 27, 1990, the Aleda E. Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center was rededicated as the Aleda E. Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center by Congressional Decree. It was the first time a medical facility was congressionally named after a woman. The dedication came 46 years after Aleda's death. There are currently only two VA medical centers named for women

On April 3, 1945, at the insistence of General George C. Marshall, Lutz was honored with an 800-patient future hospital ship the USAHS Aleda E. Lutz. The Aleda E Lutz was the largest mercy ship afloat and was the former French liner Colombie. On February 13, 1945, Aleda E. Lutz was designated a U.S. Army hospital ship in accordance to international practice, as set forth in the provisions of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.

The Aleda E. Lutz Nursing Award was given annually by the Saginaw General Hospital's Nursing School from 1945 until its closing in 1969.

In July 1945, Aleda's sister Hilda Lutz, a Saginaw General Hospital nurse, was a special guest at the Detroit Municipal Airport where the army air force was presented with an $80,000 check from the Women's International Bowling Congress for a new C-47 airplane to be named Miss Nightingale III, in Aleda's honor.

During World War I, most of the Lutz family was forced to register as German and report to county court. This was a time in which many Americans were angry and suspicious towards German-Americans, and during the course of the war the government registered nearly half a million "enemy alien" civilians. The combined family experiences of registering as "enemy aliens" during WWI and being forced to sell their land during WWII would give Lutz a special connection to Japanese-Americans participating in the war effort, particularly the 442nd Infantry Regiment (United States).

On November 1, 1944, she was fatally injured in a Medevac C-47 crash near Saint-Chamond, Loire, France. The Medevac was transporting 15 wounded soldiers (6 German POW and 9 American soldiers) from Lyon, France, to a hospital in Italy when the plane crashed. The official explanation was that a violent storm was encountered. The pilot lost control of the plane and it crashed on the side of Mont Pilat (Crest de la Perdrix) in Massif central, at the south of Saint-Etienne and Lyon. There were no survivors. Lutz was 28 years old, and the only female on the plane.

On December 17, 1943, Aleda was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Lutz was transferred to the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Squadron of the United States Armys 12th Air Force, the first to depart for overseas duty. They were activated and sent to North Africa. The 802nd was a Medical Air Evacuation Squadron, the first unit of its kind. This highly classified unit consisted of C-47 cargo planes which flew to the battlefront with ammunition and supplies and then took wounded-emergency cases back to the hospitals. These planes flew without the Red Cross insignia. She was first sent to Sarasota's Morrison Field in Florida. She and the other nurses were looking forward to spending the winter in the sunny south, but before their curriculum was in place, the unit was activated. In January 1943, the three nurses were en route to an oversees assignment as part of the evacuation squadron sent into active duty. It appears that they received their training on the job, in the middle of a war zone.

Aleda became a staff nurse at Saginaw General Hospital, but with the advent of World War II, she began looking for a way to contribute to the massive war effort. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps on February 10, 1942 and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant. Her army service number was N730648.

Aleda Lutz was a superior athlete; she especially liked tennis, dancing, and ice skating. History also indicates that Lutz was an avid bowler. She began bowling while attending nursing school. As an activity for the nursing students, a local bowling center, Hessie Lanes, gave the students the opportunity to bowl at a reduced rate. Lutz was active in the Saginaw Women's Bowling Association, which was founded in 1937.

Lutz attended Wellman Country School through the 8th grade and Freeland School through the 10th grade. In 1933 she graduated from Saginaw Arthur Hill High School. In 1937 Lutz graduated from Saginaw General Hospital School of Nursing.

Aleda Ester Lutz (November 9, 1915 – November 1, 1944) was a United States Army flight nurse. She was the first American woman to die in combat during World War II and, with the exception of Civil War era Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the highest decorated woman in the history of the U.S. military.

Lutz was born November 9, 1915, in Freeland, Michigan to German immigrants Friederich Georg Lutz and Margaretha Sybilla (née Hitz) Lutz from Nuremberg, Germany. Lutz grew up bilingual, a native English and German speaker, which would later make her an asset during World War II.