DAR Member Profiles - Military

DAR members are passionate about supporting our nation’s service members and veterans, so it’s no surprise that DAR has so many members who have dedicated their lives to military service. We reflect on just a few of the amazing Daughters who have lived the DAR mission of dedication to patriotism to the greatest extent as members of the United States military.

Jane Delano was a nurse and founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service, beginning her career in 1888 as she worked with victims of the yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville, Florida. She soon joined the New York chapter of the American Red Cross, where she served as a secretary for the enrollment of nurses. In 1909 she became the Superintendent of the United States Army Nurse Corps, earning her the presidency of the American Nurses Association. Jane was the driving force in the creation of the Americ

Dorothy Conyers was a veteran who served during World War I in Baccarat, France and Coblentz, Germany. During her service Dorothy acted as an Army nurse. She was awarded four Bronze Stars during her service, and following her time as an Army nurse she became active her in community as the director of the Stenberger Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Greensboro, NC.

Colonel Martha Battle Long had a distinguished career in government. Some of her most prominent titles include: Administrative Director of Litigation for the National Recovery Administration, Chief of Insurance Section for the Rural Electrification Administration, and Assistant Chief for the Federal Works Agency. She entered military service in 1942 as part of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army Corps, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. In 1945 she was appointed Deputy Director of t

Frances Pillsbury was a notable female veteran of her time. During WWII, Frances taught ground school lessons for future military pilots at Belmont Abbey College. Later, she was inducted into a North Carolina elite female pilot group called the Ninety Niners, and then became a Link Trainer Instructor at the U.S. Naval Air Station, located in Corpus Christi Texas. In 1944 Frances began working with the Red Cross, joining and serving for 18 months in England and Germany during the Second World War.

Brigadier General Wilma Vaught is a retired American military leader, joining the military in the 1950s. She became the first woman to deploy with an Air Force bomber unit and the first woman to earn the rank of Brigadier General from the comptroller field, based upon her work in the Air Force Systems Command headquarters as Director of Programs and Budget, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Comptroller, and then as the command’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Comptroller. She continued to set the bar for

Marsha Johnson Evans is a retired Rear Admiral of the U.S. Navy. Marsha served for almost 30 years in the Navy, during which she became the first female surface assignments officer in the Bureau of Naval Personnel and served as senior Navy social aide to the President of the United States. She was also executive officer of Recruit Training Command at Naval Training Center San Diego, the chief of staff at Naval Base San Francisco, and became the first woman to command a U.S. naval station in 1990 at the Nava