Anna Mae Violet McCabe Hays was born on February 16, 1920, in Buffalo, New York, the middle of three children. Her father was Daniel Joseph McCabe and her mother was the former Matie Florence Humphrey. Both her parents were officers of The Salvation Army. She had an elder brother and younger sister. During her childhood, the family moved several times in Western New York, ultimately settling in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1932 when she was about 12 years old. Hays attended Allentown High School, now William Allen High School, graduating with honors in 1938. Hays had a love of music, playing the piano, the organ, and the French horn and wanted to go to Juilliard School to study music, but due to a lack of funds for tuition she decided to pursue nursing instead. Hays enrolled at the Allentown General Hospital School of Nursing in 1939, graduating in 1941 with a diploma in nursing. Hays joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1942. She served in India in January 1943 during World War II, with the 20th Field Hospital in Ledo in the northeastern region of Assam. The hospital was stationed at the entrance to Ledo Road, which cut through jungles into Burma. The living and working conditions were primitive; buildings were made of bamboo, and dysentery, leeches and snakes were common, particularly during monsoon seasons. Just over two years later, in April 1945, she was promoted to first lieutenant. After serving two and a half years in India, Hays was on leave in the United States when World War II ended. Hays remained in the service, stationed at Fort Dix and Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and as a head nurse at Fort Myer in Virginia. She was stationed to Korea in 1950 remaining there for 14 months. After graduating from the Nursing Service Administration Course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, she was appointed head nurse at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. Hays and 2 other nurses took care of President Eisenhower while staying at Walter Reed after his heart attack. During the Vietnam war, Hays visited the country three times overseeing nurses stationed there. On May 15, 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Hays to the rank of brigadier general and on June 11, 1970, she was promoted at a ceremony, officiated by the Army Chief of Staff, General William C. Westmoreland, and the Secretary of the Army, Stanley R. Resor. Following her appointment, Elizabeth P. Hoisington, Director of the Women's Army Corps, was also promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1952 Hays married William Hays. Courtesy of Stars and Stripes and Wikipedia.com