June Brown McNiven

Lieutenant June Brown McNiven was born on June 24, 1917 in Geneva, New York. Upon her graduation from high school, she began nursing training at the Buffalo Nursing School, from which she graduated in 1937.

When the United States entered World War II following the bombing at Pearl Harbor, LT McNiven felt it was her patriotic duty to volunteer her skills in order to serve her nation, and she made the decision to join the Army Nursing Corps in May 1942.

After serving at Walter Reed Hospital for a year and a half, LT McNiven was assigned overseas as part of the Johns Hopkins 118th General Hospital Unit. Her Unit travelled to New Guinea and Leyte Island in the Philippines to set up field hospitals in each location.

LT McNiven was later assigned to an evacuation field hospital in Australia, where she married Captain Roy McNiven, a pilot she met while crossing the South Pacific.

LT McNiven was discharged from the Army in April 1945. During her service, her Unit received two commendation citations, and LT McNiven was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal.

Captain and Lieutenant McNiven eventually relocated to Altamont, New York, where they raised their six children. LT McNiven continued her work as a nurse at the Brady Hospital in Albany and at Guilderland Junior High School.