Lt. Edward T. Lyon: First male nurse into the Army Nurse Corps

In 1955, 2nd Lt. Edward T. Lyon became the very first male nurse to be commissioned in the Army Nurse Corps in the US as a reserve officer. He was a nurse anesthetist before he began active duty four days after his commissioning, joining over 3,500 commissioned women in the service.
His entry to the army paved the way for the uplifting of the male nursing status in several military nurse corps. Although male nurses were generally given permission to be in the army during that time, they held lower positions, such as pharmacy technicians and orderlies.

Since Lyon’s time, more male nurses were given the opportunity to hold higher positions in the military nursing services.