Nancy Leftenant-Colon, Who Was the First Black Woman in Army Nurse Corps, Has Died

Balazs Barabas

The first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s has died. She was 104. Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who retired as a major and died earlier this month at a New York nursing home, was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career. Known as “Lefty," she was one of six siblings who served in the military, including a brother who was a famed Tuskegee Airmen pilot. He was killed in a