Irene Clark Woodman
Mildred Irene Clark Woodman (January 30, 1915November 25, 1994) was the twelfth chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps (1963–1967). She is credited with, during her tenure, playing a large role in the survival of the Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War. She has been inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. Biography Woodman was born on January 30, 1915, to Martha Darling and William James Clark, in Elkton, North Carolina. The youngest of five children, she attended and graduated the Baker Sanatorium Training School for Nurses in Lumberton, North Carolina. In 1936, Clark attended two six-month postgraduate courses. The first was a curriculum in pediatrics offered by the Babies Hospital in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The second was a program at the Jewish Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that prepared specialists in operating room administration and technique. Elizabeth Pearson, one of Clark's postgraduate instructors, had served in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC), and initially sparked Clark's interest in the ANC. When Clark was accepted, she was first assigned to Fort Bragg. After taking several courses to become an experienced Anesthesiologist, in 1938, Woodman was reassigned to Fort Leavenworth, and commissioned as a second lieutenant; she was later assigned