A Life of Service by a Great American - Ruth Puryear
Sat, May 09
|Dallas Public Library
The Paulding County Genealogy Society celebrates the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America with the First of Four Monthly Programs by honoring Ruth Puryear, distinguished nurse for 62 years and legendary WW II service.
Time & Location
May 09, 2026, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Dallas Public Library, 1010 E Memorial Dr, Dallas, GA 30132, USA
About the Event
Ruth graduated from Hanover High School in Hannover, Pennsylvania and later graduated as a nurse from Garfield Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 1931. She was married to Robert Mason Puryear of Boydton, Va. in 1937. On October 29, 1943, Ruth and her husband volunteered for military service. Bob was a Navy Seabee with the Rank of Carpenter's Mate First Class and was sent to the Pacific Theatre. Ruth joined the Army Nurses Corps and served in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) with the 107th Evacuation Hospital as a Second Lieutenant. She was promoted to First Lieutenant in December 1944.
She received Five Battle Stars and a Unit Citation for work done in the Battle of the Bulge (the Ardennes Offensive, also known as Operation Autumn Mist, to the German side). She was also one of the first groups of Army nurses who went into Buchenwald Concentration Camp several…