The first black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s has died. She is 104 years old.
Nancy Leftenant-Colon, who retired as a major, died earlier this month in a New York nursing home.
Known as “Lefty,” she was one of six siblings who served in the military, one of whom was the famous Tuskegee Airman. Colon’s remains were never found on the Skige Airmen site.
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“She was a wonderful person,” her nephew Chris Leftenant told The Associated Press. “When she did this first and then that, she never made waves. She never made a big deal out of it. That’s what just happened.
After the military was desegregated in 1948, Colon initially joined the all-black 332nd Fighter Group as a nurse. After the 332nd Fighter Group was disbanded, she joined the United States Air Force and supported the Korean and Vietnam wars.
She set up hospital wards in Japan, helped evacuate French veterans from Vietnam, and took the first medical evacuation flight to Dien Bien Phu, where French colonial forces were defeated by Vietnamese forces more than 70 years ago. She retired as chief nurse in 1965, according to the Tuskegee Airmen website.
From there, she worked as a school nurse at Amityville Memorial High School in New York from 1971 to 1984, where she became famous for her line “The sky’s the limit,” according to a release from the school district. The library media center is named in her honor.
She was also the first woman elected president of the Tuskegee Airmen Company, serving from 1989 to 1991.
“She leads the way, she keeps all the doors open,” Chris Refnant said.
Suffolk County Councilman Jason Richberg issued a proclamation to Colon in 2022, recalling her as a “firecracker.”
“It was such an honor to sit with her,” he said. “There’s no question that she is who she is, and that’s awesome. She’s real. She’s humble. She’s direct about her wants and needs. She always tells great stories about her and her family.
Like Chris Refnant, Richberg said he remembers her as not someone who emphasized her major accomplishments. “She’s very humble about her history. I’m doing my part,” she said. “Even though she was a hero to her family, she wanted everyone to know you could do more,” he said.
Colon was born in Goose Creek, South Carolina in 1920. In 1923, her family left the South for Amityville, New York, where she died on January 8.
