usphs. mary c. mccall jr. wrote the story and dorothy mcguire played the lead role of peggy adams, a cadet nurse. the ten-minute film shows the way that peggy adams decided to become a cadet nurse, along with her training and everyday nursing experiences. reward unlimited received awards for the best recruitment film for 1944; it was shown in 16,000 theaters and seen by an audience of 90 million. the american hospital association established recruitment centers in all 1,125 participating nursing schools. using recruiting booths, volunteers disseminated information about the opportunities offered by the cnc to potential candidates. state and local nursing councils, and many other organizations, associations, and volunteers aided the recruitment effort. in the fiscal year 1943—the first year of enrollment—65,521 nursing students registered. in the 1944 enrollment period, 61,471 registered. in the 1945 enrollment period, 3,000 students were admitted to what would be the final class of the program. minority women the nurse training act of 1943 prohibited discrimination against race, creed, or color. however: little is known about the degree to which schools of nursing participating in the cadet nurse corps actually admitted students regardless of race or ethnicity...— elise m. szecsy, "cadet nurse corps in arizona", a history of service the cnc enrollment of each student was recorded on a membership card; however, it did not require the student to list her race or ethnicity. thus, increasing the difficulty to ascertain the diversity across participating nursing schools. african american african american organizations had actively advocated for discriminatory changes in the american society and in military policies. the non-discrimination provision in the cnc legislation of 1943 had a positive effect on encouraging young african american women to enter the nursing profession. in particular, those women who could not afford to pay for a nursing education. some 2,000 students attended 20 black institutions, while around 400 students were enrolled in 42 white schools. the african american press helped the cnc in its efforts to recruit black women as did community leaders. some of these cadets took part in public ceremonies and were the subject of special feature stories released to their local newspapers. in 1940, there were 230 black-owned newspapers in the united states. they were publishing regularly in baltimore; washington, dc; chicago; new york; philadelphia; and atlanta. japanese american the bombing attack on pearl harbor on 7 december 1941 by the empire of japan caused hysteria among residents along the pacific coast where many japanese americans lived - including the nisei generation. the u.s. intelligence found that the majority of japanese americans were not security threats and posed no danger to the country. the press, patriotic organizations, and others continued to fuel the fire for their removal from the pacific coast. on 16 february 1942, president franklin d. roosevelt (bowing to political pressure) signed executive order 9066; the order caused the evacuation of people of japanese ancestry from the pacific coast states. the order uprooted in excess of 100,000 men, women, and children from their homes and farms, jobs, and schools. forcibly removed, they were interned at ten relocation camps in seven states. among those interned included nisei women students who were attending nursing schools in the coastal states of california, oregon, and washington. many of these students volunteered to staff relocation hospitals, and so did other nisei women after completing nurse's aid training. the non-discrimination provision in the cnc legislation of 1943 opened the portal for more than 400 japanese (nisei) american women to become cadet nurses. of the 1,125 schools of nursing that participated in the cnc program, only about 70 schools of nursing opened their enrollment to japanese american women. too few nursing schools were open to japanese american women; it was perceived that hospital staff and patients would not trust them. native american there is no ready record of the number of native american women who participated in the cnc program across the country. the only accredited school of nursing for native americans in the entire united states then was the sage memorial hospital school of nursing, located in ganado, arizona, the heart of the navajo nation. the hospital opened in 1930 and closed in 1953. over its operating life, the sage school of nursing graduated about 150 native american women from more than 50 tribes. among them were about 39 women who were enrolled in the cadet nurse program. sage excluded white students, reportedly because they had many other options while native americans did not. later, they accepted hispanic and asian american nursing students. uniforms the outdoor or winter uniform of the cadet nurse corps the outdoor uniforms of the cnc were designed to be distinctive and to identify each cadet as a member of the corps. there was one uniform for winter and another for summer. the winter uniform was a gray, woolen, single-breasted jacket suit, a gored skirt, and a gray, velour overcoat. a gray montgomery beret, similar to the one worn by the british general, bernard montgomery, was worn with both of the uniforms. the summer uniform consisted of a two-piece, gray-and-white-striped, cotton suit and a gray twill raincoat. the winter uniform was one of three designs created by professional designers and introduced in a fashion show at new york city on 16 august 1943. thirty-two fashion editors judged this uniform and the montgomery beret as the winners. the selected uniform style was said to be attractive enough to have provided an incentive for young women to join the cnc. the official outdoor uniforms—with the exception of blouse, gloves, shoes, and stockings—were supplied to the cadets by the institution in which they were enrolled. the students paid for the excluded items. the indoor or work uniforms varied from school to school; these were purchased by the school from federal grants. the insignia of the cnc was the maltese cross. the insignia was worn on the left shoulder of the uniforms and on the student nurse uniform of the official school of nursing. the usphs official insignia was worn on the jacket lapels and was also present on the silver buttons. on the montgomery beret, the usphs insignia was worn beneath the spread eagle and the american shield. wearing the cnc outdoor uniforms was optional for all cadets, except when instructed to do otherwise. training cadet nurse peggy adams (dorothy mcguire) studies in the bacteriology laboratory in reward unlimited (1944), a promotional short film produced for the public health service the participating schools of nursing were required to compress the traditional nursing program to 30 instead of 36 months, and they were to provide students with the four clinical experiences of medicine: surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics. the students became senior cadets in their last six months before graduation, requiring them to serve in a federal or civilian hospital where they provided the equivalent services to those of a graduate nurse. during their first nine months of training, cadets were protected by regulation from working on the hospital wards for more than 24 hours each week. junior cadets typically worked between 40 and 48 hours each week, including classes; senior cadets were free of classes. all state boards of nursing modified their regulations to agree with the accelerated program. the quality and standards of the educational systems in which cadets would be trained varied considerably. in 1943, nursing schools, hospital administrators, and government officials assured the u.s. congress the federally subsidized training of nurses would conform to the minimum standards. with his rule-making powers, the surgeon general issued these regulations: the school had to be accredited by the appropriate accrediting agency for schools of nursing in the state or territory; an institution offering a degree in nursing had to be accredited by the appropriate accrediting agency for universities and colleges. the school had to be connected with a hospital that had been approved by the american college of surgeons, or that maintained standards of nursing equivalent to those required by the college. in a central school of nursing, the major hospital clinical unit had to meet these standards. the school had to require for admission not less than graduation from an accredited high-school; the school had to maintain an educational staff adequate to provide satisfactory instruction and supervision; its curriculum had to include all those units of instruction necessary to conform with accepted practices in basic nursing education. the school had to provide adequate clinical experience in the four basic services – medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics; the school had to provide well-balanced weekly schedules of organized instruction, experience and study; the school had to provide adequate and well-equipped classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and other necessary facilities for carrying out the program, and satisfactory living facilities and health service for students. in evaluating the adequacy of the school facilities to meet the various requirements specified, the standards of the national league of nursing education were to be used as a guide. congressional hearings on appropriations stressed all schools should be allowed to take part in the program. when the standards were applied against the existing conditions, they did not seem practical for some schools to achieve. some accommodations were made for smaller schools by lowering the standards for them. they would be judged by criteria that included the qualifications and number of instructional personnel, their clinical facilities, the curricula, the weekly schedule of hours, and the health and guidance programs. such schools produced a small percentage of the cadet force. while monitoring the standards of the 1,125 approved schools of nursing, the consultants of the division of nurse education traveled thousands of miles, wrote countless letters, and provided direct and specific support services. the consultants were assigned to an area and each school was well known to them. the cnc program began on 1 july 1943 and ended with the last group of graduating students on 31 december 1948 and included three enrollment periods; the first term was in 1943, the second in 1944, and the third and final term was in 1945. during this time, 179,294 students enrolled in the program and 124,065 of them graduated from the participating nursing schools. the main cause of student withdrawals was homesickness; some married students withdrew to be with their husbands when they were released from the military; others when the hostilities ceased; some failed in their studies; others left for health reasons; and some left because of the stress of a nursing career. the cnc was the largest of the federal nurse training programs. the federal government spent $160,326,237 on the nurse training act of 1943 for administration, uniforms, maintenance, tuition, fees, and stipends. by the end of the program, the records of all participating schools of nursing had been audited. the work of the field auditors resulted in the recovery of $2,200,000 of prepaid funds. looking back cadet nurses cadet nurses from around the united states cadet nurses came from every state in the u.s.; they were the daughters of farmers and mechanics, of teachers, lawyers, clerks and businessmen. some joined because they wished to become nurses and others for the free education. in the course of their training, cadet nurses served in army and navy hospitals, with the indian health service, with the veterans' administration, and in public health hospitals. during and after world war ii, student nurses restored the diminished capacity of civilian nurses; making a major contribution to the nation's civilian and military healthcare systems. the american hospital association credited cadet student nurses with helping to prevent the collapse of civilian nursing care and commended them for replacing graduate nurses who enlisted in the armed forces during world war ii. in cadet nurse stories, the authors noted the cnc program influenced the way in which future nurses would be educated and trained in the united states. they also decern that cadet nurses leave as their legacy the hope that those who aspire to a career in nursing will not be denied the education needed to achieve that goal. without the u.s. cadet nurse corps many women would not have accomplished their dream of becoming a nurse. cadet stories in their own words florence blake ford: frankly i jumped at the opportunity to become a cadet nurse because it was free, and if i completed the course i could earn more money than i currently made as