Laura Mae Cobb was a member of the United States Navy Nurse Corps who served during World War II. She received numerous decorations for her actions during the defense of Manila and her 37 months as a POW of the Japanese, during which she continued to serve as Chief Nurse for ten other imprisoned Navy nurses—some of the "Angels of Bataan. "
She was born in Atchison, Kansas but the family moved to Mulvane, Kansas shortly after her birth. After she graduated high school in Wichita, she taught school briefly before going to nurse training program at Wesley Hospital in 1915 and graduated in 1918. Cobb then joined the US Navy as a nurse that same year. She served in the Navy until 1921 (including brief service at the Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila at the end of World War I) when she separated and went to work in civilian hospitals in Iowa and Michigan for the next three years. But in 1924 she returned to the Navy working in several Naval hospitals to include Washington, D.C. for ten years. In the late 1930's the rumors of war that had begun to circulate enticed Cobb to request overseas duty. In April of 1940 she was transferred to Guam and while there she received a commendation for "continuous duty for forty-eight hours, during which she repeatedly risked life and limb in her efforts to insure the safety and comfort of the patients" during the typhoon of November 3, 1940. In February, 1941 she returned to the Philippines as the Chief Nurse at Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila. When the Japanese attacked the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941, Cobb and ten other navy nurses remained with the wounded in Manila until the US Military there surrendered to the Japanese on January 2, 1942. She and he other nurses were housed with US Army nurses who had also been captured at Corregidor. The were housed at the Santo Tomas school in Manila for the duration of the war along with a great many Allied citizens who had been imprisoned. The nurses ran a sort of hospital there for he civilian detainees but suffered the same deprivations as the other prisoners. They were liberated by United States Army forces in February 1945.
Laura Mae Cobb received the following known decorations for her valiant service during World War II:
- Bronze Star Medal
- Navy Commendation Medal
- POW Medal
- American Defense Medal with star
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- WWI Victory Medal
- WWII Victory Medal
- Presidential Unit Citations with gold star
- Phillippine Defense Medal
- Phillippine Liberation Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- Phillipne Independence Medal
- Phillippine Presidential Unit Citation
She was born in Atchison, Kansas but the family moved to Mulvane, Kansas shortly after her birth. After she graduated high school in Wichita, she taught school briefly before going to nurse training program at Wesley Hospital in 1915 and graduated in 1918. Cobb then joined the US Navy as a nurse that same year. She served in the Navy until 1921 (including brief service at the Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila at the end of World War I) when she separated and went to work in civilian hospitals in Iowa and Michigan for the next three years. But in 1924 she returned to the Navy working in several Naval hospitals to include Washington, D.C. for ten years. In the late 1930's the rumors of war that had begun to circulate enticed Cobb to request overseas duty. In April of 1940 she was transferred to Guam and while there she received a commendation for "continuous duty for forty-eight hours, during which she repeatedly risked life and limb in her efforts to insure the safety and comfort of the patients" during the typhoon of November 3, 1940. In February, 1941 she returned to the Philippines as the Chief Nurse at Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila. When the Japanese attacked the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941, Cobb and ten other navy nurses remained with the wounded in Manila until the US Military there surrendered to the Japanese on January 2, 1942. She and he other nurses were housed with US Army nurses who had also been captured at Corregidor. The were housed at the Santo Tomas school in Manila for the duration of the war along with a great many Allied citizens who had been imprisoned. The nurses ran a sort of hospital there for he civilian detainees but suffered the same deprivations as the other prisoners. They were liberated by United States Army forces in February 1945.
Laura Mae Cobb received the following known decorations for her valiant service during World War II:
- Bronze Star Medal
- Navy Commendation Medal
- POW Medal
- American Defense Medal with star
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- WWI Victory Medal
- WWII Victory Medal
- Presidential Unit Citations with gold star
- Phillippine Defense Medal
- Phillippine Liberation Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- Phillipne Independence Medal
- Phillippine Presidential Unit Citation
Laura Mae Cobb was a member of the United States Navy Nurse Corps who served during World War II. She received numerous decorations for her actions during the defense of Manila and her 37 months as a POW of the Japanese, during which she continued to serve as Chief Nurse for ten other imprisoned Navy nurses—some of the "Angels of Bataan. "
She was born in Atchison, Kansas but the family moved to Mulvane, Kansas shortly after her birth. After she graduated high school in Wichita, she taught school briefly before going to nurse training program at Wesley Hospital in 1915 and graduated in 1918. Cobb then joined the US Navy as a nurse that same year. She served in the Navy until 1921 (including brief service at the Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila at the end of World War I) when she separated and went to work in civilian hospitals in Iowa and Michigan for the next three years. But in 1924 she returned to the Navy working in several Naval hospitals to include Washington, D.C. for ten years. In the late 1930's the rumors of war that had begun to circulate enticed Cobb to request overseas duty. In April of 1940 she was transferred to Guam and while there she received a commendation for "continuous duty for forty-eight hours, during which she repeatedly risked life and limb in her efforts to insure the safety and comfort of the patients" during the typhoon of November 3, 1940. In February, 1941 she returned to the Philippines as the Chief Nurse at Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila. When the Japanese attacked the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941, Cobb and ten other navy nurses remained with the wounded in Manila until the US Military there surrendered to the Japanese on January 2, 1942. She and he other nurses were housed with US Army nurses who had also been captured at Corregidor. The were housed at the Santo Tomas school in Manila for the duration of the war along with a great many Allied citizens who had been imprisoned. The nurses ran a sort of hospital there for he civilian detainees but suffered the same deprivations as the other prisoners. They were liberated by United States Army forces in February 1945.
Laura Mae Cobb received the following known decorations for her valiant service during World War II:
- Bronze Star Medal
- Navy Commendation Medal
- POW Medal
- American Defense Medal with star
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- WWI Victory Medal
- WWII Victory Medal
- Presidential Unit Citations with gold star
- Phillippine Defense Medal
- Phillippine Liberation Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- Phillipne Independence Medal
- Phillippine Presidential Unit Citation
She was born in Atchison, Kansas but the family moved to Mulvane, Kansas shortly after her birth. After she graduated high school in Wichita, she taught school briefly before going to nurse training program at Wesley Hospital in 1915 and graduated in 1918. Cobb then joined the US Navy as a nurse that same year. She served in the Navy until 1921 (including brief service at the Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila at the end of World War I) when she separated and went to work in civilian hospitals in Iowa and Michigan for the next three years. But in 1924 she returned to the Navy working in several Naval hospitals to include Washington, D.C. for ten years. In the late 1930's the rumors of war that had begun to circulate enticed Cobb to request overseas duty. In April of 1940 she was transferred to Guam and while there she received a commendation for "continuous duty for forty-eight hours, during which she repeatedly risked life and limb in her efforts to insure the safety and comfort of the patients" during the typhoon of November 3, 1940. In February, 1941 she returned to the Philippines as the Chief Nurse at Canacao Naval Hospital in Manila. When the Japanese attacked the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941, Cobb and ten other navy nurses remained with the wounded in Manila until the US Military there surrendered to the Japanese on January 2, 1942. She and he other nurses were housed with US Army nurses who had also been captured at Corregidor. The were housed at the Santo Tomas school in Manila for the duration of the war along with a great many Allied citizens who had been imprisoned. The nurses ran a sort of hospital there for he civilian detainees but suffered the same deprivations as the other prisoners. They were liberated by United States Army forces in February 1945.
Laura Mae Cobb received the following known decorations for her valiant service during World War II:
- Bronze Star Medal
- Navy Commendation Medal
- POW Medal
- American Defense Medal with star
- American Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- WWI Victory Medal
- WWII Victory Medal
- Presidential Unit Citations with gold star
- Phillippine Defense Medal
- Phillippine Liberation Medal with two bronze campaign stars
- Phillipne Independence Medal
- Phillippine Presidential Unit Citation
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