HANSCOM AFB, Mass. — Hanscom Federal Credit Union has named Eva Wagner as its fourth Heroes Among Us honoree in 2018. She was honored at LaLacheur Park where the Lowell Spinners won playing against the Connecticut Tigers.
“Wagner is a very special Hero this season. This Massachusetts resident is 104 years old and holds the honor of being the oldest living female veteran in the commonwealth,” the credit union said. “In 1942 she left Boston for England where she nursed American and British soldiers injured during WWII for three years as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurses Corps. Upon her return from Europe, she became the chief nurse at Somerville Hospital. Since 2015, she has lived at Aberjona Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Winchester with a roommate, her younger sister, Clara, who is 100.”
“I am so grateful that Hanscom FCU and the Lowell Spinners chose to honor my great aunt,” said her great niece, Kira Jacobs. “I think about how she was just 28 years old when she got on a ship, crossed the Atlantic alone after her friend couldn’t come and serve with her, and then nursed some very injured and broken soldiers, bombs buzzing around them. She is completely humble about her service, and always says, ‘I did what I was called to do.’”
Paul Marotta, Hanscom FCU’s Chairman of the Board, agreed. “Eva Wagner has lived through times most of us weren’t here to experience and has done a great service for our country, providing aid and comfort to soldiers in their most vulnerable moments of life. Naming her as a Hero Among Us is just a small token of our appreciation for her service.”