Gans native and former Army nurse turns 105
Blanche Lyons Cobb, of Springhill Township, graduated from The Uniontown Hospital Training School of Nursing in 1930 and served as an Army nurse during World War II. She turned 105 on Sept. 8.
Blanche
For Blanche Lyons Cobb, life has been a world tour.
The Gans, Springhill Township native, born to Cora and Benjamin Lyons, celebrated her 105th birthday on Sept. 8 at the Our Lady of the Snows retirement community in Belleville, Illinois.
But, before she moved to the mid-west, Cobb spent time serving in the United States military during World War II.
After graduating from The Uniontown Hospital Training School of Nursing in 1930, she left the area to pursue a job as a private nurse for a family in New York City.
About a year later, she left the position to become a hospital nurse at the Broad Street Hospital in Lower Manhattan, situated near Wall Street. Throughout her nursing career, Cob went on to work at several hospitals in the Manhattan area.
After learning about the need for nurses to serve in the military after the start of World War II, she decided to join the Army Corps in March of 1944.
“I knew private hospital nursing routines, but they sent me to Brooke (Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas) to learn ‘The Army Way,'” said Cobb who enjoyed the experience.
She quickly learned the ropes and was sent to England for her first post: to be on hand to aid the soldiers during the D-Day invasion.
Her surgical group served at Utah Beach and followed General Patton’s 3rd Army through a large portion of France.
Her unit was even at “The Battle of Bulge.”
Some of the other places she served include Normandy (Northern France), the Rhineland area of Germany, Andene in Belgium and Central Europe.
Cobb’s role was to prepare the field unit’s overseas operating room and to assist the surgeon during surgeries.
She was in Germany when the Germans agreed to surrender and end World War II.
She and her unit were then ordered to go to the Pacific Theater, where she finished out her military career during which she was awarded the Bronze Star medal, American Campaign medal and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign medal with four Battle Stars.
On Jan. 3, 1946, 1st lieutenant Cobb was honorably discharged from her service, where she returned to New York City to continue her work as a nurse.
However, Cobb’s military story did not end here.
Last month, Michele Burdette, Cobb’s great niece, was visiting New York City when she decided to visit a vintage clothing store in the East Village.
She happened to come upon a woman’s military uniform with a U.S. Air Force patch that she ended up purchasing.
When she returned home, Burdette threw some clothes into the washing machine, including the military shirt.
After hearing a clanging noise coming from the machine, Burdette further inspected the shirt and saw it had pockets.
Inside, she found a pin from the Uniontown Hospital Training School of Nursing.
On the back, the pin read “Blanche A. Lyons.”
It was Burdette’s great aunt’s pin that was given to her 84 years ago.
Upon returning to civilian life, Cobb married Richard Cobb, who had served as a U.S. Army Sergeant in the South Pacific during World War II, in 1946.
The couple stayed in New York City until 1984 when they moved to our Lady of Snows. In 1992, Richard Cobb passed away.
This year Cobb’s family celebrated her milestone birthday by traveling to Illinois to spend the day with her.