Janet Collier Durgin

Janet Collier Durgin was interviewed and presented with a Living Legend Proclamation from the Military Women's Memorial, located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlinton National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. The Memorial is the only national respository for stories of women who serve our nation, past and present. All Cadet Nurses may register, or be registered, with the Memorial at no cost, ever. 

This is the narrative on her Profile at the Military Women's Memorial: 

"After completing high school in 1941, I applied to the Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing in Montclair, New Jersey. I was not accepted because I was "too young and naive." I completed a Medical Secretary course and worked in a doctor's office gaining valuable experience until the Cadet Nurse Program was established in 1943. I was accepted and began classes at the Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing in September 1943. I graduated as Salutatorian on May 21, 1947. My most memorable experience was falling in love "at first sight" with my Cadet Nurse school roommate's "litle brother." I expected to meet a child but instead saw a Navy submariner in full dress uniform who took my breath away. Edmund H. Durgin served in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, then moved to submarines. We married on September 20, 1947. I took my Nursing Board Exams after our honeymoon at Lake Nebo, New York, and became a Registered Nurse. My first nursing job was at Mountainside Hospital, where I had just graduated. We moved to South Carolina in November 1947. I worked at the county hospital in Ridgeland, South Carolina, gaining experience in the Emergency  Room, Labor and Delivery, as an Operating Room Scrub Nurse and general nursing services from 1948-1951, when our first child was born. In 1955, we moved to Orangeburg, South Carolina. After raising our three children to school age, I became Head Nurse on the Surgical Floor at Orangeburg Regional Hospital. In 1968, I accepted an offer as the Head Nurse of Surgical and Outpatient Services at the Urological Institute in Orangeburg. In 1981, I became Head Nurse of the Urological Rooms in the X-Ray Department of the new Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg (now the Medical University of South Carolina - Orangeburg. I retired from 30 years of nursing service in 1987. My husband passed away in 2004, at the age of 92. I moved to Lugoff, South Carolina, where I recently celebrated my 101st birthday. My reward comes from my daughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter telling me that I inspired them to become nurses!"

Mrs. Durgin celebrated her 102nd birthday on May 1, 2025. The photo below is of her as a Cadet Nurse, which is alson on her Profile at the Military Women's Memorial.