On June 8, 1969, Sharon A. Lane, an Army nurse from Stark County, Ohio, was killed when a 122 mm rocket hit the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam.

Lane, 25, was the only U.S. servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire during America's involvement in Vietnam. She had been in Vietnam for just 37 days before her death.

Born in Zanesville in 1943, Lane moved with her family to North Industry in Stark County when she was 2. She graduated from Canton South High School in 1961 and the Aultman Hospital School of Nursing in Canton in 1965. She joined the Army Nurse Corps Reserve in 1968. On April 24, 1969, she reported to Travis Air Force Base in California with orders to go to Vietnam.

Lane arrived at the 312th on April 29 and went to work in the Vietnamese and intensive care wards, putting in six 12-hour days a week.

After her death, she received numerous awards, including the Bronze Star with V for valor, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm (the highest of four levels).

Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8361.