Second Lieutenant Carmen Maria Lozano Dumler, RN, (September 18, 1921 – March 29, 2015), was one of the first Puerto Rican women to become a United States Army officer. During World War II, she served as a nurse and interpreter, and provided support for patients who spoke Spanish. Lozano Dumler has since been featured in promotional and recruitment materials that celebrate diversity in the US military. Early years Lozano was born and raised in San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico. She lived in a coffee plantation which was managed by her father. She received her primary and secondary education in San Juan. She graduated from the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in the spring of 1944. By this time the United States had entered World War II, and the Army drafted many Puerto Rican troops for service in the Caribbean and South Atlantic Theater of Operations. The Army recognized the need for Puerto Rican nurses to address language barriers in hospitals, and the Surgeon General's Office, the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Commissioner of Health of Puerto Rico and physicians worked together to develop criteria to select Puerto Rican nurses for the Army Nurse Corps for the first time. In 1944, WAC (Women's Army Corps) recruiters were sent to Puerto Rico to organize a unit of 200 WACs, and over 1,500 women applied. Lozano applied to become an Army nurse and on Aug. 21, 1944, became one of thirteen women selected. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, she "described it as the happiest day of her life." Military service Lozano was one of the first Puerto Rican women to become a United States Army officer. According to retired Lt. Col. Marilla Cushman of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, "She is certainly a pioneer for Puerto Rican women, one of the first 13 to be commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps. Carmen and her 12 cohorts led the way for Puerto Rican women in the Army Nurse Corps. On August 21, 1944, she was sworn in as a 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to the Rodriguez (161st) General Hospital (named after Major Fernando E. Rodriguez Vargas) at Fort Brooke, Puerto Rico in San Juan, where she continued to receive further training. Upon completing her advanced training, she was sent to Camp Tortugero where she also assisted as an interpreter whenever needed. According to the