Helen Fairchild nursed thousands of wounded soldiers during her 5 year career. What made her noteworthy were her letters home, detailing her experiences as a combat nurse. She was born in Pennsylvania and graduated as a nurse from Pennsylvania Hospital in 1913. A few years later in 1917, WWI began and Fairchild joined the American Expeditionary Force. She was sent to a location in Passchendaele, France along with 63 other nurses, where she cared for 2,000 wounded soldiers while under fire.
