Born in 1920, Opal had already begun nursing school before the war, and upon finishing school joined the Army Nurse Corps in the summer of 1942. After training in close order drills and other aspects of military life, Opal was one of the thousands of nurses sent to foreign hospitals. While assigned to a hospital in Axminster, England, Opal became a ward nurse and rumors of the invasion France swirled. Busy with drills and keeping the hospital in order, Opal and her fellow nurses gave little thought to the invasion until one morning when they were alerted that patients were likely on their way. Opal was a skilled nurse, ready to provide the best care to her patients, but no amount of training could have prepared her for the emotional experience of treating men wounded by war. Opal worked as a nurse in England for two and a half years, sometimes working 16-hour and 18-hour days when there was an influx of patients. She was fortunate to be in a hospital in England. Army and navy nurses were often close to the frontlines in field and evacuation hospitals. In the summer of 1944, the service of army and navy nurses was finally recognized as full military service when women in both Nurse Corps were commissioned as officers into their respective branches. By the end of the War, more than 59,000 women served in the Army Nurse Corps and around 11,000 in the Navy Nurse Corps. Hundreds were awarded commendations for their service, bravery, and sacrifice. Through their valiant efforts, they helped keep the mortality rate for Americans wounded in action to less than four percent.