Dakota County History 101: Mary Catherine Diffley (1900-Aug. 28, 1991) WWII Nurse

Born in June 1900, Mary Catherine Diffley led a life of service. She pursued a career in nursing that started in 1925 after she graduated from nurse’s training at St. Joseph's School in St. Paul.  A resident of Eagan and Rosemount, she worked at St. Joseph’s until the late 1930s before moving to California to be the chief nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco.

The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the United States of America’s entry into World War II changed her life forever.

To provide medical aid to the 11 million men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces, tens of thousands of nurses were required.

Diffley joined the Army Nurse Corps on June 2, 1942, was commissioned a lieutenant, and was assigned to the 59^th Evacuation Hospital. She was 13 days shy of 42 years old. She left the United States for England on Dec. 12, 1942, and over the next three years served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany.  She was promoted to major and served as chief nurse of her unit.

Diffley’s hospital unit was a part of General George Patton’s 3^rd Army, and after the allied breakthrough into Germany, her hospital followed. It was in Germany that she saw first-hand the horrors of the German concentration camps. She tended to the camp survivors as well as soldiers. During the last months of the war she collected photographs of the camps. They serve as a stark reminder of the Holocaust. 

For her service in World War II, Mary Diffley was awarded a Bronze Star, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal with five bronze stars, a Meritorious Unit Service Plaque, and a World War II Victory Medal. She left Europe on Sept. 6, 1945, and was discharged from service on March 2, 1946.

Part of Diffley’s World War II photograph collection is preserved today at the Dakota County Historical Society. The Society is looking for additional information about her life and service. Please contact Rebecca Snyder or Nancy Hanson if you can help share a more complete look at this remarkable woman’s life.