Captain Maria Ines Ortiz, U.S. Army, was born in Camden, New Jersey, but grew up in Puerto Rico. In 1991, she began her career in Army medicine by enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserve. In her first two years of active duty, she served in Honduras, South Korea, and the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.
These experiences inspired Ortiz to pursue becoming a registered nurse, a dream she achieved in 1999 when she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Ortiz was commissioned as an officer that same year. In 2004, she earned her master’s degree and was assigned to the Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic, where she was chief nurse of general medicine.
In 2006, she was reassigned to the 28th Combat Support Hospital, 3rd Medical Command in the “Green Zone” in Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On July 10, 2007, Captain Ortiz was returning to her barracks after physical training, when the Green Zone came under heavy mortar attack. Ortiz was mortally wounded by shrapnel from the attack. She was the first Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War.
Captain Maria Ines Ortiz was well known for her dedication and commitment to the highest standards of medical care and was loved by her friends, family, and the medical staff of every hospital she worked at. She was laid to rest with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Sources:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2007-pt19/html/CRECB-2007-pt19-Pg26282.htm
https://nj.gov/infobank/circular/eojsc77.htm
https://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/the-women-of-arlington-national-cemetery/
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