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Mary Ward McCaffrey (b. 1931) served in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1955. McCaffrey was born in 1931 in Canton, Massachusetts, and spent the majority of her adolescence in the Boston, Massachusetts area. She attended Catholic school and participated in the 4-H Club, as well as the American Legion Auxiliary. After graduating high school in 1949, McCaffrey attended Massachusetts General Hospital for three years, working as a clinical teaching intern in nursing, and assisting in the Emergency Room and Obstetrics/Gynecology Ward. In December 1952, McCaffrey decided to join the United States Navy. She was sent to Saint Albans Naval Hospital in Long Island, New York, where she learned about basic military training. She was then sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and worked in numerous nursing wards, including Neurology, Orthopedics, Mental Health, and Labor and Delivery. While stationed at Camp Lejeune, McCaffrey met her future husband, and they were married on December 31, 1954. In lieu of a honeymoon, McCaffrey accompanied her husband to Florida for his United States Marine Corps flight training, before she returned to North Carolina.