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Ruth B. Washburn (b. 1951), of Erie, Pennsylvania, served in the United States Navy WAVES and the Navy from 1970-1990. Ruth B. Washburn was born 22 October 1951 in Erie, Pennsylvania. After graduating from General McLane High School in 1969, she began a nurses training program in Cleveland, Ohio, but due to personal issues, she failed her first semester and returned to Pennsylvania. With the help of her father, who worked at a county home providing care for those that couldn't care for themselves, Washburn learned of a nighttime nurse's aide position. Because she had been in nursing school, the county home waived the nursing assistant requirements, and in January 1970, Washburn began working nights, where she changed beds, assisted with bathing patients, and administered medications. Washburn began visiting military recruiters, and in 1970 she enlisted in the United States Navy. She was sworn in in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then sent to United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland for basic training. In July 1970, Washburn began Hospital Corpsman training at Naval Station Great Lakes, in Chicago, Illinois, and was then assigned to St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens, New York, where she assisted with the long-term care of patients who had returned from Vietnam. In 1973, Washburn was sent to the Naval Medical Institute at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, for sixteen months of clinical laboratory technician training, and in 1974 she was assigned to National Naval Medical Center. In 1976, Washburn was assigned to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico for an eighteen-month tour, and in 1978, she was assigned to Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Florida. In 1981, Washburn received orders to United States Naval Hospital Yokosuka, Japan. She also had the opportunity to go aboard the USS Jason, a repair ship, and travel to Subic Bay in the Philippines. In 1984, Washburn was assigned to U.S. Naval Hospital Oakland, California, where she was tasked with testing new laboratory equipment. After a few years, due to a heavy workload, Washburn decided to transition into Preventative Medicine, and spent a year in training. In 1988, she transferred to U.S. Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and began working as a preventative medicine technician. In 1990, Washburn retired from the United States Navy, and returned to Pennsylvania to care for her elderly parents. After their deaths, she returned to North Carolina in September 2001.