Floramund “Ann” Fellmeth Difford was born on August 7, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Henry and Gertrude Fellmeth. She graduated from St. Elizabeth School of Nursing, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois with post graduate studies in surgical nursing from Belleview Hospital in New York. While there she assisted on the 3rd operation ever performed on a lung. She entered the Army Nurse Corps on August, 1936 and served until November, 1946. Her first assignment was at Ft. Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming where she met her future husband Wallace E. Difford Jr. Floramund was one of the "Angels of Bataan and Corregidor” – the US Army and Navy Nurse Corps women who served in the Battle of the Philippines in 1941-42. When Bataan and Corregidor fell, 11 Navy nurses, 66 army nurses, and 1 nurse-anesthetist were captured and imprisoned in and around Manila. They continued to serve as nurses in various POW camps until they were finally liberated in February 1945.

After heading home, she married Wallace E. Difford, Jr. Floramund and Wallace had 4 children and helped countless others during their lifetime. She continued her nursing career as a recovery room nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, Washington until her retirement in 1975. She died on July 31, 2012 at the age of 98 and is now buried in the Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, King County, Washington, USA with the rank of Lieutenant Commander on her headstone.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com