Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran Mary A. Durand. Mary served for 27 years and attained the rank of captain.
Mary was born in Annapolis, Maryland to a Navy family. She began her service with seven years as a selected reservist. Before beginning her active duty, she completed her master’s degree in adult health nursing and licensure. Mary also had 13 years of nursing experience in various medical-surgical positions in Pensacola, Florida, the community health nurse in Okinawa, Japan and in the Tidewater region. Through the Navy’s Duty Under Instruction program she was also able to complete a master’s degree in nursing as a family nurse practitioner and the senior nurse at the Oceana Branch Clinic in Virginia Beach.
Mary became one of the first family nurse practitioners to SURFLANT (Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic) from the Navy Medical Center. She served on 40 different ships and deployed for 178 days as the senior officer to the Camp Doha clinic in Kuwait where she served with Army medical providers. Mary finished her Navy career providing primary care and health services at a clinic in Pensacola, Florida.
Today she works as an adjunct instructor at three colleges of nursing, a family nurse practitioner, and is a member of the Western Connecticut Military Officers Association.
Thank you for your service, Mary!
Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? You’re in luck! VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Graphic created by Dominique Ramirez: Dominique is a member of VA’s Digital Media Engagement team. He manages multiple pages across the VA.gov domain, including the VAntage Point blog. He also creates graphics for VA’s social media channels.
Topics in this story
More Stories
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Air Force Veteran Gavino Cavazos, who served from 1949 to 1973 during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Army Veteran Howard Brown, who served during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1969 and the Gulf War from 1969 to 1992.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Navy Veteran Nanette M. “Nan” DeRenzi, who served from 1984 to 2015.
Mary was born in Annapolis, Maryland to a Navy family. She began her service with seven years as a selected reservist. Before beginning her active duty, she completed her master’s degree in adult health nursing and licensure. Mary also had 13 years of nursing experience in various medical-surgical positions in Pensacola, Florida, the community health nurse in Okinawa, Japan and in the Tidewater region. Through the Navy’s Duty Under Instruction program she was also able to complete a master’s degree in nursing as a family nurse practitioner and the senior nurse at the Oceana Branch Clinic in Virginia Beach.
Mary became one of the first family nurse practitioners to SURFLANT (Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic) from the Navy Medical Center. She served on 40 different ships and deployed for 178 days as the senior officer to the Camp Doha clinic in Kuwait where she served with Army medical providers. Mary finished her Navy career providing primary care and health services at a clinic in Pensacola, Florida.
Today she works as an adjunct instructor at three colleges of nursing, a family nurse practitioner, and is a member of the Western Connecticut Military Officers Association.
Thank you for your service, Mary! … http://www.TVFORSA.com