(a) Findings
Congress finds the following:
Following Rear Admiral Duerk’s birth in Defiance, Ohio, and graduation from the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing, she received a commission on January 23, 1943, and was appointed as an ensign in the Nurse Corps of the Naval Reserve.
During World War II, Rear Admiral Duerk was assigned as a Ward Nurse at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia, and at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda Maryland where she cared for wounded members of the Armed Forces.
In 1945, Rear Admiral Duerk was stationed on the U.S.S. Benevolence in the Pacific Theater (AH–13) where she treated casualties from Third Fleet operations until the end of World War II.
After World War II, Rear Admiral Duerk progressed in rank and served in positions of increasing responsibility in both active duty and in the Naval Reserves, including posts in Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, the Philippines, Japan, California, and Washington, D.C.
The dedication and inspirational service of Rear Admiral Durek culminated with her historic selection for the rank of Rear Admiral on April 16, 1972, as the first woman to become a flag officer.
Rear Admiral Duerk was awarded the Naval Reserve Medal, American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, Asia Clasp, and the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star.
(b) Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Navy should consider naming a vessel of the United States Navy the U.S.S. Rear Admiral Alene Duerk in honor of Rear Admiral Alene Duerk.