Marìa Inés Ortiz was born in 1967 in Camden, New Jersey, but she grew up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in 1990, she joined the Army Reserve as a Wire System installer. By 1993, she transitioned to active duty, embarking on a career that would take her to Honduras, South Korea and later at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.. There, she was determined to pursue a career in nursing, which she accomplished by becoming a registered nurse in 1999.
Ortiz quickly rose through the ranks, attending Officer Candidate School (OCS) and earning her commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Medical Service Corps. She also graduated from the National Graduate School of Quality Management in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Ortiz soon served as a medical platoon leader and battalion medical operations officer with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum, New York. Later, she deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF/OEF), where she served as the battalion medical operations officer for the 28th Combat Support Hospital.
While serving with her unit near Baqubah, Iraq, Ortiz was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) on June 8, 2007. She was the first U.S. Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War. For her sacrifice, she was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. In an article written by Patriot-News, her twin sister, Marìa Luisa Medina, said, “She’s the person that I want to be like, not because she was a soldier or a nurse, but because she accomplished her purpose in life.”
Ortiz’s legacy extends beyond her military service. In a ceremony to honor her life and sacrifice that same year, Hon. Robert E. Andrews, the Representative from New Jersey, stated, “She had a smile that lit up the hallways and won the hearts of the medical staff in every hospital she worked.”
Her name is enshrined on the Global War on Terrorism Memorial at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia.
Ortiz was laid to rest in August 2007 in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
We honor her service.
TogetherWeServed
This ‘Honoring Veterans’ story was prepared with the assistance of Togetherweserved, an online community where Veterans can reconnect with those they served with and preserve the memories and photographs of their military service so that this may live on for their family and future generations. Find out more at https://togetherweserved.com.
Writer: Yosaida Santana
Editor: Kinsey Spratt
Researcher: Raphael Romea
Graphic Designer: Adara McClain
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as a fellow p.r vietnam vet. i salute her! iam very proud of her accomplishments! rest in peace mi hermana!
Great article! However, if she was an Army Nurse, she should have been in the Army Nurse Corps, a separate corps from the Army Medical Service Corps.
Thank you, Sister in Service!
Thank you for sharing Lt. Ortiz’s inspiring story. I appreciate her selflessness, her bravery, her compassion, her accomplishments, and her sacrifice. Surely those whose lives she touched through her service are forever influenced and those who loved her, forever changed.
I love the words of her twin sister, because this is what most people strive for: a life of purpose and meaning. (But as a twin myself, I can’t imagine the heartache of losing my twin.) May her legacy live on. We will never forget.
I was very moved by Maria’s service in the US Army.
Being from Puerto Rico made it even more meaningful.
Desert Sheild Desert Storm 1991 24th ID, 224 FSB was my
experience there. I know the sacrifice. I salute this young Puerto Rican soldier.
Thank you to Marìa Inés Ortiz for her bravery, service and legacy. So proud to know she was born in Camden, raised in Puerto Rico and graduated from the UPR. I’m sure she touched many lives along her way.
I am very proud to know that someone from my home town, served this country with Honor, Pride and Commitment. A person who answered the call and went above and beyond her duties, is someone who is selfless. I will share this with my children as an example of someone to look up to. May the lord bless her soul and and grant her peace. Semper Fidelis
I am so saddened to see that Officer/Nurse is deceased and how she died. I too attended OCS but mine was infantry OCS for duty in Vietnam where I was wounded after serving almost a complete year. My she rest in peace and GOD bless her.
I salute her a great soldier and a great human being ??