{{Short description|United States Army nurse (1884–1977)}} '''Jane I. Rignel St. John''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|ARRC}} (June 16, 1884 – April 1, 1977) was a United States Army nurse who was the Chief Nurse of Mobile Hospital No. 2 during World War I.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Prior|first=Richard M.|last2=Marble|first2=William Sanders|date=May 2008|title=The overlooked heroines: three Silver Star nurses of World War I|journal=Military Medicine|volume=173|issue=5|pages=493–498|issn=0026-4075|pmid=18543572|doi=10.7205/milmed.173.5.493|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/02/archives/jane-st-john-92-served-as-a-nurse-in-2-world-wars.html|title=Jane St. John, 92; Served as a Nurse In 2 World Wars|date=1977-04-02|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-10-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> For her heroism she was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the British Royal Red Cross, and the United States Silver Star medal.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Early life, education, and early career == Jane I Rignel was born in Lockport, New York. She graduated from Columbia University Presbyterian School of Nursing in 1913.<ref name=":1" />

After graduation, Rignel went to work at Western Electric Company plant in New York City where she established a workmen's compensation health aid station.<ref name=":1" />

== World War I == World War I hospitals were often organized around civilian hospitals. In May 1917, Rignel joined the Army Nurse Corps. as Chief Nurse of Mobile No. 2 Hospital which was primarily staffed by personnel from the Presbyterian Hospital in New York.<ref name=":0" />

On August 14, 1918, General John J. Pershing sent a commendation to the whole staff of Mobile Hospital No. 2 to recognize them for their courage under fire.<ref name=":0" /> For her heroism she was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the British Royal Red Cross, and the United States Silver Star medal.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== World War II == During World War II, St. John was the assistant director of the Nurse's Aide Corps of the New York Chapter of the American Red Cross.<ref name=":1" />

== Family life == Rignel married Captain Fordyce B. St. John, the commander of Mobile Hospital 2, in 1919.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The St. John's lived in Manhattan, New York and Woodstock, Vermont.<ref name=":1" /> Fordyce St. John, a professor of surgery at Columbia University, died in 1973.<ref name=":1" />

=== Death and legacy === St. John died in April 1977 in New York at 92 years old.<ref name=":1" />

== References == {{Reflist|33em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rignel, Jane}} Category:Military personnel from New York City Category:World War I nurses Category:American women nurses Category:1977 deaths Category:1884 births Category:Associate members of the Royal Red Cross Category:20th-century American women Category:20th-century American nurses