First Lieutenant Sharon Lane left a legacy that lives on at Aultman to this day. One of only eight American women to die while serving during the Vietnam War, she was the only woman to die by enemy fire.

Sharon Lane was born in 1943 in Zanesville, Ohio. A few years later, she and her family moved to Canton, Ohio, where she lived until enlisting in the service. After graduating from Canton South High School in 1961, she attended the Aultman College of Nursing. She joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserves after completing her studies in 1968.

After completing her training in June of that year, she was assigned to Army’s Fitzsimons General Hospital Colorado where she worked on three of the tuberculosis wards. Being a nurse, Lt. Lane cared for her patients diligently. Soon after this assignment, she received a promotion to first lieutenant and was then placed in the Intensive Care Unit.

In 1969, Lt. Lane was ordered to report to Vietnam. She arrived at the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai where she was ultimately assigned to the Vietnamese Ward. Her role called for nursing and providing medical care for Vietnamese, which quickly became physically draining and emotionally challenging. Still, Lt. Lane repeatedly declined transfers to another ward.

On the morning of June 8, 1969, the hospital was struck by multiple rounds of mortars and rockets, and Lt. Lane was killed. A statue placed near the Seventh Street entrance to Aultman Hospital commemorates Lt. Sharon Lane and her contributions.