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Mooney, Jayne
Jane E Mooney U.S. Army WWII
Jane E Mooney U.S. Army WWII
  
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Date of Birth: January 26, 1922
Died On: October 13, 2002
Street Address: 48 Adelaide Street
Service Number: A-207494
Branch of Service: U.S. Army - Women's Army Corps


Veteran Code: USARMY-449


BIOGRAPHY Extended Information
 
Jayne E Mooney

Jayne M. Mooney was born January 26, 1922 in New York and was the adopted daughters of Lucy Drum and H R. Mooney. In Rye her family lived at 48 Adelaide Street. Jane was raised in Rye and a Rye High School graduate, class of 1939. In school she enjoyed playing in the band, baseball and various clubs.

Per the 1940 census, Jayne was a graduate of The St. Vincent's School of Nursing in New York City. She enlisted January 31, 1944 and served during World War II in the U.S. Army Nurses Corp.

Miss Jayne Mooney, 6 Elwood Avenue, Rye, has been commissioned a second the Army Medical Division. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry R. Mooney, and was on the staff of St. Vincent's Hospital, where she received her training. A graduate of Rye High School, she is now on duty at the Halloran General Hospital, Staten Island.
Port Chester The Daily Item 1943 Oct 12 Page 5

The U.S. Army Nurse Corps (ANC) underwent a massive expansion during World War II, growing from fewer than 1,000 nurses in 1941 to more than 59,000 by the war's end. These women served in every theater of the war, providing critical care and sometimes at great personal risk, often just miles from the front lines.

Jayne Mooney wrote "I am quite busy now, but have had time to do a little sight-seeing. So far I've seen a great part of England, some of Scotland and have spent six weeks in France. Now I'm in Belgium. I've met only one Rye person since coming overseas 2 year ago. One day in Cherbourg I met Sheridan Reilly, now a captain, and we talked of the hometown." Her letter was dated Oct. 22. Capt. John Sheridan Reilly was killed in Holland on Oct. 25..
Port Chester The Daily Item 1944 Dec 02

Jayne states that she was in Belgium at the time of her writing. The date on the above letter, December 2,1944, was exactly two weeks before the Germans mounted there brutal winter offensive on December 16, 1944. The battle started in Belgium, The Ardennes Offensive or better known as the Battle of the Bulge would prove to be the biggest challenge the American Army faced in World War II.

The Battle of the Bulge (Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945) was the bloodiest single battle for the United States in World War II, resulting in over 89,000 to 100,000+ total U.S. casualties. American forces suffered approximately 19,000–20,000 deaths, with total losses including 47,500 wounded and 23,000 captured or missing

There is no solid proof, but can be inferred that, as a combat nurse and by the letter date, Jayne was in the middle of the biggest battle in our country's history, administering to the wounded.

WWII combat nurses during the Battle of the Bulge operated in freezing, high-danger conditions, often within miles of the front lines. Working in tents or damaged buildings, they treated massive casualties from the Ardennes counteroffensive, providing critical, often lifesaving care while managing trauma, exhaustion, and, at times, enemy shelling.

Jayne was furloughed back to the states in September of 1945 and received her honorable discharge on January 14, 1946. Fittingly, two weeks after her discharge she was welcomed as the first of two women, along with Sophie Ball Shappy, as members of the Rye Veterans Association

She was married Howard Currie Prescott and lived in Great Neck and Wantagh, Long Island. The couple would have three children. Jayne served the LI Community as Director of Nurses at Central General Hospital with honors, for 26 years.

Jayne Mooney Prescott of Wantagh, died on October 13, 2002. She was the mother of Jessica Moore, Howard Currie Prescott Jr., and the late Randy Prescott. She was a cherished grandmother of two.

She will be missed.

Funeral arrangements by Charles J. O'Shea Funeral Home, Wantagh on October 22, 2002
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