LANDY, RACHEL (RAE) D. (27 June 1885-5 Mar. 1952) was a nationally recognized military nurse who served around the globe in service to the U.S. Army and the medical profession. Landy was born to Rabbi Jacob Landy and Eva Gross Landy in Lithuania. Her family emigrated to Cleveland in 1890. Landy's father established Hebrew Books, the first Jewish bookstore in Cleveland, and her mother was instrumental in the founding of MENORAH PARK. Landy attended CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.
Following her 1904 graduation as a member of the first nurses training class from Jewish Women's Hospital (MT. SINAI HOSPITAL), Landy worked with Dr. GEORGE W. CRILE, SR. as a private duty nurse and surgical nurse. From 1913-15, working under the auspices of the Hadassah organization and the Hebrew Medical System, Landy initiated the first public health and sanitation systems in Palestine. Landy later joined the U.S. Army in 1918, serving in France and Belgium during WORLD WAR I. During her 37 years of foreign and domestic service, Landy was stationed in occupied Germany (1919-20) and several other overseas locations, including a tour of duty in the Phillipines as chief of nurses at the Sternberg Hospital in Manila (1936-38). During WORLD WAR II, Landy served as chief of nurses of the Second Command at Governor's Island, NY and achieved the rank of Leiutenant Colonel. Landy returned to Cleveland in January, 1944 to serve as chief of the nursing staff at CRILE HOSPITAL. She retired in June, 1945 but remained active in the recruitment of nurses for army service.
Landy never married. She died in CLEVELAND HEIGHTS and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.