Wilma, known as "Dolly," was the daughter of Dr. W. J. and Nellie M. Vinsant. She lived in San Benito, Cameron County, Texas.

She served as a U. S. Army Air Forces flight nurse with the 806th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. On January 16, 1945, she married Major Walter Shea.

She was killed in 1945 when her evacuation airplane carrying wounded American soldiers crashed in Germany. She was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. The memorial marker shown in the photo on this page is next to her parents' graves in Mont Meta Memorial Park.

To honor her memory, the Dolly Vinsant Memorial Hospital opened in San Benito in 1949. The building ceased to be a hospital in 2007.

There is much information about Dolly on the Margraten Memorial website at http://www.margratenmemorial.nl. The text is in Dutch, but the website has many photos of interest. Here is now to navigate the website:

On the opening page there is a map of Europe. Click on the small photo of Dotty. You will get a pop-up box of text. Click on the last sentence in the box. You will then get a page with access to several tabs at the top. The tabs are Overview, Personal file, Military file, Memories, and Resources.

Note: The Find A Grave memorial in the Netherlands American Cemetery is under Dolly's maiden name, Vinsant. A Christian cross marks her grave.

Wilma, known as "Dolly," was the daughter of Dr. W. J. and Nellie M. Vinsant. She lived in San Benito, Cameron County, Texas.

She served as a U. S. Army Air Forces flight nurse with the 806th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. On January 16, 1945, she married Major Walter Shea.

She was killed in 1945 when her evacuation airplane carrying wounded American soldiers crashed in Germany. She was buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. The memorial marker shown in the photo on this page is next to her parents' graves in Mont Meta Memorial Park.

To honor her memory, the Dolly Vinsant Memorial Hospital opened in San Benito in 1949. The building ceased to be a hospital in 2007.

There is much information about Dolly on the Margraten Memorial website at http://www.margratenmemorial.nl. The text is in Dutch, but the website has many photos of interest. Here is now to navigate the website:

On the opening page there is a map of Europe. Click on the small photo of Dotty. You will get a pop-up box of text. Click on the last sentence in the box. You will then get a page with access to several tabs at the top. The tabs are Overview, Personal file, Military file, Memories, and Resources.

Note: The Find A Grave memorial in the Netherlands American Cemetery is under Dolly's maiden name, Vinsant. A Christian cross marks her grave.