Honoring Veterans: Army Veteran Marìa Inéz Ortiz

Marìa Inés Ortiz was born in 1967 in Camden, New Jersey, but she grew up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in 1990, she joined the Army Reserve as a Wire System installer. By 1993, she transitioned to active duty, embarking on a career that would take her to Honduras, South Korea and later at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.. There, she was determined to pursue a career in nursing, which she accomplished by becoming a registered nurse in 1999.

Ortiz quickly rose through the ranks, attending Officer Candidate School (OCS) and earning her commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Medical Service Corps. She also graduated from the National Graduate School of Quality Management in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Ortiz soon served as a medical platoon leader and battalion medical operations officer with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum, New York. Later, she deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF/OEF), where she served as the battalion medical operations officer for the 28th Combat Support Hospital. 

While serving with her unit near Baqubah, Iraq, Ortiz was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) on June 8, 2007. She was the first U.S. Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War. For her sacrifice, she was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. In an article written by Patriot-News, her twin sister, Marìa Luisa Medina, said, “She’s the person that I want to be like, not because she was a soldier or a nurse, but because she accomplished her purpose in life.”

Ortiz’s legacy extends beyond her military service. In a ceremony to honor her life and sacrifice that same year, Hon. Robert E. Andrews, the Representative from New Jersey, stated, “She had a smile that lit up the hallways and won the hearts of the medical staff in every hospital she worked.” 

Her name is enshrined on the Global War on Terrorism Memorial at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia. 

Ortiz was laid to rest in August 2007 in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

We honor her service.

This ‘Honoring Veterans’ story was prepared with the assistance of Togetherweserved, an online community where Veterans can reconnect with those they served with and preserve the memories and photographs of their military service so that this may live on for their family and future generations. Find out more at https://togetherweserved.com.

Writer: Yosaida Santana

Editor: Kinsey Spratt

Researcher: Raphael Romea

Graphic Designer: Adara McClain