At the front of the room stood a still life display of boots, rifle, dog tags and helmet alongside a poster-sized photo of Wimunc in uniform with her stethoscope.
"Losing someone close is never easy and choosing the right words to say for this memorial was very hard. Second Lt. Holley Wimunc was an Army nurse, a Soldier, a mother, a co-worker and a friend," said Wimunc's battalion commander, Lt. Col. Carmen A. Stella, the head nurse of the Mother Baby Unit.
Lt. Col. Stella said that Wimunc was motivated most in life by her role as a single mother, working hard to make a better life for Tre and Kendall, her seven and five-year-old children.
After putting herself through nursing school at Saint Ambrose University, Wimunc joined the Army Nurse Corps and shortly thereafter began taking correspondence courses to earn a Master's of Science degree to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner for the Army.
"Her patients loved her because of her outstanding nursing skills and beautiful personality. She always smiled no matter what was going on at work or at home," Stella said.
One of those patients was a fellow Soldier, Army Capt. Miryam Brunson, who was under Wimunc's care only six weeks ago when she gave birth to her first child.
"As a first time mother I was unsure of things and she put me at ease with her personality and expertise. She was always smiling and had a very bright spirit," said Brunson, an officer with the United States Army Special Operations Center, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade. "She took care for my first child and me, and now she's gone. As a mother and a Soldier I am deeply saddened."
