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Captain Janice Warrene Feagin Olson Britton

A young woman with dark hair wearing a white blouse.
  • Unit: 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron
  • Date of Birth: October 6, 1921
  • Entered the Military: March 1, 1945
  • Date of Death: November 20, 2014
  • Hometown: Montgomery, Alabama
  • Place of Death: Fairhope, Alabama
  • Award(s): Distinguished Unit Citation Medal, Korean Service Medal, Air Medal, UN Service Medal
  • Cemetery: Section 4, Site 71. Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Spanish Fort, Alabama
Contributed by AP World History, Period 3 Students
Mentored by Ms. Melissa Motes
Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies
2024/2025

Early Life

Mrs. Janice Feagin Britton was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1921. She lived in Montgomery with her parents, Hugh Jackson Feagin and Florence Ertzinger Feagin, and her younger brother, Hugh Feagin Jr. (known as Jack). Her father, a Veteran of World War I, worked as a railroad engineer.

On July 3, 1942, Janice’s brother, Jack, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served overseas for 18 months in the South Pacific. He saw combat in Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. In July 1944, Jack returned home on a furlough. 

Janice attended Vanderbilt University and received her bachelor’s degree and qualified as a registered nurse in 1944 as part of the Nurse Cadet Reserve. Janice, who was completing her degree before entering active duty herself, was able to return home and visit with her brother before reporting for active duty. 

Janice Britton, listed with her parents in the 1930 manuscript census. Her brother, Hugh, appears on the next page. National Archives and Records Administration.
Janice was able to visit with her brother, Jack, when he returned from the Pacific before she reported for active duty in July 1944. The Montgomery Advertiser, July 2, 1944.

Homefront

Janice Feagin grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, before attending college at Vanderbilt University. 

Ardamont, near Montgomery, Alabama, served as an aviation repair depot during World War I. After World War I, the base transformed into Maxwell Field. Hundreds of aviators trained at Maxwell Field before heading off to World War II, including the Tuskegee Airmen. The base also provided training to members of the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) and the Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs). The base later became known as Maxwell Air Force Base.

An aerial view of Maxwell Air Force Base, Air University Office of History, U.S. Air Force.

Military Experience

Janice Feagin entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps on March 1, 1945, after completing her bachelor’s degree in nursing and qualifying as a registered nurse. She considered staying at Vanderbilt to enter a master’s program in nursing, but her father encouraged her to enlist in the military and serve.

She completed basic training at Camp Rucker, Alabama, and was assigned to work as a psychiatric care nurse at Camp Butner, near Durham, North Carolina. She later transferred to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where she taught medical skills to members of the Women’s Army Corps. From March 1946 to February 1948, she served overseas in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea.

With some campaigning, she transferred to the U.S. Air Force on April 26, 1948, and trained as a flight nurse. 

In September 1950, she was assigned to Randolph Field in Texas. Her mother visited her there shortly before she was deployed to Tachikawa, Japan. From September 1950 to June 1951, she was one of 36 flight nurses assigned to the 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron. Based in western Japan, the nurses would fly to Korea on large cargo planes full of supplies. The supplies would be unloaded, litters set up, and the plane would return with patients. The planes were designed to carry 36-40 patients at a time, but in rush periods could carry up to 70. 

Nurses and aeromedical technicians helped to keep the patients alive until they landed back in Japan. In Japan, patients were unloaded, and the nurses flew back for another mission. When asked by a reporter from The Montgomery Advertiser if she felt fearful, she replied, “ ‘We don’t have time to be afraid, we never think about it, there is a job to be done and we do it – you never worry about the danger.’ ”

In July 1951, she returned to Montgomery, Alabama, to work as an instructor at Gunter Air Force Base. Here, she trained other flight nurses and medical technicians. 

On March 1, 1952, she was promoted to the rank of captain. In September 1952, she married Major Creighton B. Olson in the chapel at Gunter Air Force Base and received her honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force on November 17, 1952.

Janice Brittton worked as a flight nurse during the Korean War, 1950-1951. AL.com.
Janice Brittton stepping out of a plane in her military uniform, 1950-1951. AL.com.
Newspaper article and photographs detailing Feagin’s work as a flight evacuation nurse in the early months of the Korea War. The Montgomery Advertiser, July 15, 1951. 
Janice Feagin Olson’s DD-214 detailing her military service, November 17, 1952. Portions have been redacted for privacy reasons. National Archives and Records Administration.

Veteran Experience

In 1956, Janice Feagin Olson received her Masters in Nursing Service Administration from Boston University. Her marriage to Creighton Olson ended, and she later remarried Francis Britton.

Britton spent her years after the military continuing her service to her community. Understanding the importance of nursing, she developed nursing programs at Pensacola Junior College (now Pensacola State College) in Pensacola, Florida, and Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan. 

From 1967 to 1970, she served as a medical missionary in Brazil. After her husband Francis died, she volunteered to serve in the U.S. Peace Corps at the age of 78. She served in Zambia from 1998 to 2000. When she returned, she became active in her local American Legion post and the Korean War Veterans Association.

Britton salutes the flag with other Korean War veterans at the dedication of the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery, December 2012. Courtesy of Vanderbilt University.

Commemoration

Janice Feagin Britton died on February 20, 2014. She is buried at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort, Alabama.

Janice Feagin Britton’s grave at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort, Alabama, March 28, 2025. Courtesy of Melissa Motes.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“Air Evacuation In Korea Is Often Difference Between Life And Death, First Nurse to Cross 38th Parallel Tells Trainees At Gunter AFB Here.” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], July 15, 1951. Newspapers.com (415051377). 

Alabama. Butler County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com/.  

“Bay Minette Locals.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], October 5, 1950. Newspapers.com (537738090). 

“Bay Minette Locals.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], September 7, 1950. Newspapers.com (537737753). 

“Bay Minette Nurse Aids In Air Evacuation.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], May 31, 1951. Newspapers.com (537700744). 

“Bountiful Baldwin.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], August 23, 1956. Newspapers.com (537735049). 

“Capt. Feagin, Major Olson To Marry In Early Fall.” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], July 20, 1952. Newspapers.com (412785039). 

Captain Janice Feagin. Photograph. The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], May 31, 1951. Newspapers.com (538926787). 

“Fifteen GI Wounded Reach Mobile Base.” The Selma Times-Journal [Selma, AL], August 20, 1950. Newspapers.com (569924685). 

“Hugh And Janice Feagin Reunited” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], July 2, 1944. Newspapers.com (414225875). 

“Janice Britton.” AL.com, February 28, 2014. https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/mobile/name/janice-britton-obituary?id=11148553. 

Janice Britton Collection. Personal Narrative. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/85894). https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.85894/. 

“Janice Feagin, Bride-Elect, Feted.” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], September 21, 1952. Newspapers.com (257327821). 

Janice Feagin Olson Britton, DD-214 and eligibility documentation, Department of the Air Force. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Janice W. Feagin. Alabama, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1969. https://ancestry.com.  

“‘Meritorious Service’ Citation Awarded Hugh J. Feagin, Jr.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], April 4, 1946. Newspapers.com (537655561). 

“Miss Feagin, Major Olson Announce Wedding Plans.” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], September 21, 1952. Newspapers.com (257327875). 

“Miss Janice Feagin, Bride-to-Be Entertained At Parties Saturday.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], May 31, 1951. Newspapers.com (538926787). 

“Montgomery Girl Wins Fame Along The Airways Over Korea.” The Montgomery Advertiser [Montgomery, AL], May 29, 1951. Newspapers.com (415059053). 

“Plans Announced for Feagin-Olson Wedding Ceremony.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], May 31, 1951. Newspapers.com (538926787). 

Rankin, Allen. “Flight Nurse Feagin-Back To Korea.” Alabama Journal [Montgomery, AL], September 25, 1950. Newspapers.com (415498213). 

Sokol, Phil. “Baldwin County is Largest, Most Progressive Area in Alabama.” The Baldwin Times [Bay Minette, AL], July 19, 1951. Newspapers.com (537702207). 

Tarabella, Robert. Britton salutes the flag with other Korean War veterans at the December 2012 dedication of the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Photograph. December 2012. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/09/26/obituary-janice-feagin-britton-bsn44-nurse-on-three-continents/. 

Secondary Sources

“Janice Feagin Britton.” Find a Grave. Updated November 17, 2025. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/155114198/janice_britton. 

“Janice Feagin Britton.” Veterans Legacy Memorial, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Accessed May 6, 2025. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/JANICEFEAGINBRITTON/8ca98e. 

“Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed January 5, 2024. https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/maxwell-air-force-base-and-gunter-annex/.

McPhail, Carol. “Life Stories: Her nursing skills honed by war, Janice Feagin Britton sought adventure in mission work, Peace Corps.” AL.com, April 13, 2014. https://www.al.com/live/2014/04/life_stories_her_nursing_skill.html. 

“Montgomery.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed September 18, 2024. https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/montgomery/.  

“Obituary: Janice Feagin Britton, BSN’44, Nurse on Three Continents.” Vanderbilt University. Updated September 26, 2014. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/09/26/obituary-janice-feagin-britton-bsn44-nurse-on-three-continents/.

This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.