CPL US Army, Cleotilde Ortiz Taggart

Cleo Ortiz (Taggart) enlisted in the United States Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) on May 24, 1943, and trained at Fort Ogelthorpe in Georgia. ^{1, 2} She was stationed at the Air Force Headquarters in Tampa, Florida before being stationed in Berlin, Germany. ^{2, 3} She was honorably discharged in 1946. ³

Ortiz was born in Nambe, New Mexico, to Celestino Ortiz and Adelaida Ortiz. ³ The third of eight children, she grew up in Northern New Mexico. The family moved to Jerome, Arizona, and later to northern California. ³

After the war, Cleo began her career as a licensed professional nurse in Fairfield, California. ³ During this same period, she met Alan Mota Taggart, and they were married in Salt Lake City in 1948. ⁴ They were married sixty years and raised two daughters. ³ In the early 1950s, Cleo was hired by the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where she served as a pediatric nurse until her retirement in the 1980s. ³ She was known for her compassion and exceptional skills with young patients. ³