 Congress officially established the Navy Nurse Corps May 13, 1908. However, as early as the War of 1812, volunteers performed nursing duties in places that were often dangerous and required courage in the face of adversity. By October 1908, the Sacred Twenty, the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy, were preparing for their initial assignments at several naval hospitals. Navy Nurse Corps numbers expanded to 160 by the start of World War I, and they became active in training U.S. nurses overseas and male enlisted medical personnel. After World War I, duties expanded to include regular service onboard Navy hospital ships. Navy nurses were on duty during the initial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and were vital in preventing further loss of life and limb. Abored hospital ships, Navy nurses followed the fleet at their assaults and were eventually permitted to go to the beaches with the fighting men to pick up the wounded. By the mid-1940s, flight nurses were graduating after additional training in swimming and rescue missions. Upon graduation, they became active members of a flying team. By the end of the Second World War, more than 10,000 nurses were serving in six continents. The Nurse Corps played an important role in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. Today, Navy nurses are deployed all over the world participating in humanitarian and combat support missions, as flight nurses, aboard hospital ships and aircraft carriers, boots on ground with the Marine Corps, and in support of special operations.