Emily Harper Rea was born in 1911 in Madison County, Indiana. She was the daughter of Robert Right Rea and Laura Jeanette Rea. She was graduated from Madison High School and from Hanover College, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi.

For a few years, she was employed in the Federal Land Bank at Louisville, Kentucky. From there, Emily went to Frankfort, Kentucky, where she served as secretary to former Governor A. B. Chandler and Keene Johnson. Offering her services in the war effort, she enlisted for Red Cross service and was sent overseas. For several months she served at a rest center for pilots and aircrew members at Bedford, England, where she assisted in providing recreation and entertainment for members of the air force who were sent to the Red Cross Stations for rest after they had completed so many missions. After the invasion of France and Germany, she was transferred to Paris, where she had been doing Red Cross work. Emily was killed in an airplane crash on April 14, 1945, near the Isle of Man. She had been granted a leave April 12 to come home and her plane was near the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland when the crash occurred.

Nurse Emily Rea is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. She also has a cenotaph in the Springdale Cemetery, Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov