Library of Congress Veterans History Project

Interview conducted by Jeanne Czarnecki and produced by David Addison. Recorded at Dominican Oaks, Santa Cruz, April 12, 2016.

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1927, Bernice Robertson joined the Cadet Nurse Corps after high school. She received three years' comprehensive nursing education, with a specialty in medical-surgical nursing at Philadelphia General Hospital. From June 1948 to December 1952, she served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Her first military assignment was at St. Albans Naval Hospital in New York. Six months later, she was assigned to Oakland Navy Hospital in California. Promoted to junior grade, Robertson was due for overseas duty, but was given an option to study dietetics at George Washington University in DC., because of her father's terminal illness. After completing the program, she was reassigned to Oakland, working as a dietitian to educate enlisted men in weight control behaviors. Robertson reached the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG). She was married to a naval offer and released from military service with her first pregnancy. Once her children were school-aged, she went back to school to earn a B.A. in education and a M.S in medical-surgical nursing. She held various positions in nursing, teaching and consulting at organizations such as San Mateo County Hospital, Stanford University, California Department of Health, Santa Cruz Visiting Nurses Association and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Since May 2015, Robertson has been living in Dominican Oaks, a retirement community in Santa Cruz.