Narrator: Bernita Steffl Interviewer: Christy Iwata    BS: I stayed in the Army Nurse Corps for about a year and a half upon my return from overseas because I had debts to pay. When I got out in 1947, I went back to school on the G.I. Bill. It was one of the most wonderful things our country has ever done because it helped so many get more education. The percentage of people who had higher education was relatively small up to that time. I will forever be grateful to the American Legion because they helped get that bill passed. It (the G.I. Bill) paid for books, tuition, and $75.00 a month. I lived in a big old community house with about 7 or 8 other nurses. We had our own rooms and a community kitchen. It was wonderful. I am forever grateful to the government for that. CI: Did you get a degree?  BS: I had my R.N. but that was not equivalent to a college degree. I went back to the University of Minnesota and got a Bachelor of Science with a major in Public Health nursing. While in school, I did a lot of different types of hospital nursing part-time. After graduation, I did public health nursing for Ramsey Company in Minnesota and then 3 years of school nursing. While doing school nursing, I realized I needed more education to cope with the social and mental health problems. So I went back to the University of Minnesota for a Master's in Public Health and was fortunate in getting 2 extra summer sessions at Rochester Minnesota in a wonderful mental health program.     At that time, 1960, there was a great need for Master's prepared nurses to teach in many new collegiate nursing programs. I came to Arizona State University School of Nursing and stayed there for 27 years in Public Health Nursing and in the 1970s I went back to school again to the University of Southern California (on sabbatical and summer sessions) to obtain a certificate in Gerontology.   I retired at the end of 1988, taught part-time for several years and have remained interested and involved in educational and community activities such as the Mayor of Phoenix's Aging Services Committee, the Senior Adult Learning Program at Scottsdale Community College and my professional nursing association.       Narrator: Bettie Lerdall Interviewer: Josh Sievers    BL:  I most certainly did, one of the reason's I wanted to get out right then when they discharged the women in 1946 was to go to the University of California at Berkeley.  I went for only two years and it was a great program but I decided to stop going because if I were going to go for four years and probably end up being a secretary anyway I might as well have stopped after two.  Another reason I decided to stop was because the majority of the students were 17 and 18 years old and by then I was 23, and it wasn't the same as I had envisioned. JS:  What did you do after you left the service?  BL: After discharging everybody in 1946 I decided to go back to school, but then in 1949 they started an officer's training program which I wanted to get into, so I applied.  I thought that I had been accepted into the program but my eyes didn't meet the physical requirements and I was crushed because I had given up my job. While I was on my way back to Quantico, I got a wire saying that I wasn't accepted because of my vision…I was wearing glasses at the time.  Not being able to partake in the officer training was a real disappointment for me and so I went into the Reserves and was stationed at Treasure Island, a man made island, in the San Francisco Bay.  While still in uniform as an active reservist someone told me that the state department was looking for people to go into the Foreign Service.  So I applied and they said "When can you leave?" Immediately I went to Washington D.C. for about six months and then I was sent to Karachi, Pakistan.    JS:  How long were you in Karachi?  BM:  Well I was there a year only, it's normally a two year assignment, but I met my husband over there, he was in the Air Force, and we were married over there and then I came home as his wife about eleven months after I had gotten there, so that was the end of my state department service. JS: From there were did you go?  BL: My husband was in the Air Force; he was an enlisted man, an engineer and after getting married in Karachi we were stationed at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. From there we were in Tampa Bay, Florida and then onto Cairo, Egypt for three years before moving to South Dakota and then on to Arizona.     Narrator: Muriel Kelly Interviewer: Brittany Litherland     MK: I got out of the service in 1953 and went to work for the state of Connecticut. I stayed in the Reserves until 1957. I didn't get married until 1956; my husband and I were good friends for about five years before we married. I met him during the Korean War. He was a territory manager for Milky Way/MARS Candy, so I told everyone I was marrying a man from Mars!   BL: Were you able to benefit from the G.I. Bill?  MK: This is where I made my mistake, I went back to work for the state of Connecticut and I did not, I did not. I should have gone into nursing because I loved it. I was a hospital corpsman in the Navy all these years. I retired from American Express. I came here in 1970 for my husband's health and to work for American Express and retired in 1991. I'm still working as a people greeter at Walmart in Chandler, and I love it! I love my job as a greeter in the garden section.   Narrator: Wilma Herren Interviewer: Andrew Ward    AW: What did you do after the war era?  WH: I went to ASU. I graduated in 1963 and got my Master's in 1969. I taught for 23 years, grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 and ESL [English as a Second Language] at Wilson Elementary School in Phoenix. AW: Which teaching area did you prefer?  WH: I preferred ESL. The children were cooperative and wanted to learn. Their parents were into it too and wanted their children to learn. I taught mostly Spanish speakers in Phoenix. Later when I taught ESL in Prescott, I had all kinds of languages: Chinese, Korean, you name it! I preferred the ESL because you really felt you were accomplishing something, and the children wanted to learn. Yes, it was very satisfying.