Bernice Rosenthal: Pioneer in Aviation and Medicine

Early Life and Education

• Bernice Gertrude Rosenthal, later known as Bernice "Burma" R. Walters Nordstrom, was born on September 1, 1912, in New York City.
• She graduated with a doctorate of medicine from Woman’s College of Pennsylvania in 1936 after attending Long Island University.
• Rosenthal completed her internship and residency at St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
• She spent 18 months specializing in anesthesia at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
• Rosenthal established her general practice in Somerville, New Jersey, aiming to gain extra surgical training at her alma mater.

Wartime Service

• She became a licensed pilot while waiting for patients for her new practice.
• During World War II, she briefly served as a medical officer with the Civil Air Patrol.
• In late 1942, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots (WASP).
• She flew with the WASPs for three months before transferring to the Medical Corps in July 1943, after the President agreed to allow women doctors

Naval Career

• Lieutenant (j.g.) Rosenthal was first assigned to Bethesda, Maryland, for tropical medicine training.
• Her first assignment was at the dispensary at the Boston Navy Yard.
• She served at the Naval Air Station at Cape Cod and Bainbridge, Maryland.
• Rosenthal went inactive in 1946 to train at veterans' hospitals in Dallas, Texas, and Alexandria, Louisiana, for two years to get training in anesthesia.
• She met and married Lieutenant Herbert “Walt” Walters, a naval aviator, during this time and became Lieutenant (j.g.) Walters.
• In 1948, Walters was assigned to the naval hospital in Pensacola, Florida.
• Her husband was assigned to the aircraft carrier Wright (CVL-49) in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1950.
• Walters received orders for shipboard duty after completing 24 months at Pensacola, despite only nurses being allowed to serve at sea before.
• A columnist in Florida questioned her marital status, and reporters noted that she outranked her husband.
• In 1952, Walters stated that she saw no difference between twenty-nine nurses and one woman doctor on a ship.
• She was one of five female physicians on active duty in the U.S. Navy at the time.
• She was assigned to Consolation (AH-15) but, upon receiving the orders, Lieutenant Commander Walters was informed about her husband's death in a helicopter accident.
• She left for Korea four months later.
• Walters served as an anesthesiologist on the Consolation for two years in Korea, despite being an accomplished surgeon.
• She received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for her service.

Later Life and Career

• After serving seven months in Japan, Walters reported to Corpus Christi, Texas.
• In March 1953, Lieutenant Commander Walters addressed the founders’ day banquet at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.
• She married Lieutenant Commander Harry C. Nordstrom on July 31, 1954, and both continued to serve in the Navy with later transfers to California and Hawaii
• She gave 20 years of service after her first orders aboard ship and served in the reserves until January 1970.
• She retired as a commander in 1953.
• From 1967 until 1974, she worked as the chief of anesthesiology service at Queen’s Hospital in Hawaii.
• She died in Kailua, Hawaii, on February 10, 1975, and was survived by her husband.
• Commander Bernice “Burma” Nordstrom paved the way for women in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy.

Explore the life of Bernice Rosenthal, a pioneering woman who excelled in both medicine and aviation. From her medical training at Woman’s College to her service as a WASP pilot during World War II, Rosenthal broke barriers and made significant contributions.