Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Mechanic to Nurse - Local poet recalls her experience during WWII

The first time Robinette Cruise flew in an airplane was during World War II, but she was not the pilot - she was one of the mechanics.

After moving to Washington, D.C. during the war, Cruise, like many other women in the 1940s, found herself in a job that was usually occupied by men: an aircraft mechanic learner repairing the hydraulics on landing gear. Her job consisted of taking apart and cleaning parts of the hydraulic system and landing gear. She even worked on Gen. Hap Arnolds aircraft.

Cruise said one of the most important things she learned during her seven months on the job was to lay the plane parts out in the order they came off of the plane in order to ensure they go back in the right order. Other than that, I dont remember much about my work there now.

Women who worked in these occupations have often been referred to as Rosie the Riveter, but Cruise admits, I never handled any rivets.

Working on aircraft isnt the only wartime job Cruise held in Washington during the war. Shortly after moving the nations capital to live with her cousin, she landed a job as a junior clerk typist at the United States Department of Agriculture.

I didnt even pass the exam (for the job), she said. I guess they needed me enough that they hired me anyway.

Being a typist wasnt one of Cruises favorite jobs, she admits. She had to create spreadsheets and complete other mathematical computations, often making several carbon copies. I would get my hands covered in the carbon, she said.

I really didnt enjoy that job at all, but I liked the people.

Later during the war, Cruise entered training as a nurse in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. Being a nurse is the last thing she ever expected to do, but with the training paid for, it turned out to be a good career choice.

We had to promise to stay in essential nursing for the duration of the war, she said. But the war ended while I was still in training.

Cruise graduated from nursing school in the spring of 1946 and began working in Maryland as a graduate nurse until she could pass the state boards. It was while she was working in Maryland that she met her husband, a patient.

When he got out of the hospital, the couple went to a movie, Command Decision.

It was a good movie, Cruise said.

The couple later moved to Florida due to his health. A doctor had advised that the air quality in Florida would benefit him better than the air in Washington, D.C.

In 1979, Cruise moved home to Clark County and began looking for a nursing job.

I applied at Arkadelphia, but they didnt have an opening, she said.

The Gurdon Municipal Hospital did, however, have an opening for a registered nurse, and she started the next week.

Working in Gurdon was enjoyable for Cruise, she said. She spent most of her time working the evening shift, occasionally filling in on the day and graveyard sifts. She says grave yard was her least favorite.

Working evenings had its advantages.

I got home in time to see Star Trek reruns, she said. I never did get to see those the first time around.

Since retiring in 1983, Cruise has had the opportunity to pursue her first love - poetry. When asked how many poems she has written over the years, she simply replied hundreds.

Reading is another passion she has been able to fulfill since retiring.

If I ever get to where I cant read, I guess Ill either have to learn brail or get some of those talking books from the Library of Congress.

Murder mysteries are some of her favorite, she said.

My very first love of that kind was Sherlock Holmes. My grandfather had two volumes.