I'll Be Seeing You: Letters Home from a Navy Girl

In vivid and captivating letters home, a young woman constrained by societal expectations chronicles her journey into the Navy Women’s Reserves (WAVES)—and her role in a transformational movement for women.

As men left for military service during WWII, an urgent labor shortage drove women to step into roles formerly filled by men. Recruiting posters urged women to do their part. Driven by a desire to serve, artist Lucy Berkey sought an escape from her demanding teaching job. In August 1943, she enlisted in the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). After boot camp at Hunter College in New York City, she served for the duration of the war as a Hydrographic Office map artist in Washington, D.C. Lucy’s letters detail her training, work, travel, and the camaraderie that developed among her fellow WAVES. Over 80 period photos, footnotes, and editor’s notes bring her experiences to life.

Readers who enjoyed Valiant Women by Lena Andrews and Our Mother’s War by Emily Yellin will find I’ll Be Seeing You hard to put down.

Karen Berkey Huntsberger is the author of two WWII non-fiction books - Waiting for Peace-The Journals & Correspondence of a WWII Medic (2015) and I'll Be Seeing-Letters Home From a Navy Girl (2018). She has spoken extensively on her first book with the goal of promoting peace.