Waiting for Peace: The Journals & Correspondence of a World War II Medic - Softcover

Huntsberger, Karen Berkey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1937303470 ISBN 13: 9781937303471

Publisher: Luminare Press, LLC, 2015

Synopsis

Richard Berkey was a third year pre-med student at Indiana University when he received a letter from the draft board. He withdrew from college in November 1942 and answered the Army’s call. Equipped with more courage and compassion than medical supplies, he served as a combat medic with the 14th Armored Division, 68th Armored Infantry Battalion in France and Germany. During 1944-1945, he treated casualties in the field, lost friends from his unit and hometown, was wounded in action and was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. His journals reveal a sober and reflective young man, while his letters home are filled with humor and tenderness. The voices of Richard’s family and friends intertwine with his own framing a portrait of an American family during the defining event of the twentieth century.

About this title

Review:

"Disregarding the piercing pain of the shrapnel imbedded in his arm, the rain of gunfire and mortars, and the deafening sounds and pungent smells of battle, Richard Berkey tended to what fellow soldiers he could, while dragging other wounded men off the battlefield. He later logged in his journal about that morning in Germany in 1945, "Why I wasn't killed during that hour or so I do not know." Nor does the spellbound reader. Waiting for Peace is a walk in the footsteps of Richard Berkey, beginning as a pre-med student at Indiana University and ending as a war-hardened soldier who finds his way home and into the arms of his small town Indiana family. Berkey, an infantry medic, faithfully documents the experiences in between, carrying the reader along his World War II journey through Germany and France. Author Karen Berkey Huntsberger has skillfully compiled a complete record of Berkey's wartime experience. Berkey's journal and letters to and from home tell the story, making the work both engaging and accessible. Yet, Waiting for Peace demonstrates true scholarship, exhibited in a bibliography which boasts extensive historical research. Berkey's accounts are validated by military maps, unit rosters, morning reports, and other official documents. Huntsberger weaves both versions into the chronology, paralleling Berkey's journals and letters with the army's historical records. Richard Berkey's experience as a battlefield medic makes Waiting for Peace a unique World War II story. Expertly supplemented by descriptive footnotes and fabulous photos, this soldier's story gives the reader a glimpse of army life from an infantry medic's perspective. Having experienced fear, wonder, loneliness, and grit alongside him every step of the way, the only issue with Waiting for Peace is that Berkey's story must end. Yet, his voice, his emotions, and his battle weary boots stay with the reader far beyond his last words." - Elizabeth Terry, author of Oysters to Angus: Three Generations of the St. Louis Faust Family and Ethnic St. Louis.

About the Author:

Karen Berkey Huntsberger grew up with a father who was excited about life, found joy in simple things, and discovered beauty everywhere. Seventeen years after her father passed away, his war journals and letters came to light. In 2009, Karen began the process of researching and compiling his journals and letters with historical Army reports, maps, family correspondence, and period photographs. The resulting book provides a close-up view of the impact World War II had on one family that was, like so many others, Waiting for Peace.

About this edition

• Publisher: Luminare Press, LLC
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1937303470
• ISBN 13: 9781937303471
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 394