Beatrice Rich Sheld

Beatrice Rich Sheld was a US Navy veteran who served stateside during World War II.

Sheld was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1915. Before enlisting in the Navy, she worked for the city of Rahway as a secretary. Sheld also worked for her uncle’s law firm, where she picked up other administrative skills. In 1943, she enlisted into the Women’s Reserves, which became known as the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Sheld was twenty-seven years old at the time.

Sheld recalled that many Americans “were scared to death” over the outbreak of war in Europe. Fears in the US were heightened with the attack on Pearl Harbor. She explained she heard the news while visiting the New York Botanical Gardens with friends. Having never even heard of Pearl Harbor, Sheld recounted that her initial reaction was “What is [Pearl Harbor]? Where is it?”

Shortly after the US became involved in World War II, Sheld explained that the German family who lived across the street from her vanished, as did another German family that lived in her town. She never saw them again.

Following her enlistment in 1943, Sheld was sent to Hunter College in New York City for Basic Training. After completing her training, she was sent to Arlington, Virginia to work as a secretary. Sheld described that her secretarial position replaced the jobs of thirteen sailors! When asked about her experience of working with men in the military, Sheld explained that some were nice, while others were not.

While serving in the Navy, Sheld was engaged, and her fiancé served in the US Army Air Corps (precursor to the US Air Force) during World War II. She explained that the couple wrote to each other weekly, although many of the letters she received from her fiancé were heavily redacted. After the war, the couple got married and had two children.

When asked about the dropping of the atomic bombs, Sheld expressed her utter abhorrence. She declared, “I hated it…So many women and children died.”

Following the conclusion of the war and her discharge from the Navy, Sheld recalled that attitudes towards veterans were extremely positive. However, later in life, she observed how poorly Vietnam veterans were treated. Sheld relayed the story of a woman she had known who had arrived back in the States after her deployment to Vietnam. The woman was dressed in her uniform, and while walking through her town, she was spat on and called a “baby killer.” After her retirement, Sheld volunteered at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Museum. She explained she was deeply impacted by how negatively Vietnam veterans were received by the American public.

Beatrice Rich Sheld died on October 1, 2006, at the age of ninety-one.