In the Loop: Thank you for your service, Helen Chadwick

In the Loop: Thank you for your service, Helen Chadwick

By
Laurel Kelly

June 25, 2019

Seven decades after serving as a member of the U.S. Navy's female code breakers during World War II, Helen Chadwick was recognized for that service at a We Honor Veterans ceremony.

To this day, Helen Chadwick won't share any details of her military service, still staunchly holding true to the oath of secrecy she took some seven decades ago. She'll only confirm she was there. During the height of World War II, Helen — then in her mid-20s — was a member of the United States Navy's female code breakers. The elite and highly secretive unit was responsible for cracking the German armed forces' Enigma Code, which led to the ultimate downfall and defeat of the Nazi army.

And even though the details of her unit's top-secret intelligence work have since been declassified and chronicled in multiple books, Helen's decades-long silence and refusal of recognition has remained, as a showing of her "continued service to our country."

Read the rest of the story.

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This story originally appeared on the In the Loop blog.