Army Wife: A Story of Love and Family in the Heart of the Army

by Vicki Cody

Overview

From the last days of the Vietnam War to the present-day war on terrorism, this story is a moving and poignant tribute to love, marriage, family, and the men and women who serve this nation. In describing her thirty-three-year journey as an Army wife, Cody gives an in-depth look at what it takes to keep a marriage strong, raise a family—oftentimes as a single parent—create a home, and face separations and loneliness amid the uncertainty and stresses that are so much a part of Army life. Over the years, Cody learns to embrace the uniqueness of her circumstances, and she finds joy, self-fulfillment, and pride in her role. But when both her sons follow in their dad’s footsteps, becoming Army Aviators and flying Apache helicopters in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, Cody faces her greatest challenges as a mother and again, must balance the needs of her family with her husband’s position. Full of humor and honesty, Army Wife brings the reader into Cody’s private life in a very personal way, and in doing so opens the lens for a broader view of world events.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631521270
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	08/16/2016
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Vicki Cody grew up in Burlington, Vermont and graduated from the University of Vermont with a BS degree in education in 1975. For the next thirty-three years she was an Army wife, supporting her husband in his career. While raising their two sons and moving all over the United States and overseas, she served as a coach and mentor for other Army spouses, and as an advocate for Army families. Her first book, Your Soldier, Your Army: A Parents' Guide was published by the Association of the United States Army in 2005. Her articles have appeared in numerous military magazines and publications. This is her first memoir. She and her husband of forty years live in the Washington, DC area.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

1 Burlington, Vermont 5

2 Wedding-Bell Blues… and a Thing Called Deployment 17

3 Educating Vicki, Brand-New Army Wife 22

4 Sweet Home Alabama 28

5 Were Having a Baby… and a Short Tour, Too! 36

6 Savannah, Georgia, 1979 44

7 Life Takes a Sharp Turn 49

Thoughts on Faith and Trust 58

8 A Fork in the Road 61

9 The Year We All Went to School 66

10 A Rendezvous with Destiny 76

Thoughts on Moving 85

11 Summer 1990. 90

12 Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm 100

Thoughts on Reintegration 109

13 The Best Year of Our Lives 114

Photo Insert 121

14 Welcome to Texas, Y'all! 137

15 A Time of Transition 144

16 The First Star 148

17 Washington, DC, 1999-2000 158

Thoughts on Just Being Me 164

18 A Final Rendezvous with Destiny 169

19 September 11, 2001 179

20 A New "Band of Brothers" 190

Thoughts on Deployments 201

21 Inside the E-Ring 205

22 Operation Iraqi Freedom 213

Thoughts on What Goes Around Comes Around 227

23 A Fourth Star 231

24 More Deployments 237

Thoughts on the Nature of the Business 248

25 The Last Chapter 253

Epilogue 264

Acknowledgments 267

About the Author 269

Editorial Reviews

2016 USA Best Book Awards: Narrative Non-Fiction Winner Kirk's Review's Best Indie Books of 2017 2016 Foreword Indie Awards Finalist in War and Memoir
"Written in an unencumbered, conversational style, this book is partly a personal memoir and partly a study of the ways in which civilians make noble sacrifices out of patriotic commitment. Especially given the United States’ many military engagements around the world, this is a timely and thoughtful offering . . . An Army wife’s absorbing testament to the power of family and faith to weather difficult times.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Timeless, poignant, moving, and inspirational, Vicki Cody’s Army Wife reads like a can’t-put-it-down thriller. Having sent a husband and two sons to combat as Apache pilots, Vicki’s 33 years of marriage to Dick Cody and her selfless leadership as an Army spouse at every command level provide lessons in faith, endurance, love, marriage, and decision making. Army Wife should be required reading in every boardroom and classroom.” —A.J. Tata, national bestselling author of Three Minutes to Midnight "The wife of a retired Army vice chief of staff and mother of two Army officers — all three Apache pilots — follows her practical Your Soldier, Your Wife: A Parents’ Guide (2005) with personal memories of 18 moves in 33 years. She writes anecodotally about worries, Army wisdom, and, occasionally, Wynonna Judd.” —MilitaryTimes
“Army Wife is a unique—yet unsurprisingly common—perspective from a young wife ‘coming of age’ through the years, the fears, and a deepening faith. Deep within a culture all its own, the Army refines both the Soldier and the soldier’s family, and the reader is given a window into this world of strength—from the beginnings of young love, to the constant moves, the realities of death and mortality, the challenges of reintegration after deployments, the unknowns. It’s rare to have such personal insight from a wife’s perspective as she takes us on their journey through the Army ranks.” —Sharlene Hawkes, Miss America 1985, President of Remember My Service
"Vicki Cody shares her life experiences with the grace and dignity befitting an Army spouse and mother of soldiers. The unsung heroes of America's 21st-Century War finally get their long overdue day in the sun as Vicki takes readers on an Army family journey. Army Wife is a must read. The American people deserve to truly understand the commitment and sacrifice that all military spouses selflessly give." —Jimmy Blackmon U.S. Army (Ret.) and author of Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division

From the Publisher

Aug. 24, 2016
A soldier’s spouse reflects on marriage, sacrifice, and patriotic service. When Cody (Your Soldier Your Army: A Parents’ Guide, 2005) first met her future husband, Dick, she was a high school sophomore enchanted by a dashing West Point cadet. Eventually, that youthful infatuation deepened into something more substantive, and Cody married the man of her dreams. She also embraced a professional soldier, and she quickly discovered the unique sacrifices the role of the Army wife demanded. Even before they wed, Dick was sent on his first assignment to Hawaii and then deployed on a dangerous mission to Guam during the closing days of the Vietnam War. He trained to become a helicopter pilot and was also sent to Saudi Arabia when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Cody learned to manage the stress of the danger and secrecy Dick’s profession entailed and to build a purposeful and busy life that was sometimes necessarily lonesome. She became involved in whatever community she belonged to, worked as a substitute teacher, and eventually earned a pilot’s license of her own. And while she didn’t grow up within a strong religious tradition, she leaned on a newfound faith to cope with the fear of losing her husband to war, an ever present possibility that provoked profound meditations on the meaning of her life. Given Dick’s meteoric rise up the ranks (he eventually became vice chief of staff of the Army) and the extraordinary obligations he had to shoulder, she also learned to cultivate self-sufficiency: “Unlike Dick, who, as he went up in rank and position, had an entourage that grew in relation to the number of stars he acquired, I was always an army of one.” Cody also became readily adaptable, moving 18 times in 33 years. Her two sons followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the military. She then encountered a new source of trepidation: her sons’ deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan during times of war. Written in an unencumbered, conversational style, this book is partly a personal memoir and partly a study of the ways in which civilians make noble sacrifices out of patriotic commitment. Especially given the United States’ many military engagements around the world, this is a timely and thoughtful offering. An Army wife’s absorbing testament to the power of family and faith to weather difficult times.

Kirkus Review