A few years ago, as part of my research for my Army Brat memoir, I purchased a used copy of The Army Wife by Nancy Shea. I knew that my dad had given my mom a copy of this and asked her to read it after he asked her to marry him. He wanted to be sure she knew what she was committing to in relation to his career in the military and her responsibilities, which were many!
Reading through the book, gave me such a clear understanding of my mom, and answered questions I had long held about why she did things the way she did in, raising us, conducting the household, deferring to my father on decisions and many other topics.
In my used copy, there was an inscription, and the name of the officer’s wife, which in turn, gave me the name of the officer. I found out, via Newspapers.com that the officer had died in helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1965. It was crushing to realize that this young Army wife, just eight years into their marriage, had been delivered this devastating news.
Yesterday, I looked up the officer’s name again, for no particular reason, and up popped a 2021 article from The Army Times on this very person! He has a memorial at The Presidio Post in San Francisco, California. The article had photos of the family, both from 1966, where the young wife has four young children, and from 2021 as well. It was the first time they had been back there since 1966.
I reached out to the contact person at The Presidio with my story of The Army Wife, and my desire to return the book to the family. The children were so young in 1965, and I thought about how something of their mom’s, via their dad, would be so important to them.
I don’t know if I will ever hear back, but I am on a mission to return this book. I have recently read two books (one non-fiction, one historical fiction) on librarians returning books to families, largely Jewish, who had their possessions stolen by the Nazis and also the Russians.
The power of books is real. Inscribe your name in your books. Pass them down. Keep them in your family and let members know what the books mean to you, how they changed you, and the value of owning a piece of the past.
Lately, there has been much scuttle butt amongst writers against AI written material. Nothing, nothing can erase history, unless we allow it. Write, read, record, repeat. I’ll keep you all updated on my quest to return The Army Wife. Thank you for reading. What book means a great deal to you? Please write to me, and let me know. I value your comments and the interaction between us.
Oh, so many books - it's tough to pick just one! I think The Phantom Tollbooth remains the most influential book to me, both throughout my childhood and as a writer now.
How amazing would it be if you were able to find the family? Whenever I purchase a book, I write my name and date of purchase inside the cover. In my personal journals in which I write a brief summary of what the book is about & what I thought about it, I write who recommended it to me or if I found it in my never ending search for new books, where or how I discovered it. I have so many books I love that my list would go on for far too long here. 😉 One book which I have received as a gift numerous times over the years is Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. It is one of my very favorites & I used to read it aloud quite often to my daughter when she was a teenager. It has been given to me as a gift for different reasons and times in my life, all of which have meant a great deal to me. I also have a smaller version of it which I keep in my purse.