Home Fires Burning: Married to the Military-For Better or Worse

As taps echoes across the cookie-cutter housing areas of upstate New York's Fort Drum, the wives turn on the evening news, both hoping for and dreading word of their husbands overseas. It's a ritual played out on military bases across the nation as the waiting wives of Karen Houppert's extraordinary new book endure a long, lonely, and difficult year with their husbands far from home. Houppert, a prize winning journalist, spent a year among these women, joining them as they had babies, raised families, ran Cub Scout troops, coached soccer-and went to funerals. The waiting wives include Lauren, twenty-six, whose Navy SEAL husband was killed in Afghanistan; Heidi, peace activist and Army wife whose life is a daily struggle with her conscience; Crystal, a nineteen-year-old raising two babies on a shoestring while her husband fights in the Middle East; Tabitha, who becomes the alleged victim of murderous domestic violence at the hands of her Special Operations boyfriend; and Danette, once an Army brat and now a devoted Air Force wife, who teaches, raises two teens, and fills her days with endless volunteer work. Houppert shows that these women make some of the same sacrifices of their personal liberties as their husbands do and yet garner none of the respect accorded their spouses. Today, these military wives find themselves torn between an entrenched tradition that would keep them in a Leave It to Beaver family ideal and a modern social climate suggesting that women are entitled to more-a career of their own, self-determination, and a true parenting partner. Meanwhile, the military concocts family-friendly policies and spends millions on new programs designed to appease military wives-and to maintain them as staunch supporters who will encourage their husbands' reenlistment. The Army likes to say that it recruits soldiers, but retains families. And indeed, the future of the all-volunteer force hinges on the success of this mission. Though Army brass speak glowingly of the Army Family Team, this team is often deeply divided over strategy-and even goals. A gritty, behind-the-scenes look at the tour of duty from the domestic front, Home Fires Burning provides a fascinating, fresh look at an enormous American institution and the families that live in its shadow. From the Hardcover edition.

Review :
Advance praise for Home Fires Burning "Too often in my twenty-four years as a member of the House Armed Services Committee I saw reflections of a military attitude that said 'Your family is your problem. If we wanted you to have one, we'd have issued you one.' With so much written about the U.S. military, from history to strategy to memoir, it seems incredible that, until now, no one has turned a spotlight on America's military families and the courage they exhibit every day in their supporting role. This wonderful book does just that!" -Pat Schroeder, former Congresswoman "Home Fires Burning is an indispensable addition to that very short shelf of books that takes an honest, clear-eyed look at the lives and sacrifices of military families. Through portraits of heartbreaking specificity, Karen Houppert makes the indisputable case that soldiers and their loved ones should no longer be paid in platitudes and patriotism. It is hoped that a truly grateful nation will make damn sure that Home Fires lights some fires of its own." -Sarah Bird, author of Yokota Officers Club "Karen Houppert casts a sharp, sympathetic eye on the little-known lives of military wives-twenty-first century women in a 1950s world that is at once demanding and infantilizing, secure and incredibly dangerous. Her interviewees range from gung ho to openly rebellious-and sometimes both at once. An important book for our parlous times." -Katha Pollitt "At last, a book about the unsung warriors of the All Volunteer Force: the families. Houppert, an air force brat, skillfully chronicles-among many challenges-the family stresses of turn-around deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, the agony of combatand noncombat deaths, the isolation of an antiwar wife and the military's self-serving struggle with escalating domestic abuse. A searing and sobering view behind the modern khaki curtain." -Linda Bird Francke, author of Ground Zero: The Gender Wars in the Military" ""When my husband was called to war, I had no idea what to expect. This book shows what it's like for the women left behind. It provides an honest look at the uneasy truce among soldiers, wives, and the military brass who know that these women-the heart of the army-are critical to national security, but don't begin to understand them. If you've ever wondered what it means to be a modern military wife, I'd encourage you to read this." -Stacy Bannerman, human rights advocate and spouse of a deployed soldier "From the Hardcover edition."