Army Wife

2016 USA Best Book Awards: Narrative Non-Fiction Winner
2016 Foreward INDIE Awards: War and Military Finalist

“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

Army Wife: A Story of Love and Family in the Heart of the Army begins in the summer of 1969 when the author meets West Point Cadet Dick Cody. A schoolgirl crush and six years of dating turns into an enduring love story and over thirty years of marriage. Vicki is by Dick’s side every step of the way on his path from lieutenant to four-star general and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. From the last days of the Vietnam War to the present-day war on terrorism, this memoir honors not just commitment between spouses but a commitment to military life.

While the couple raise their two sons, Vicki learns to juggle everyday challenges with everything the Army throws at them: emotional ups and downs, long separations, and many moves. As she comes to embrace the uniqueness of her circumstances over more than three decades in an Army family, she finds joy, self-fulfillment, and pride and never loses sight of who she is as a woman.

When their two sons enter the Army after September 11, 2001, Dick is in one of the top leadership positions in the Pentagon. It is all of their years of experiences and their love for each other, that gives them the strength to handle the stress and fear of their sons’ combat deployments. This is also a story about a father and his two sons who follow in his footsteps.

Author: Vicki Cody

Publication Date: August 16, 2016

Categories: Award-Winning, Fall 2016, Memoir

Description
About the Author

Description

2016 USA Best Book Awards: Narrative Non-Fiction Winner
2016 Foreward INDIE Awards: War and Military Finalist

“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

About the Author

Vicki grew up in Burlington, Vermont and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1975, with a BS degree in education. For the next 33 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 Army spouses and as an advocate for Army families.

She is the author of “Your Soldier, Your Army…A Parents’ Guide” 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.