Mary Edwards Wertsch - Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress

Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress

Mary Edwards Wertsch

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Published by:

Mary Edwards Wertsch at Smashwords

Copyright (c) 1991-2011 by Mary Edwards Wertsch

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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Military Brats gives the experience of a military childhood a weight many of us have never fully admitted, allowing our pain, finally, to be saluted alongside our pride.

The Atlantic Monthly

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Fascinating and edifying.

The Sunday Oregonian

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a comprehensive, well-written and moving study of the effects of military life on children, who serve with no recognition or glory.

United Press International

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Wertschs deeply felt book has much to say about the fragility of the family and about the dark side of human nature.

Publishers Weekly

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Her attention to the dark side hasnt resulted in a gloomy book. I found it wise and helpful.

Navy Times

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Mary Edwards Wertsch offersclarity for those of us born into military families with her ground-breaking study. Wertsch writes eloquently, weaving together personal experience, extensive research, and interviews. For those who were raised in the Fortress who are still searching for the missing pieces to their lives, Military Brats will provide valuable clues.

Sober Times, The Recovery Magazine

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Wertschs Military Brats is a long-needed corrective that goes a long way toward explaining to civilian society the demands it places not only on its soldiers but on their offspring. Her work merits a wide audience on both sides of the no-mans-land.

Chronicles

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A good choice for many public libraries and for any library serving a military population.

Library Journal

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Despite its many handicaps, a military upbringing also offers unique bonuses, and Wertsch stresses the particular strengths that military brats can, and often do, develop.

Kirkus Reviews

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Brats will read this book and recognize themselves. Civilians, particularly spouses of brats, may read it and begin to understand. Regardless, when Mary Edwards Wertsch says shes proud to be a military brat and despite the high price exacted by the Fortress,would have it no other way, she speaks an interesting truth that many brats will recognize.

Raleigh News and Observer

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Wertsch is a very thorough researcher and a superb storyteller who gives readers an understanding of what its like to grow up in the military.

The Associated Press

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If youre one of my fellow brats, if you live with a brat or work with one, this is must reading.... She has done her fellow brats a great service... we can at last stop being strangers to ourselves.

The Capital Times

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The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint excerpts from the following: Bless Thou the Astronauts Who Face, copyright 1969 by Ernest K. Emurian, used by permission; Gardens of Stone by Nicholas Proffitt, copyright 1983 by Nicholas Proffitt, reprinted by permission of Carroll and Graf Publishers, a division of Avalon Publishing Group; The Great Santini , by Pat Conroy, copyright 1976 by Pat Conroy, reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co.; Incest in the Military Family by Patricia W. Crigler in The Military Family: Dynamics and Treatment, edited by Kaslow and Ridenour, copyright 984 The Guilford Press; The Military Family Syndrome by Don M. LaGrone in American Journal of Psychiatry, copyright 978 by the American Psychiatric Association; The Paternal Roots of Male Character Development by Tess Forrest in Psychoanalytic Review, copyright 1967 by the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis; The Wounded Woman by Linda Schierse Leonard, copyright 1982 by Linda Schierse Leonard, reprinted with the permission of The Ohio University Press/Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio. Wertsch, Mary Edwards Military brats: legacies of childhood inside the fortress Copyright 1991, 1996, 2006 by Mary Edwards Wertsch Introduction copyright 1991, 1996, 2006 by Pat Conroy All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Number 91-76227 ISBN: 0-9776033-0-X Previously published by Harmony Books, a member of Crown Publishing, part of Random House; by Ballantine Books; by Aletheia Publications. Brightwell Publishing P.O. Box 16171, St. Louis, MO 63105 USA First Brightwell Publishing Edition: January 2006

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With love and gratitude

to Jim, my husband, friend, and favorite civilian;

to my mother, Dorothy,

and my brother, David,

troupers and survivors both;

and to the memory of my father,

Col. David Lincoln Edwards (1912-1985),

West Point class of 36

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CONTENTS

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There are many to whom I wish to express my thanks for the significant roles they have played in helping me complete this book. Mark and Lorrie Duval are the friends who took me to see the film The Great Santini and talked with me for hours afterward; that evening was instrumental in planting the seeds for the idea of this book. Dr. Diane Martin is a marvelously gifted Jungian analyst whose wise guidance renewed my spirit and helped me greatly in improving my relationship with my father; she has also been an invaluable source of encouragement throughout this undertaking and provided helpful comments about the material I shared with her. The Revs. Tom and Carolyn Owen-TowIe, ministers at First Unitarian Church in San Diego, were warmly supportive at the critical stage when the book idea was taking root.

Pat and Lenore Conroy provided unflagging encouragement and a depth of friendship that energized this project throughout; their kindness and generosity of spirit have been light and comfort to me during dark times of struggle with some of the difficult personal material presented here. Pats commitment to this effort, both as a military brat who believed in the idea of this book and as a writer who threw his support behind it early on, has been vital. I cannot imagine having a better ally with whom to fight the good fight.

My mother and my brother, both brave and loving people whose moral example informs this book, were consistently supportive of this project; I alone, however, take responsibility for the interpretation of our family presented here.

Tamara Dembo played a very important role as friend and adviser; the example alone of this remarkable woman has been an inspiration. Others who offered valuable support include Fran Hagstrom, Karin Junefelt, Mary Bauer, Sally and Reggie Lewis, Norris Minick, my cousin Savannah, and my cousin Alice Lane. I am also grateful to those not previously mentioned who gave of their time to read and criticize portions of the manuscript: Jim Youniss, Sandra T. Azar, Cynthia Enloe, Larry Wertsch, Bonnie and Michael Kanner-Mascolo, Sheila Cole, Doreen Lehr, Judy Rosselli, Sarah Shaw, and Mary Kay Magistad.