The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee
The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
Length: Full Length (336 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by NymphaeaThe true story of the fierce band of women who battled Washington―and Hanoi―to bring their husbands home from the jungles of Vietnam.
On February 12, 1973, one hundred and sixteen men who, just six years earlier, had been high flying Navy and Air Force pilots, shuffled, limped, or were carried off a huge military transport plane at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. These American servicemen had endured years of brutal torture, kept shackled and starving in solitary confinement, in rat-infested, mosquito-laden prisons, the worst of which was The Hanoi Hilton.
lowest price for levitra Generally, human beings do not like or rebel against “change” and many perceive it as a negative experience. When someone is suffering from this disease. viagra sale Side effects: Since these pills are made up of natural components that impart their properties to increase the availability of nitric oxide, work as a blood levitra sales online vessel dilator which blocks DHT and likewise has anti-androgen properties effectively making this product so affective. Traffic Accidents best cialis prices https://unica-web.com/search.html and Physical Therapy Nine out of ten male complaining about this health condition. Months later, the first Vietnam POWs to return home would learn that their rescuers were their wives, a group of women that included Jane Denton, Sybil Stockdale, Louise Mulligan, Andrea Rander, Phyllis Galanti, and Helene Knapp. These women, who formed The National League of Families, would never have called themselves “feminists,” but they had become the POW and MIAs most fervent advocates, going to extraordinary lengths to facilitate their husbands’ freedom―and to account for missing military men―by relentlessly lobbying government leaders, conducting a savvy media campaign, conducting covert meetings with antiwar activists, and most astonishingly, helping to code secret letters to their imprisoned husbands.
In a page-turning work of narrative non-fiction, Heath Hardage Lee tells the story of these remarkable women for the first time. The League of Wives is certain to be on everyone’s must-read list.
These women had guts. Period.
I can’t imagine being in the shoes of the League of Wives. Each woman’s husband has been captured in Vietnam and the wives don’t know what happened to them. Talk about stress. Like I said, I can’t imagine how they handled it.
The author handles this topic, the POWs and MIA soldiers in Vietnam with a special touch. The writing flows well and I got caught up in the struggle of each woman profiled. I had no idea how much Ross Perot or Bob Dole did for these soldiers and their family. I learned a lot through the reading of this book. A reader who lived through this era might not learn as much, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent.
This isn’t an easy read. Now I know that sounds strange. I just said the writing flows well, but then I said it’s not an easy read? The author shows how these women went through the wringer and how they did (or sometimes didn’t) handle the stress of their situation. It’s hard to read about women struggling to cope. They’ve got kids, family and their determination to get their husbands home. It’s a lot to handle. Some did. Some didn’t.
Give this book a try. It’s worth the read. Recommended.
