Read Online The League of Wives The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the US Government to Bring Their Husbands Home Heath Hardage Lee 9781250161109 Books

Product details Hardcover 336 pages Publisher St. Martin's Press (April 2, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 125016110X

The League of Wives The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the US Government to Bring Their Husbands Home Heath Hardage Lee 9781250161109 Books Reviews

• 3 ½ rounded up to a 4.
  
  When the draft lottery for the Vietnam War started in 1969 I was dating my husband, then a college student, he was extremely fortunate not to have been called to serve. Afterwards the Vietnam War went on and on and while I remember a lot of news about it, I can’t say that I followed it closely. That’s one reason why this book attracted my attention, I wanted to know more about the MIA’s and POW’s. I have also heard that Reese Witherspoon is going to make a movie about it.
  
  In March of 1964 the first reported capture of a US serviceman in Vietnam was reported. By the end of the war approximately 2,500 servicemen and other personnel had been reported as prisoners of war or missing in action.
  
  What I liked about this book is that it didn’t concentrate on the politics of the war, that you can read about in numerous other historical books. This was strictly about the wives of the missing men and how, after battling their own government and Hanoi finally had had enough and banded together to get their men home. I didn’t realize how much President Johnson failed to implement plans to investigate how many men were MIA’s and how many men were being captured and tortured in Vietnam prisons. His lack of communication to the public and these military wives was atrocious.
  
  The wives banded together and started to lobby the government leaders and run a media campaign. From many parts of the US they banded together to get the answers they needed.
  When Richard Nixon became President he was much more willing to listen to these women and realized that they were, in deed, a force to be reckoned with.
  
  On February 12, 1973, 115 men who had been POW’s arrived at Clark Air Force base in the Philippines. After these and other men arrived home news finally reached the public about the horrific conditions that these men had been held under and the severe torture that many endured.
  
  The women described in this book had to change their lives and in some cases their personalities from being dutiful military wives to creating a group of strong, resourceful, incredibly effective spokesmen for their husbands and families. They were true heroes and it wasn’t until the men were home that they realized what a large part their wives played in obtaining their release.
  
  This is a highly detailed, well researched book. I did get bogged down in some areas and felt myself skimming to get through some of the book. The writing is very good and if the subject interests you I highly recommend you pick up this book.
  
  I received an ARC of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley.
• Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Heath Hardage Lee for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.
  
  Like
  - I could see this making a good movie.
  - Different women and their personalities represented
  - Recognize some of the POWs as future politicians
  - A not too political look at the Vietnam War
  
  Love
  - The feminism
  - The wives went from shutting up, behaving themselves, and being good Navy Wives to forces of nature changing thoughts and minds during the Vietnam War #BadAssLadies
  -
  
  Dislike
  - Many parts are boring and drawn out - the first 1/2 of the book
  
  Wish that
  - It was not as underwhelming
  - Got to the interesting parts quicker
  
  Overall, a good interesting book about the strong women whose husbands were POW/MIA soldiers during the Vietnam War. It’s a heartwarming story about a terrible event, but the details don’t interest me that much.
• In July, 1965, I was eagerly looking forward to start high school when Jeremiah Denton was shot down over North Vietnam to become the first POW. In February, 1973, I had been married for two years when he became the first released prisoner to get off the plane to freedom. His wife was raising seven children on her own during this time and trying to figure out what she could do to get her husband home. We have heard about the difficult time our prisoners had but not much attention was paid to what the amazingly brave wives endured during this time.
  
  The League of Wives is an amazing account to the courage, tenacity, and resilience of POW wives. Heath Lee brings their stories to life. Amazing research. I felt like I was a “fly on the wall” reading their story. I could imagine their stories as a mini-series. I also think the book would be a great bookclub choice. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
• The women in this book are true heroes - they took on their husband's roles and responsibilities in their marriages while they were POWs (not an easy task in those years) and charged ahead into unchartered territory as activists. Their activism may have saved the lives of their husbands and hundreds of other POWs. It is truly an inspiring story but I found it difficult not to skim through much of the detail in the middle third of the book. This is a really interesting topic that I knew very little about prior to reading this book but I felt there was simply too much detail to rate it higher than 3 stars.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an early release in exchange for an honest and fair review.
• A moving testament to determined women, The League of Wives, is the story of a group of military spouses who moved incredible impediments to bring their men home from the Vietnam War. As the US changed socially and culturally from 1965-1973, the women fought social convention and their own government to bring public awareness to their plight. Eventually they prevailed and many of the men returned. The epic tragedy was the member wives whose husbands never came back. I liked the follow up the author provided at the end. There was an in depth bibliography and end notes. Fierce women who stood by their husband even from thousands of miles away. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced read.