A Year of Absence: Six Women's Stories of Courage, Hope, and Love, by Jessica Redmond.  Saint Paul, Minn.: Elva Resa, 2005.  24.95, 232 pp., ISBN 0-9657483-1-6

There's an old adage borrowed from the poetry of John Milton:  "They also serve who only stand and wait."  Milton wasn't writing about military spouses (or families), but he could have been.  While the deploying troops garner most of the attention (and deservedly so), their wives and families wait in relative obscurity.  Their burden (loneliness, fear, stress) is as heavy and their sacrifice often as poignant as that of their loved ones with boots on the ground in dangerous places.  

That's one of the subtle themes of Jessica Redmond's compelling account of the experiences of six Army wives during their husbands' deployment to Iraq in 2003-2004. For the most part, Redmond is content to allow the women to tell their stories and to leave the conclusions to the reader.  Beyond the subtleties lurking just beneath the surface, Redmond admits to "one overarching theme:" the women's "ability to persevere and find meaning in ... the most difficult period of their lives."  Perseverance, however, is a relative concept and it's not always the most prevalent characteristic on display here.  Whatever their faults, however, much is asked of these women and they deserve the thanks of a grateful nation. 

Redmond, a freelance journalist and first-time author, was an Army wife stationed at Baumholder, Germany, in 2003.  After her husband's unit, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, First Armored Division, deployed to Iraq, she began the research that would become A Year of Absence.  Out of her interviews with the wives of deployed soldiers, she chose six diverse women whose stories represent the sundry experiences of those left behind.  While most are twenty-something (combat is a young man's burden after all), they represent a wide spectrum of backgrounds.  Some have attended college; others haven't.  Most have children; two do not.  Their husbands' rank ranges from Private First Class to First Lieutenant. 

The most glaring difference, however, is in their attitudes and coping skills.  The long separation and the attendant loneliness and fear are a common experience, but the way the women react is not.  Some cope well, maintain a positive outlook, and stay busy.  One not only volunteers for her Family Readiness Group but also makes a to-do list of projects to complete before her husband returns.  Redmond notes that "The projects kept her focused on the present, not just wishing the year away."  Another -- after a brief false start -- discovers new friends (her Buddy Club) to keep her active and grounded. 

Others wallow in self-pity.  "When is this nightmare going to end?" one wails.  Another complains that she's "sick of having so little control over her life."  One of them becomes so distraught over the news that the unit's deployment is being extended that she frightens her young daughter who pleads in a soft voice, "Mommy, you're scaring me."   Instead of getting a grip, she continues to frantically dial her own mother's phone number back in the states.  In these cases, it seems obvious that the strain of deployment only exacerbated existing problems and character flaws.  You just know that one or two of these women are never going to be happy -- whether their husbands are soldiers or civilians, deployed or not. 

The deployment finally ends and the soldiers return -- except for the twenty-six who made the ultimate sacrifice.  For a few, the homecoming is bittersweet as the separation has taken a toll on their marriages.  For most, it "was a time of jubilation and renewal."  In fact, soon enough the post is in the midst of an incipient "baby boom." 

All six of Redmond's subjects make it through the deployment relatively unscathed.  A couple of marriages are strained to the breaking point, but hold.  And in a satisfying -- if inevitable -- development, several discover that the enforced isolation and responsibility helped them become "more independent and self-assured." 

Despite the reservations of some of the women, five of the six husbands elect to stay in the Army.  The sixth wants to stay but bows to the desire of his wife to return to civilian life.  The wives of those choosing to stay -- even the skeptical ones -- embrace their husbands' choices even though it almost certainly means future deployments. 

Redmond allows her subjects to tell their stories with a minimum of interference.  The stories are instructive -- often powerful -- and need little embellishment.  Not that the author can't turn an insightful or eloquent phrase: e.g., her description of the young wife who "resumed her weekly trip to the commissary, more out of habit than hunger," or, the young wife who's determined that her husband's sendoff will be positive:  "When he leaves ... all he will see is utopia." 

There is one final important point that Redmond suggests but leaves to the reader to reach: the wisdom of deploying troops from overseas bases.  In the Global War on Terrorism, such deployments have been frequent.  But, they place an even greater strain on families than deployments from state-side posts.  Families left behind in Germany, Italy, or Korea are cut off from the support of family and are even more isolated. Fortunately, as the Pentagon permanently moves units (like the First Armored Division) state-side from Germany and Korea, that should be less of an issue in the future. 

Redmond provides us an unflinching look at military wives (and by extension families) during their hardest challenge and reminds us again that there are heroes on the home front too.  A Year of Absence deserves a wide audience. 

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Jessica Redmond will embark on a book tour in November that will take her to Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. as well as Ft. Drum, NY, Ft. Bragg, NC, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Ft. Sill, OK, Ft. Lewis, WA, Ft. Hood, TX, and Ft. Benning, GA.  If you live nearby, go out and hear her.