MWSA Review

The author shares soul-felt reflections that begin in the seventies when, at twenty-two, she marries big brother’s best friend. The union is not common - both husband and brother are Marine F4 Phantom jet fighter pilots – and her life blasts off in a direction any wife could hardly fathom. Using a fast paced writing style, Marcia Sargent shares a thorough account of the ongoing love and sacrifice experienced with a career Marine aviator. Blending humor and tragedy, she vividly portrays the psychosocial dynamics at the officers clubs and wives meetings, through deployment and relocation, and when babies are born and loved ones vaporize in the air. While reading, I felt it – when the switch is hit that instantly changes your life forever … you can’t go back, reach for the brake, and zoom out of control. In Wing Wife, families persevere through incredible loss and then regroup in traditional Marine Corps fashion to show the young newcomers how to live fully in the face of constant danger. Thumbs up! I highly recommend this survival - success story and consider it an educational building block for anyone who likes or NEEDS to learn about the dedication and determination required in service to family and country.              

Reviewed by: Hodge Wood (2011)

Author's Synopsis

Marcia never flew high performance aircraft, yet she learned to appreciate and maneuver through the irreverent, technical, and dangerous world of the Marine aviator--at and under her husband's wing. In WING WIFE: How to Be Married to a Fighter Pilot, a memoir of the first few years of her marriage to a Marine jet jockey, Marcia navigates the unfamiliar skies of officer's wives, military expectations, and the loss of loved ones. Over time she realizes what she risks by loving a man who flies. WING WIFE brings the reader intimately into the bawdy, comedic, and tragic world of the Marine Corps aviator and the aviator's wife.