For her, it was a marriage of convenience. He prayed she’d grow to love him. But their tragic pasts threaten to destroy any hope for their future together.
A tragic accident changed Rusty Sava’s life, and he battles daily with the consequences. Love wasn’t something he bargained for, but once he met Jane his heart was lost, and her little boy was an unexpected blessing.
The last thing Army Captain Jane Adams was looking for was a second chance at love. She wants to be wooed and desired—something entirely missing from her disastrous first marriage.
Can Jane’s love for Russ blossom with her in Korea and him in Colorado? But their tragic pasts threaten to destroy any hope for their future together.
Buy Operation: Reconnaissance, a sweet military romance, today.
Answering the question, “where are you from” still stumps me. I wonder are they asking me where I was born? Where I lived last or longest? Where I connect with the most? Where my grandparents live or where do I currently live? Eventually, I think most of us develop a quick pitch we throw out to help someone connect to us. Here’s mine.
My dad was in the Navy. I was born in VA but only lived there a few weeks, I think. Mostly, I grew up in Spain and Florida until my dad retired in my junior year of high school. We moved to where he was from originally in Alabama.
Then I pause. Without fail there are follow up questions that help us connect in some way.
How Many Places Have You Lived?
I don’t have a ready answer for that one but I do know the house I live in now is the 50th house I’ve lived in. Yeah. You read that correctly. 5. O. I’ve loved every single place. Although, some more than others.
Oh the places I’ve lived. Here is RGH – off base housing in Puerto de Santa Maria.
How Many High Schools Did You Attend?
Three. I went to three high schools in my junior year. I don’t recommend it. Lol.
Prom
Favorite Place to Live as a Navy Brat?
Hands down, Rota. I love living by the ocean even though my husband and I retired to gorgeous Colorado next to Pikes Peak.
Favorite Memory?
Wow. There are so many. I suppose one that stands out from our time at Homestead AFB was chasing huge toads. When the streetlights turned on, the time we should have been home by, the bugs, gnats, mosquitoes, etc. would hang around them. The toads were smart and they would come there too. Now, who wasn’t too smart were the kids on my street. We would take long sticks and tap behind the toads to get them to jump. We tried racing them but they never went toward the finish line. The toads seemed risk free unless they peed on you. The huge toads would only tolerate a few taps behind them before they would turn and start to jump in the direction of the tormentor. We would scream and run like the Chainsaw Massacre dude was after us.
I hear Homestead isn’t there anymore due to one of the many Florida hurricanes. That was the place I learned to be terrified of storms. Man oh man, it can do some storming in southern Florida.
What Activity Do I Miss From Living Overseas?
The connection between all of us as Americans. The community, the bond we shared is something hard to describe but you know it when you are living it. Because there are no extended family to help you, we truly had to be neighbors helping neighbors. It was good.
I miss the castles and cathedrals we explored. The wineries, the coast, camping, and eating delicious seafood. I miss being patient while trying to communicate with someone who’s native language is not the same as my own. Experiencing history that is still in the making. Walking in the footsteps of people we studied from centuries ago. The smells of cooking from the huge doors that opened into lovely courtyards.
What Traditions Did We Keep?
My mom is the queen of holidays. You never had to doubt what season or holiday it was if you came to our quarters. She truly made each one an event. I hadn’t really thought about all the effort she must have had to use to get it done. Great question. We kept every single tradition my mom could think of including some from the places we lived. For example, after living in Spain, we must celebrate Three Kings Day, Jan 6th. No one in my family is allowed to take our tree down until Jan 7th. Needless to say, we only use artificial trees since we have to put them up during Thanksgiving weekend. I’m going to go tell my mom, well done! She created tradition for a family who moved a lot.
On Three Kings Day we would leave our shoes out.
Stay tuned for the final post by DeeDee on September 20, 2022.
Looking back to 1980, our entire family was unknowingly, unprepared for civilian life. I suppose my parents had a better handle on it since they were both born to civilian parents. (Mom’s dad had been in WW-II when she was born). As for me and my siblings we could have used some coaching before we were planted in land-locked, southern, rural Alabama beside Fort Rucker (an Army post).
Me as a Rota cheerleader, upper right in the back row
1980 – me and my besties!
Military to Civilian Life
My mom had spent her first twenty years of marriage as a Navy wife, then she was surrounded by Army lifestyle, Army personnel, Army wives, Army dialog, everything all Army. The rural environment was not her cup of tea. She had grown up between the Tennessee mountains and the Virginia coastline. Alabama was as foreign to her as it was to me.
Dad was originally from Alabama but his time away in the Navy had changed him from a country boy to a man who had traveled the oceans, crossed the Equator, cruised around the tip of Africa, lived in foreign countries, rode a camel, learn to speak two other languages, married a Virginia girl and had three kids. He had changed. Life for him was different from when he left in order to escape his father’s summer plans for him to work the land, cut down trees, and be the son who stayed.
As we all struggled to find our place, my little sister was often overlooked. The youngest, the quietest, the smallest she needed us the most. We didn’t see her forest for our trees. Life was not the same. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t wrong. It was simply different than we had experienced and expected. We were no longer in a military environment living in the country.
Me and my siblings on a bunk. Our quartes were always a different size and my parents were pros at getting us settled in. We are sitting on the top of the bunk my dad made. It had three beds. We thought were so cool.
Military Brats are Comfortable with Change
Military Brats are comfortable with change. We know change is inevitable. What was hard to understand was in our own country – the one we’d always been so proud of were:
People who knew and lived near their relatives while we struggled to understand the role of a cousin.
Understanding county and state lines after years of studying the local history wherever we had lived.
Kids driving at a much earlier age with customs, sayings, and so much more different from we knew.
DeeDee Lake and Susan M. Baganz are pleased to announce that our new series of inspirational romance novels and novellas based on military life (specifically Army) will be released soon.
The first book, Camouflage Christmas, is a novella and features Brooke and Bernard managing a romance, and life, at Fort Benning, GA, Officer Training School.
Whether you’re a fan of the military, a veteran, a family member of a military person, or a military brat, our hope is that these stories, although fictional, will resonate with you.
Stay tuned. Subscribe to hear real-life stories from military personnel and those associated with them.
James B. Pollard held his new daughter before leaving for war with no idea of where he would be heading. He had just become a father of two and never knew if he’d see them again.
If you are interested in being part of our mailing list we will offer you a free e-book copy of Journey to Lekhipani: G.I.’s Experience in WWII, from Amazon. These are the real-life writings of Susan’s grandfather during WWII. A short read, it will put you in India as a young soldier faces the realities of life during war and missing his family at home. Please email Susan at silygoos@gmail.com. This email list will only be used to inform you of upcoming releases. We will never sell or abuse your trust in giving us this information.
Rules of Engagement 