Heroes at Home: Help and Hope for Americas Military Families (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Filled with actual stories of Ellie Kay’s and others’ life in the military, this encouraging book provides helpful guidance to families on active duty and insight to their extended families, friends, and churches. From her perspective as the wife of an air force pilot and mom with five school-age kids, the author includes practical ideas on how to cope with frequent moves, pre-deployment readiness, and how to stay in touch when families are separated.

From the Back Cover

"Ellie is bright, funny, and interesting. She combines a great message with an entertaining delivery. She helped inspire our group and she has my top endorsement." --Major General Steve Goldfein, USAF, Vice Director of the Joint Staff

"Commanders at all levels know that 'readiness never takes a day off.' This is certainly true for our nation's military personnel at home and abroad, and it is equally true for those heroes who remain on the home front. These home front spouses and families need help and hope for their critical role in maintaining strong families and securing our nation's future. Ellie Kay has captured this essential need in Heroes at Home, an important tool for spouses, troops, and commanders." --Major General Bob Dees, USA (Retired), Executive Director, MilMin "Heroes at Home is very uplifting and encouraging. There is obviously a love for what our military families and the members serving in uniform do. Ellie Kay is truly an American spokesperson bent on ensuring our military members and families are thanked, loved, and know they are serving with support." --Command Chief Master Sergeant Vance M. Clarke, USAF, 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem, Germany --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764227890
• ISBN-13: 978-0764227899
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #870,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better books out there., September 10, 2003

By A Customer

I purchased this book in preparation for my husband's upcoming deployment, looking for hope and inspiration to get through the year he is away. When I started reading, I related easily to the comical stories and I enjoyed reading the bios of real "Heroes." I thought that for sure I would recommend this book to family and friends. As I continued reading, my opinion of the book changed.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to financial advice, parenting advice and other off-topic advice. If I needed this sort of guidance, I would have purchased a book specifically on one of those subjects. I was expecting this to be a book on military matters, geared toward an intelligent and experienced audience. Advice on helping children cope with a parent's deployment would be very welcome, but I don't need to be told whether to exercise, how to manage my spending, or how much tv to allow my children to watch.

There was also much more personal information about the author than I was expecting. While I did enjoy the stories about family life, the author's awards and successes seemed to pop up in many of the chapters and really weren't relevant or valuable to the reader. Her continual reference to her husband as "The World's Greatest Fighter Pilot" didn't add much either. To her credit, she did include some humorous stories about mishaps which made her seem less superhuman.

She lists some pages of acronyms and some protocol, and there were a few tidbits of useful information, but most of the information should not be new to any but the most inexperienced of military wives, or civilians. If you already know what a commissary is and that things can be damaged during moves and that deployments can be extended, then you might want to look into a different book.

For an encouraging, humorous and emotional book on deployment, I highly recommend Email to the Front by Alesia Holliday. I am currently reading Surviving Deployment by Karen Pavlicin and find it practical and informative, and very well researched. If you need a reference on protocol and military functions, I would suggest Today's Military Wife by Lydia Sloan Cline and/or one of the Handbooks by Ann Crossley.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed, December 5, 2003

By	Lisa Poplawski "Reformed Baptist & Welcomed H... (San Diego CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been "married to the Marine Corps" for 12 yrs and still found this book to be helpful. At the time that I picked it up to read I was just getting used to having my husband home from a 9 1/2 mth deployment to the middle east and finding out that he is soon to go back. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Reading this book reminded me that I AM one of the "sisters" of military wives. I HAVE done this before and I HAVE and WILL survive. I really enjoy learning about how the other services do things because Marines do things in their own way. I found Mrs Kay's references to "the World's Greatest Fighter Pilot" highly amusing because I call my Marine "poster boy" because he looks just what you think a Marine would look like. I really didnt need some of the advise because I have been around the Corps a time or two, but it was the spirit in which it was given that I enjoyed. Reminding me to take a step back, thank God for the blessings I do have, and just doing what needs doing.
Personally I find other people's stories to be the greatest benefit to me. When I tell people about the time my husband was in Bosnia (and on a med float), I was working full time, had a sick baby, required to move MYSELF due to paperwork snafu's, my car breaking down (the BRAKES went out while driving!!!) being short on boxes, help and only having two weeks to do it all in, they can't help but to say Whoa! But at the time, I did not feel stressed, I just knew that stuff needed to be done and I was the only one here to do it, period. My moving helpers put things down where ever there was space so I ended up with tools on the stove and toys in the utility closet, but when it was all set up a few days later, I can honestly say it was the proudest moment in my life thus far.
Thank you to Mrs Kay for reminding me of what I HAVE done in order to show me that I CAN do this too!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An AMAZING support during deployment!!!, November 13, 2003

By	"ljbremer" (Goldsboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews

I received this book as a gift when my husband was recently deployed. I was left at home with a collicky 4 week old baby. Needless to say, I needed all the inspiration and support I could get. This book provided it! This book is very well written. Ellie Kay feels like a best friend holding your hand and helping you keep your chin up during the tough times. This book may not tell you the protocol of military life, but during a deployment, that is the last thing I was seeking. This book is a gem! It is the ideal read for someone going through the difficulty of seperation due to deployment. I thank God for Ellie Kay's words of comfort and wisdom!