Soldier’s Wife: Cotton Fields to Berlin and Tripoli

Soldier’s Wife is a straightforward biography of Katie Lucille (Lucy) Walker, a devoted wife and mother, who with her children followed her husband Asa (Ace) Francis Walker, Jr. to Alaska, Japan, Guam, Germany, and other faraway places as he served in the military. Living in foreign countries and cultures presented challenges that were nothing like those Lucy had known as a poverty stricken country girl growing up in the foothills of Appalachia. Although she was born in the midst of the Great Depression and grew up during World War II, she never allowed herself to be bogged down by poverty. Dedicated to God,family, and country, Lucy was a strong, self-reliant southern woman who embraced life and faced the trials it presented with courage, faith, and love. Historically, military wives have made contributions and sacrifices that contributed to their husband’s success, and Lucy was no exception. As a patriotic American woman, her pivotal role was just as important to her husband and his career as the soldiers who were actively serving with him in the United States armed forces. As part of the Security Service, much of Asa’s work was classified top secret for reasons of national security. Sometimes, he was in covert situations requiring him to go underground, and he would not be heard from for days. With Asa’s whereabouts unknown, Lucy was left alone to care for her children and her home in a foreign country where she could not speak the language; there were no relatives to call on for help. Soldier’s Wife tells about Lucy’s American Indian heritage, humble childhood, young adult years as the wife of a career airman, and life after returning to her ancestral home. It highlights poignant accounts of her tumultuous and often painful journey from the cotton fields of North Alabama to some of the most politically turbulent places in the world during the Cold War. Lucy lived the chaos of the Soviet Communists building the Berlin Wall and faced the terror of a life threatening incident at the beginning of a revolution in Tripoli, Libya. The compelling narrative of the courage that she displayed in the face of adversity and in a near death experience commands attention. Lucy’s story provides insight into the often overlooked life of a soldier’s wife.