Once Upon a War

"Once Upon a War: The Diary of a Waiting Wife," is a heartfelt memoir that relates how the author's family and many others survived separation from loved ones during the Vietnam War. Together, they awaited their husbands' return in Schilling Manor, a residence designated especially for the families, located in Salina, Kansas. There has never been another community like it. Diary entries and letters describe life at home and in the war zone, as well as political turmoil during an era when denigration of the military was in style.

Joan Diehl of Madison, AL Joan Diehl lives in Madison, Alabama, with her husband, Glen, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran. Joan is a former editor of the Madison County Record, a weekly newspaper now called the Madison Record. Born in Topeka, Kansas, she and her husband have five children and 18 grandchildren, one of whom is deceased.