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thedrifter
05-12-07, 06:32 AM
Marine wife role is definitely worth it
General’s wife tells about the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny experiences

CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Gwen C. Rollings knows the trials of being a Marine wife.

She’s done it for 35 years in 27 different homes across the world — facing challenges many civilian wives never face.

So, was it worth it?

That’s a question she hopes to answer through her first book, “We Band of Sisters.” She also wants to impart some advice to young Marine wives as to just how she did it — and how they can too.

“After my husband retired, I met some young Marine wives and they said it was so different now with the deployments and constant moving,” said Rollings, a Florida resident who recently visited Jacksonville. “One said she didn’t know if it’s worth it. So I started thinking, ‘Was it worth it?’”

That simple question led Rollings to reflect on her and her husband’s lives. Her husband, retired Maj. Gen. Wayne Rollings, joined the Marine Corps in May 1960. They met at Parris Island, S.C., when Rollings was visiting to watch her brother Tony graduate from boot camp. Her future husband was a corporal and her brother’s drill instructor.

Rollings decided she wanted to share “the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny” of their time in the Corps with others.

“I wanted to come back to these young girls and tell them if it’s worth it,” she said. “Young women need to understand it’s not for everybody. It’s going to be a daring adventure for anyone who does choose it.”

“We Band of Sisters,” published in January by Xulon Press, is the story of her life in the Marine Corps from the beginning to retirement. She says there are three things women need to consider as they consider if being a Marine wife is worth it.

“No. 1 is do you love the man and all he stands for?” Rolling said. “You’ve got to love him.”

Second, she said that women have to “have the heart for it.”

“They have to have the heart to be mother and father and take care of everything to support someone else,” she said.

And third, women must want to be a part of the “band of sisters” of military wives in the community.

“You have to get involved with the support group,” she said. “That’s one of the things I miss the most — the camaraderie between sisters.”

Rollings, who also penned “Seasons of a Woman,” a book of poetry, encouraged such relationships recently through a luncheon held with the Military Widows and a number of non-commissioned officers’ wives. She urged the widows to take young military wives under their wing and share their experiences.

“I feel like we’ve all got a story. I’m a World War II widow and didn’t see my husband for two years after I married him in World War II,” said Martha Jacob, who organized the event. “So it means a lot to me to see what she’s got to say about what’s going on today. It means a lot to me to stay in contact with what’s happening in the Marine Corps.”

Debby Mallette of “We Care” Military Ministries Team, a local program that supports troops, said the organization supports the book because it encourages military wives to help one another.

“One of the reasons we wanted to support the book is to help military wives in the Jacksonville area realize they really are a band of sisters and we can support each other,” she said. “It’s important.”

¸ “We Band of Sisters,” published by Xulon Press, is available online from www.amazon.com. List price is $24.99 for a hardback copy and $14.99 for a paperback.

¸ About the author: Gwen C. Rollings graduated magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina and earned a master’s degree in communication from George Mason University. She and her husband have four children

Ellie