Understanding Your Serviceman

I am very excited to introduce a new book to you for military and civilian families alike. Yvonne Jones, author of Closing The Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man is a military spouse just like you. She has been a military wife for over 13 years and knows the issues at hand. She decided to write this book for civilians and others to help them understand what our life as a military family is really like.

I felt this book would be the perfect book to give to parents, in-law’s and other close friends and family of the military member. While reading the book, I kept thinking, “Wow this book would be perfect to give to so-and-so…” Even as a military wife I felt I learned a lot about what my husband goes through on a day-to-day basis and was even reminded of the toll that military life takes on military families.

“Written from the military family members’ different perspectives, Closing The Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man is designed to reconnect military families with their non-military friends and family members at a time when they need each other more than ever. For the first time, facts and common misconceptions about the military lifestyle have been accessibly presented and composed in a manner that specifically appeals to friends and families of military families. This book is meant to apply to all families and friends of our service(wo)men of every branch within the military. It was written in order to make a positive difference by giving people within the civilian world the information they need to understand the experiences of and reconnect with those that protect their freedoms and rights.” – Amazon

My Review:

A lot of you remember one of my most popular posts on this blog, Dear Civilians: What Every Military Wife Wants You to Know. This book is very similar to that post in that it describes the lifestyle and events of what a military member and a military family goes through. I thought the book was very thorough as it included every topic imaginable about military families from who we are as a military family to PCSing, deployments, military children, military widows, and more!

The book is written in a very easy to read and factual manner. All of Miss Jones’ research is backed up by experience and with talking with other military families. I loved that she explained a little about each branch and how they are separate, but yet still form a sacred bond that we know as “the military.” She also included a “misconception” section at the end of a lot of the chapters that included a true/false section of what people think about the military and military families and what is actually true.

The book includes graphs, charts, resources and more to help guide the reader along through the book. There also some excerpts from other military bloggers around the web included at just the right points in the book to drive her points home. This was a very quick read and something I would definitely recommend to my family and friends who may have a hard time understanding the military life. By the end of the book, I was already thinking of all the people I could lend it to! I definitely give this book five stars.

I thought this quote summed up everything about the book:

“We love our non-military family members. We truly love them dearly. However, we can’t deny any longer that, over the years, we have grown further and further apart. It might not have been openly stated, but our families don’t really understand us and our lives any longer. And how could they? We constantly change (and are being changed) due to our experiences. After a while, it becomes easier to simply give up trying to explain your life. This, in turn creates an ever expanding gap between civilians and the military.

This book is meant to explain our lives and illustrate our families’ experiences with our everyday existence and activities within the military. With this book, I am attempting to close the gap between our non-military family members and us, members of the military community, and bring families back together again.”

• • To find our more about the author or this book please visit the website here: understandingyourserviceman.com
  • To read an excerpt of the book click here: EXCERPT
  • To buy the book click here: Closing The Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man