"If the Marine Corps wanted him to have a wife, they would have issued him one." After 20 years of raising babies alone, crawling into an empty bed, answering overseas collect calls in the middle of the night and teaching teenagers how to drive...I've earned the right to say: I am The Issued Wife. I know I'm not the only one. This book of photos, poetry and short stories/prose pieces as well as actual letters written during deployments is just proof that love beats strong within the heart of a Marine Corps marriage.