European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Books Mary r. Truscott is proud of her Quot army brat upbringing. A chronicle of the military family 8y Mike Genalo new York Bureau when Mary r. Ruscoll describes her Early childhood you realize in was not the usual upbringing of a Little girl. A i Learned to snap off a Salute before i Learned to ride a Bike a says Truscott who is proud to have been raised As Quot an army  Quot i sat Down one Day and figured that i had lived in 22 different houses. My parents taught us a four letter word when to were very Young move. I was surprised when i went to school and Learned that the pilgrims had sailed on a ship called the Mayflower. I thought that the Mayflower was a moving  for someone with that background simple questions like Quot where Are you from a can be difficult to answer. Do you recite a Litany of states and overseas assignments in Uscott a usual reply Quot i was an army brat a gets the Point across. She was pondering that one Day wondering How other Quot brats handle such questions and How their lives were affected by a military upbringing. The result is brats a Book for which Truscott interviewed some 100 such people either by mail or phone. Forty of them Are quoted extensively in the Book describing their lives As dependents. Their fathers some enlisted men some officers represent All branches of the . Military and served during the Era from world War i to the Vietnam War. Truscott s family has a proud army heritage. Her paternal granddaughter Lucien k. Truscott jr., was the i corps commander at Anzio and during the world War ii invasion of Southern France. Her maternal Grandfather col. Bartley Harloe served during the same period with the corps of engineers. Her father Lucien k. Truscott Iii saw action in Vietnam before retiring with the rank of colonel. She is one of five children and has two older Brothers. Although neither of them pursued a military career one was an enlisted Soldier in Vietnam and the other Lucien k. Truscott in attended West Point. Truscott has a literary heritage As Well. Her father has just released a Book of her Grandfather s memoirs Twilight of the . Cavalry her brother Lucien in is the author of a novel. Dress Cray. All three books were published by a different houses. Quot i just know that if we had asked our publishers about the possibility of releasing All three books simultaneously they would have told us it could t be done a Truscott says. I Ler books 1 2 chapters detail various aspects of her subjects lives from when they were Young children until their Quot retirement from military life. They remember the once a month payday shopping spree at the commissary for instance. Terry Mcculloch rec alls that her Mother Quot always grabbed two carts and she d fill up two entire carts because you Only shopped on payday. You did t go to the commissary in  she would return with 20 bags of groceries in her car. Toward the end of the month cupboards were Apt to be Bare. Derek 1 owe describes it As Quot Bounty at the beginning of the month and then hot dogs and pane Akes at the end of the  Gail Emerson remembers Quot end of the month soup a with a 10-c ent can of Salmon milk potato and onions. They share stories about the frequent moves life in base housing visits to the dispensary mothers Toping during fathers Long absences. They talk about How their Misbehaviour As children could damage fathers c careers about the caste system that kept officers and their families separate from enlisted personnel and a heir families. Some examples a �?�1 always had to go to school on those big Brown army buses. They had signs inside that said do not stick arms through windows i was always trying to decide which kind of arms they were talking about. Probably  Michelle Sloan a Quot you did t screw with the colonel s kid Loo much because if it was something that you could get in trouble for your dad would get in trouble. We All had our father s  Peter Vargas a Quot mostly civilian life meant your father did t Wear a uniform you could t shop at the pm and the commissary and you stayed in one place All your life. Civilians might As Well have been a different  Mary Chandler a Quot How could you move a pet from place to place like that or overseas we always had a pet but we had to get rid of it before we  Helen Pierson a Quot the one that kills me is when you apply for a Job and they want you to list All the schools you be Ever gone to in your entire life. There s no Way i can do that. I be got no  Cathy Atchison a Quot i always had a sense that my dad was doing something important that he was t just a shoe Salesman. I Lis Job was to protect our  Marsha Katz a Quot i went to military hospitals. I never knew any different. I had never even heard of going to your of n doctor. Going and taking a number and sitting and waiting i heard of a  Jeffrey Tavares Truscott says her research for brats proved that she s not alone in believing that moving around so much As an army brat has carried Over into her adult civilian life. Quot i was relieved to find out that my wanderlust is not unusual a she says. Quot there Are other military brats for whom settling Down Means living in one place for two or three  Trust Oil. Who is an entertainment booking agent lives a for the time being near Seattle wash., with her 7-year-old son Ian. Brats led to a Chance encounter in new York City that Truscott won t soon forget. Truscott was on a publicity tour and her publisher had arranged for a car to take her around. The Driver a i polish immigrant immediately commented on her last name asking if she might be related to Gen. Truscott. Quot i told him that that was my Grandfather and he told me about How he had Many pictures of the general at his Home a she says. The Driver had been in a concentration Camp in Germany when Wuu ended and had testified against the prison guards. Gen. Truscott presided Over the military tribunal and the Driver had pictures and was Able to name each officer on the tribunal. Quot i asked my publicist if they had sought out this gentleman to drive me around the City Quot Truscott says. Quot she said no that they just hired the car out of the yellow  e Dos $16 95 hard it Over it published 0y e p Dutton 2 Park av0. N by 10016 it win be available soon of tsars and stapes bookstores. 6 stripes Magazine february 1, 1990