Lanterna Rally

Author: Charlie Hudson

Publisher: Charlie Hudson

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781570874475

Set in September 1982 at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where Andrea is alone because Larry has taken a one year, unaccompanied tour to Turkey. The Randall's son, Brian, is now a B-52 Bomber pilot like his father and their daughter, Tricia, is a sophomore in college. Andrea has an established circle of friends, community activities to keep her busy, and is near Tricia. She resents Larry's decision to go to Turkey alone, but accepts it as necessary for his career and presumes the year will pass uneventfully. Then she meets Sam. Sam-- Samantha Dearden-- is a Department of the Air Force civilian employee who arrives from Washington, D.C., where she worked in the Pentagon. She is ten years younger than Andrea, divorced, a single mother, openly snubs conventional behavior with her nonchalant promiscuity, and is altogether an unlikely companion. Yet Sam's cavalier attitude is combined with perceptive warmth, and she recognizes a need in Andrea to perhaps move beyond the narrow part she has played in life. Sam introduces Andrea to a "Cheers-like" group of younger Air Force officers who routinely meet at the Officers' Club for drinks, dinner and conversation. Big Mac, Hank, Ginny, and Paula are single and part of a changing Air Force; the new generation, untried in combat, more open in their views of sex, love, and marriage. Andrea is simultaneously interested and puzzled as she wonders if the freedom and choices they face are better than the social constraints she occasionally feels.