Retired Brigadier General John E. Seward’s wife Lisa is the epitome of the saying: “Behind every good man… is a good woman.”
Brig. General Seward served America for more than 30 years through the toils of war, natural disaster, nuclear fallout and as a peacekeeping ambassador around the world. Lisa first served in the Air Force as a nurse, but her greatest contribution to America is in the sacrifices she made as a soldier’s wife.
In 2003, the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade under Brigadier General Seward’s command was the first to cross the border into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. When Saddam Hussein started shooting missiles into Kuwait, the 108th crossed the border into Iraq and fought north from the Iraq/Kuwait border to Bagdad providing missile defense. John traveled sometimes more than 1,000 miles a day across the Iraqi desert in a Humvee. Every move threatened danger from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as men, vehicles and weapons were coordinated to be ready for battle. John was responsible for the health, welfare and lives of over 1,600 soldiers and their families, while the soldiers were in Iraq. He says he prayed for his soldiers daily, and he brought every one of them safely home.
Lisa says that when her husband was deployed on a mission such as those in Iraq, she tried not to think about what could happen. “It seemed like every battle he was in was on television. You just can’t watch it, you have to live your life, and be there to support your soldier and your kids and keep the ties strong and positive.”
The Seward family has moved and traveled fourteen times due to John’s military career to locations in and outside of the United States such as Germany, Thailand, Alaska, Indonesia, Samoa and Hawaii, Switzerland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.
As a general’s wife, Lisa had the choice of complaining and resisting the changes, or supporting her husband’s military career. “I enjoyed every minute of it,” Lisa declared. She embraced every move with excited energy, infusing that hopeful enthusiasm into her children as well. “I stayed very positive when it was time to move.”
When they moved to Germany, she sold a vehicle, packed and moved her four daughters and a dog, and handled them on a 24-hour flight by herself. She has become an expert at moving and traveling light.
“And I taught my kids to look forward to learning about each new place as if it were a new adventure!” she said. When they moved to Hawaii, Lisa purchased books on the beautiful native flora and her family plunged into discovering the Hawaiian language and culture. “My kids are very international today because of the life they have led,” Lisa said. While in Hawaii, Lisa easily embraced the slow paced, laid-back island lifestyle, volunteering as a sea turtle guardian on the north shore where she educated tourists about the green sea turtles, which are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The children attended local schools when they could, because they thrived in each new culture. “My kids had lot to offer the natives and vice versa,” Lisa commented. While in New Zealand, the Sewards were so beloved by the natives that they became official tribe members through a tribal ritual.
When the family moved to Germany, Lisa was at an advantage because her German grandmother used to speak to her in German, and she had also studied the language for five years. While there, the family explored their heritage and the children joined a swim team and had the privilege of swimming in an official Olympic pool in Munich. “Sometimes I would give my kids the map and say, ‘Okay take us there.’ And they would navigate as we traveled the Autobahn to discover Europe.”
Now retired at Lake of the Ozarks, Lisa volunteers at the Child Advocacy Thrift Shop, Medical Missions for Christ, and she attends a Bible study at the New Life Church of the Nazarene. She acknowledges her faith is what enabled her to remain strong in the face of adversity.
The Sewards are also members of the Camden County Historical Society.
The family has a great love for animals and they have rescued and fostered abused and homeless Great Danes: currently they have five adopted. Their Danes are Pualani, (Pua) Maui, Kona, Honu, and Maka. “Great Danes are truly gentle animals and they love to be close to their people,” Lisa said. When John is not home, all five sleep in her bed. Lisa describes them as low-energy couch potatoes who have free reign of the yard through a doggy door.
John works in Omaha and commutes back to the Lake as much as possible, but he is seeking employment at the Lake to be closer to family. “John has always valued his time with our family,” Lisa said. “When he was on leave he spent time with us rather than pursing his own interests. Family is a priority to him.”
One would think it wouldn’t be hard for a former Brigadier General to find gainful employment. Lisa says her husband is the master of human resources and organization. “He brilliantly managed a million-dollar budget and 100,000 people while a Brigadier General in the Pacific,” she hinted.
Growing up, the children were taught patriotism. Now, all four of the Seward children either serve in the military or have married a soldier. “We have a very formidable army because of our great soldiers. These are the nations’ finest and best that volunteer. They sacrifice time away from their family, at the risk of their own life, to defend their nation,” Lisa said.
Lisa speaks strongly of her own patriotism: “When I think about the flag it brings tears to my eyes. I see it draped over the coffin of a soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It seems children today are not being taught to respect our military or our flag. When we lived on base and the reveille started all the kids would stop playing, and the cars would pull to the side of the road, and everyone would raise their hands in respect and honor of the flag.”
The Seward’s oldest daughter served a 15-month tour in Iraq. “We have a generation of young people coming back with parts of their bodies blown off because of the rampant use of IED’s by the Taliban. Many of them would have died before, but now with the use of new medical technology, they are kept alive and they will need our support when they come back,” Lisa said. The Sewards’ are also members of the Camdenton VFW and the American Legion in Sunrise Beach, and Lisa noted, “Both these posts give so much to our soldiers and to the community.”
Lisa Seward is among a special class of important but oft-forgotten heroes: the spouses that quietly and bravely hold down the home front, strengthening and undergirding our soldiers enabling them to courageously face the enemy.
