Book cover titled 'Mud Pies and Warplanes, a POW Kid's story of Love, Loss and Legacy' featuring a young girl kneeling on the ground making mud pies, with cotton fields and a flying Navy Vigilante fighter jet in the background.

What happens to a family when a war steals not just a person, but the future they imagined together?

Told through the eyes of a young girl coming of age during the Vietnam War, Mud Pies and Warplances is a powerful and intimate memoir of love, loss, and legacy.

As her father disappears into the unknown skies of Southeast Asia, she watches her mother struggle to hold their world together and begins to navigate a complex landscape of silence, strength, and survival.

This story captures what it means to grow up in the shadow of war, and the quiet ways it reshapes everyone it touches.

Placeholder

To reach the Author

Schedule an interview, book signing or speaking engagement, using the contact information below. Thank you.

About the Author

Ashlen is the daughter of late Capt. Leo G. Hyatt, USN (Ret.), a Navy pilot who became a Vietnam POW in 1967 when she was a little girl.

She resides in Florida, has been married to her husband Doug, since 1986, and has two grown sons and two grandchildren.

Prior to writing the book, she was a successful franchise owner and entrepreneur of 29 yrs.

author photo

Follow us on social

https://www.facebook.com/ashlen.nunnery

https://x.com/ashlenhn