As many fans know, it was the book Under the Sabers by Tanya Biank that became the inspiration for the TV series Army Wives on Lifetime.

It was up to creator Katherine Fugate to adapt it to television.

What makes the series and Army Wives cast unique is how Fugate seamlessly weaves the theme of female empowerment into the show, with such a wonderful, interpersonal spin. She spoke about it in an interview with SheKnows.com ...

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The book is a non-fiction account of the murders at Fort Bragg, about the series of murders that took place in a six-week period, when four husbands came back and killed their wives at Fort Bragg over the summer.

I read that book and I was struck by what happened.

We wanted to create a fictional series and I’m always looking for things that are about female empowerment, sacrifice and the greater good.

I was really moved by the sacrifices that military wives make and I hadn’t really contemplated that before.

America understands and respects our soldiers so much, and there are a lot of shows already out there that take into account the battlefield and the sacrifice, but I don’t think people know just how far that spreads.

Mothers are becoming single mothers for two years at a time, and children are growing up in a culture that they didn’t choose.

Just like Roxy (Sally Pressman) didn’t choose it either. She married, fell in love with a man, and really married a whole tradition.

That really moved me and I thought that is something we hadn’t seen before. I wanted everyone to know that the sacrifice is not just on the soldier.

Continue reading this Katherine Fugate interview here ...

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.