The White Falcon - 03.12.1971, Side 5

A Word to the Wives
by Mrs. Dorothy Byrne
Today we begin a new column for ladies, a venture which will be
sometimes serious, sometimes chit-chat and sometimes an attempt to
tickle your funny bone. Its main purpose will be to be the voice of
the military wives of Keflavik.
Admiral Zumwalt has decreed
that there will be a new Navy.
Military wives are actually being
asked how they feel. There are
three ombudsmen on this base
waiting to hear from you. Did
you know that?
So, ladies, let us speak up.
Let us take issue. Let us begin
by questioning the editorial
stance of the Navy Times opposing
the attachment of retirement pay
for divorced wives of military
men in the recent retirement pay
reform package. The Navy Times
suggested this would set a dan-
gerous precedent opening the door
to countless other possible re-
tirement pay attachments. They
suggested that only the military
retiree would be a victim of this
measure.
We refute this argument by
^^mqgesting a totally new concept:
the military wife, are dif-
^^^Hent than any other wife except
^^wrhaps the embassy wife. You
deserve retirement pay compensa-
tion for the dream house you ne-
ver had, for the baby you bore a-
lone while your husband was o-
verseas, for the long lonely
months you waited for his return;
for the endless moves and dry
tears over broken china plates
and chipped furniture, for the
homeless months of limbo after
you and your children were forced
to leave stateside government
quarters prior to the time you
were allowed to enter overseas
quarters.
You served, too, and usually
with a smile on your face. For
we all know that an unhappy wife
who does not like service life
usually persuades her husband to
leave.
Why not base the amount of the
widow or divorced wife's pension
upon the time she served as a
military wife as well as her hus-
band's rank or rate? If you were
his wife during all his years in
service, you should get all the
•efits you earned, and not a
pg second wife who happened by
er it was all over. If a man
has one wife for 16 years of his
career and a second for his last
four years, divide the money pro-
portionately .
We all know that as retirement
pay costs increase, Uncle Sam's
future trend will be to cut re-
tirement benefits. Surely the
government shouldn't be expected
to pick up an extra tab for an
extra wife who never lived on the
military scene.
The civilian-government work-
er's widow or divorced wife u-
sually has a nice, fully furn-
ished, mortgage-free home at the
close of her husband's career.
She is different from you as she
has a nest egg. If divorced, her
husband has long been settled in
the community and is not apt to
skip over the state line and de-
sert his family.
She may have established a
well-paying career, but you have
always had to give up your job
just prior to promotion time in
order to move to the next duty
station. Perhaps, you never felt
you could work as you were needed
in the home as the family anchor
during your husband's deploy-
ments. Your husband may be a
colonel, , but how much can you
earn if dark days come?
Fortunately, ladies. you can
relax temporarily as the attach-
ment clause did remain in the
bill. Evidently, some Congress-
men do agree that the military
life and the military wife are
different.
If your husband is an enlisted
man, you can breath even easier.
It seems that one Congressman
presented statistics showing re-
tired officers are more inclined
to desert their families in later
years.
Is it unseemly for military
wives to lobby for their self-
preservation? No, not according
to the signs urging the ladies
at the U.S. Naval Academy beauty
parlor to join the movement for
widow's protection.
After years of traditional si-
lence, it will be hard for the
military wife to burst out of her
cocoon and speak.
Do speak up. If you have a
(See WIVES, Page 4)
Defense Force
annual Christmas
fund underway
Twenty-three Icelandic insti-
tutions and organizations will
benefit throughout the year from
the Iceland Defense Force Christ-
mas Fund Campaign currently being
conducted.
The Defense Force annually
sponsors a Christmas fund drive
for the benefit of Icelandic
charitable institutions. Contri-
butions are on a voluntary basis.
All component commands of the
NATO base have been requested to
participate in the 1971 campaign.
Contributions will be taken
throughout the month of December.
All commands have appointed
liaison officers to conduct the
campaign within their units. The
naval station has broken it down
further to have departments re-
presented by an officer or chief
petty officer. Keymen will con-
duct the campaign " within divi-
sions and branches.
Included in the institutions
which benefit from campaign con-
tributions are orphanages, insti-
tutions for the blind, mentally
retarded, deaf and mute, seaman's
and old people's homes, and
groups which provide aid to un-
derprivileged children.
Some toys and candy are dis-
tributed to children during the
Christmas season. However, em-
phasis is placed on providing
necessary equipment and supplies
throughout the year which the in-
stitutions would not otherwise
receive.
And you can help by contribu-
ting when your keyman contacts
you.
Sports on AFRS
The last college football week-
end of the season has unbeaten,
untied, fifth-ranked. Cotton Bowl
bound Penn State meeting nation-
ally ranked Tennessee which is
going to the Liberty Bowl. Game
time tomorrow is 5:35 p.m.
On Sunday, it is professional
football as the Miami Dolphins,
visit the New England Patriots in
a game beginning at 6 p.m. Miami
is on an eight-game win streak
and will put pressure on rookie
quarterback Jim Plunkett . of the
Patriot*.
WHITE FALCON