Army Wife – Really! HellcatBetty is baaaack!
It’s been a while since our very own Hellcat Betty blogged. And while the idiocy spouted by one Army Spouse about what “real” Army wives are has riled the milspouse blogosphere – I’m grateful. Because Betty got pissed off. In her own words -
Yup, HellcatBetty is mad enough that she has come out of milspouse bloggy retirement!
Maybe I missed the memo… I thought I was an Army Wife?
According to one new Army wife, I’m nothing but the wife of a “state militia” man and he is not “by any stretch of the imagination, a soldier.” I’m assuming that means that the tears I cried when he deployed were just militia-wife tears, and the beat my heart skipped after any knock at the door was just a militia-wife beat. I should have rested easy knowing my husband wasn’t in any REAL danger, because he wasn’t a REAL soldier. Silly me.
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMNED MIND?!?!?
Let me provide some context; recently, an Army wife that blogs at Army Wife, Army Life decided to dazzle all 39 of her followers with her brilliant take on the age-old Active Duty vs. National Guard/Reserve argument. Problem is, she has NO idea what she’s talking about. Long gone are the days when there was any validity to that argument, and long gone are the days of “one weekend a month, two weeks a year.” My husband has been in for nine years, has been deployed for almost four of those years, and hasn’t had a civilian job since 2003. In fact, from where I sit, I can see his ACUs (yes the same ones her badass Active Duty husband wears) slung over the back of the couch. I see his name tape, rank, and that other tape… what was it again? Oh, that’s right, it’s the one that says U.S. ARMY.
My National Guard husband swore the exact same oath. He is in the exact same Army. He is a soldier, and I am a proud Army Wife.
That was one of the most vile things ever. Yeah, 30 years in the guard and ACTIVE for the past 6 – yes – ACTIVE with the guard. I bet this yahoo doesn’t even know there is such a thing. That our paycheck, our benefits, look no different than hers. That would probably frost her pumpkin.
Ugh. Glad to see Betty again… sad it’s because of someone’s ignorance. Whenever some new wife (and I’m sure I had my own “new wife” moments) spouts off like that, I just want to ask her if she’s new. Some AD wives might argue that since she’s never lived in an AD town, and dealt with AD things like housing, medical care, finance, etc. then she doesn’t know what it’s like to be a “real” spouse. So stroke your feathers, honey. You might be the town hero where you are, but but in an AD town and on and AD base, you’re just another phone call into TriCare. Another angry wife when command keeps husband out in the field an extra 3 days. And trust me, no one wants to be “special” on base. Then you get a whole different set of adjectives to describe you (and your husband).
Wow–the fact that there’s even one person out there who feels this way really undermines the sense of community that tie all military spouses and their families, regardless of the capacity or branch in which their spouse serves. I guess some individuals will always have to feel superior regardless of the actual truth of the matter, and I say this as a former National Guard spouse and now Active-duty Army spouse–and you know what? The labels mean nothing to me, my husband or the individuals with whom he served and now serves–I am a proud military spouse. End of story.
Look like she’s shut her blog down and only left that one post – all her photos are gone (of her standing half naked in her husband’s uniform) and all the comments are gone too – including where her supposed “hubs” defends her.
I hope she caught hell.
It’s too bad it all lives on in google cache
Is Hellcat Betty blogging again?! Where can I find her?!
SORRY, no… just this guest post.
darn! I miss her posts! such awesome insight! what happened to her?!