Exciting day over here in the Army Amy household – a piece that I wrote was published in the Huffington Post!
I don’t know if you saw it, but just a few days ago, my Facebook feed was blowing up in response to this article written by David Wood and published in the Huffington Post. In it, he refers to the military lifestyle as lavish. That one little word really struck a cord.
Instead of writing a few angry sentences on Facebook (although I did do that) or shouting my outrage at the misconception to my husband (okay, so I did that, too), I wrote a letter to David. He suggested that we keep the conversation going by sharing it with the Huffington Post readers.
How could I say no to that? (I even got my own bio page – I really couldn’t say no to that!) So, if you get a minute today, swing by the link (here) and check it out. Feel free to let me know what you think of it. I’m off to celebrate my triumph by going to bingo – I’m feeling lucky!
Congrats!
Thanks!
Holy crap, Amy, congrats!
Thank you! “Holy crap” was pretty much my response when they said they wanted to publish it. I didn’t even tell anyone (well, I told Stephen) because I thought for sure they’d come to their senses and not publish it!
Amy, oh my gosh! I got tingles reading your column, that was great! Way to go!!!
Thanks, Tara! My blood just really boiled at the idea of our lives being lavish. Sure, we saved a lot during deployment and have been able to do some traveling, but we also had to scrounge like crazy while Stephen was in Basic he was paid so little and then we spent over a year apart. It’s just a ridiculous notion. But I know I’m preaching to the choir here. Thanks for your support!
SO VERY PROUD of you!!!!! I wish I could do a giddy happy awkward dance with you! But then G-mo would probably freak out
I loved every comment on the initial “article” written by David. People laid into him and he deserved it. Hot damn. You make this redhead proud!
Danke danke danke! And one extra danke for commenting on the HuffPost article itself! (I’ve been checking obsessively to see if anyone commented there.)
Awesomely coherent, well thought and worded response. You beautifully capture the struggle of the military family. While my husband and I are solid financially, we are some of the lucky ones. On top of that, I’d still never call our lifestyle lavish.
Thank you! I never wrote it with the intent of anyone other than the author reading it. When he asked me to publish it, I said yes without hesitating. Now I’m having second thoughts about everything I said, how I worded it, what I chose to share and omit. Oh well. I guess that’s the nature of the bizz.
Awesome job, Amy! I can’t believe that guy didn’t interview a military family or two before he wrote his original article!
The weird thing is, the author is both really nice and has spent a lot of time with military men and women. I agree with him that the spending needs to be cut but to call us lavish is way off the mark. (Sure, a general makes a crap ton of money and in my opinion we don’t really need that many generals, but the bread and butter of the Army is the enlisted man/woman.) I’m still not sure why he approached his article the way that he did. I respect him greatly, but I’m glad that I could tell my side of the story.
Amy!!! I have been meaning to email you because I am dying to hear the update on your marathon decision and how everything else has been going with your move. So glad to see you here again! (And I have pretty much disappeared from blogging the last few weeks, so I’ve been super bad about commenting on blogs and am trying desperately to catch up now, too.)
CONGRATULATIONS on making it to the big-time with your piece!!! So proud of you!!! And way to knock ‘em dead with your response, I love it!!!
Thank you, Emily! It’s always nice to be able to pop in and share good news like this!
As for the other stuff: moving prep is actually going well. It’s stressful but one million times less stressful than it was when I moved to Germany in August. As for the race, I was thinking pretty seriously about doing the half, but my heart just isn’t in it. It is on Sunday and knowing how crazy busy we are right now, there’s no way we could take a trip out of town, so I think I made the right choice. It’s a bummer that I didn’t get to run here, but it just wasn’t in the cards. And I’m okay with that.
That’s awesome! I’m gonna go read it!
I loved your response and I left this comment “Great response Amy! It also seems to me like most people don’t realize that it’s not JUST benefits getting cut. My husband, a full time Army National Guard Soldier, got his notice for furlough today! he’s one of 53,000 other soldiers getting a 20% pay cut for the rest of the fiscal year. That’s a whole month’s worth of pay! We are willing to sacrifice a lot for this country, so I’m not trying to complain when last year his company lost 6 men, but I just want people to be aware. We certainly could have lost a lot more like the 6 gold star families from our unit. But, he went through a hellish deployment and came home to get his pay cut 20%!”
1. I’m so glad you’re coming back. Yay!
2. Awesome article!! It’s so true… I have friends who got insurance jobs who made as much money their first year out of college as my hubby, who is not only put in dangerous situations while deployed, but every freaking day during training too. I would not do what all of these guys (and girls) are doing, and neither would the majority of these people complaining! They are outstanding Americans who deserve every bit of what they get (and frankly I don’t think enlisted are paid nearly enough for what some of them do). We’ve moved 4 times in 3 years, and yes they pay to move our stuff, but every move comes with a cost. New cleaning supplies, condiments, pantry items… all the little things that movers won’t take add up (or 3 meals a day on a 3 day road trip across the country)! Not to mention the months of work we are forced to miss every move while looking for a new job. I also don’t know what super base housing he has seen… every one I have lived in has been, for lack of a better work, a craphole.
I hope you helped more people see our side of things! Come back soon!
A nationally syndicated column on the horizon?
Amy,
I am so happy your wonderful words were published! Your such an amazing writer. Congrats !
Thank you, Brisa!
Very cool!
That is awesome!
Whoa, this is incredible! Congratulations!!