WHAT AN ARMY WIFE WORE
It was the 60s and 70s,
so I must convey The Army Wife’s
suggestion: “[gloves] should definitely be worn when calling or attending any
social function.[i]”
At a formal reception, “As you enter the room, make up your mind whether or not
you intend to remove your right glove so the act will be completed before you
reach the receiving line. I always feel it is a more friendly gesture to offer
a bare hand, but this is an entirely personal decision. Remember you can even
sleep with your gloves on, but do
take them off to eat.[ii]”
 |
| Me at Ed's flight school graduation |
Hats were mandatory, whether at a
parade, a review, a reception or a tea. In fact, when Ed graduated from flight
school, it was compulsory to wear a hat and gloves to the graduation. I also
wore a hat and gloves to all the class graduations that Ed taught.
PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION
We were not planning on staying in the
army beyond our first four years (the end of Ed’s Ft. Walter’s assignment), but
life always predictable. Whenever they asked what it would take to make Ed make
the army a career, Ed said if they could get him a first lieutenant’s rank as a
Regular Army Officer (which is far more permanent and difficult to obtain). At
our farewell party, his commander came over and gave him the phone and Ed
learned that it had been authorized to meet his demands. He couldn’t very well
back out, so Ed became an officer and went back to Vietnam! And I went home to
find a small apartment.
One of the basic rules
of Army Life is that military officers are never available whenever you need
them, especially during a move. The army does provide a professional moving van
(with weight limits), whenever you were transferred. There were a lot of things
they would pack, but if you packed anything yourself, they marked it was packed
by you, and wasn’t covered by the insurance.
So, on moving day, I was always holding onto the inventory to make sure
they have tagged anything that is going in the van, watching all the packing,
loading, moving that was going on, as well as watching the kids so they didn’t
get packed, too. Usually I farmed the kids out so I could concentrate on the
moving. But it was rare that my husband was available for the moving day.
Our worst experience was when we were
transferred to the Big Island of Hawaii, and all our goods were sent in huge
cargo containers. During the move, a big forklift missed and ripped the top of
the container open and everything in that area was destroyed, and had to be
replaced.
The second worse
experience was when we were moving to Italy, and much of our furniture was
going into storage. It was a torrential rainstorm when they were loading the
boxes into the truck and everything got wet! I called and explained it would be
in storage for three years and would become moldy and they repacked our stuff
and everything was okay!
My most memorable moving day was when
we were moving from Chicago. I had an 18-month-old toddler and his babysitter
had brought him back home later in the afternoon of moving day. While the
moving was going on, he fell and needed stitches! With no husband in sight, I
had to call on a friend to take over the moving.
[i] The Army Wife,
Nancy Shea, Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., Fourth Edition, 1966, NY, NY. page
56
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