Queen of Thrift

The young army wife anxiously ripped open the top flap of the official-looking envelope and hastily withdrew the contents. Wide-eyed, she slowly scanned the text: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY Office of Personnel Operations The Pentagon Washington, D.C. Her heart leaped as she spied what she was looking for in the first paragraph beneath the letterhead: “DEPENDANTS: BettyJane E. Whalen and Kim Anne Whalen. SPONSOR: First Lieutenant John J. Whalen Jr. DESTINATION: US Military Assistant Advisory Group, Taipei, Taiwan, Peoples Republic of China. POINT OF DEPARTURE: Military Airlift Command, McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. REPORTING DATE: 8 August 1956. PRIORITY OF TRAVEL, Space Available, Category 3.” Finally, after a long seven-month separation, 21year-old Betty Whalen, accompanied by her five-month old daughter, Kim Anne would be joining her husband First Lieutenant John Whalen currently serving with the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) on the island of Taiwan. Travelling in the days before jet travel and disposable diapers, mother and baby would be making the 13,000 mile trip from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey on a space-available status. “Space-A” as it was commonly known, meant there were no scheduled flights nor was there any guarantee of seating—it was a first-come first-served situation. At Travis Air Force Base, California, Betty’s first stop, she received misinformation from a clerk which sent her and the baby on a two-hour, round-trip bus ride to San Francisco for a “special” visa. The delay caused her to miss a flight to Hawaii and a related flight to the Philippines. All told, the total flight time was unnecessarily stretched to a grueling nine days during which baby Kim was hit first with colic and then diarrhea. Eventually arriving exhausted but safely, Betty and Kim with the eager help of John, gradually settled in and eventually became acclimated to the Taiwanese culture. Betty enjoyed life on the island and became the youngest American “round-eye” to meet the legendary Chiang Kai Shek, president of Taiwan and Madame Chiang, his American educated wife. John’s position as Aide-De-Camp to one of the American generals immersed the Whalen’s deeply into the highly active diplomatic social scene. Betty met most of the top Chinese and American dignitaries and gave her the opportunity to frequently dress in evening attire which she took to like a fish to water. In July 1957, Betty brought her second daughter into the world at a missionary hospital located just outside the capital city of Taipei. At the time of John’s assignment to Taiwan in January, 1956, war clouds hung heavily over the island of Taiwan. In the summer of 1949 the Chinese Communists, led by Chairman Mao Tse Tung routed the Nationalists under the headship of Chiang, forcing the Nationalists to seek refuge on the nearby island of Taiwan. Five-hundred thousand soldiers plus hundreds of Chinese diplomats accompanied Chiang to the tiny island fifty miles from the Chinese mainland. Chiang, hoping to acquire military assistance from the United States, appealed to Washington and began his plans to invade the mainland. DISASTER AVERTED. One evening as Betty and John walked past the girls ‘room on our way out of the house, Betty heard Kelly cough. They stopped and John opened the door to look in on the babies. He was shocked to find the room filled with smoke. Swiping frantically at the light switch on the wall to his right, he dashed blindly toward Kelly’s crib. “Get Kim,” he yelled to Betty.. Groping for Kelly’s tiny form, John lifted her up and out and made for the door. Betty already had Kim in the kitchen when he got there. John quickly filled a pot with water and shot back to the fire and doused it. But for the cough of the new-born babe, two little ones under two would certainly have perished. CHAPTER 7, THE USS GENERAL PATRICK. “Man overboard, man overboard,” blared the ship’s loudspeaker. “All hands man your stations, all hands man your stations—passengers remain in your cabins.” My God, thought John as he dashed for the porthole in the cabin. Outside two of the ship’s large searchlights were already crisscrossing back and forth over the huge waves crashing down upon themselves from every direction. “Nobody can survive in that,” he said to his visibly shaken wife. This was the young couples’ first night out from Kee Lung harbor with little Kelley and Kim on their way back to the states from Taiwan. Hope this isn’t an omen for the rest of the trip thought John. It was. The treacherous waves would cause the ship to nearly capsize on several occasions and lengthen the crossing from ten days to 13. Random Excerpts Hoping for a boy, her father got Betty instead. No matter. Betty could: shoot a rifle, bait a hook, swing a bat, master the cartwheel, and tame the local tavern shuffleboard. Yet she matured into a gracious, exemplary military wife of character and grit and steadfastly stood firm in the face of much adversity. + + + + Throughout her life, Betty has been thrown some of life’s most vicious curve balls and each she has slammed out of the park for a home run. Though often taking the full count, she has never struck out. . Marrying a guy six years older than her whom she had known just eight months and who lead her into army life at the age of 20, was the beginning of a relationship between Betty and John Whalen that has lasted for over half a century. Three children, ten grand, and six great grandchildren created a litany of family experiences which brought out Betty’s sterling character traits. + + + + Some of Betty’s more laudable challenges: Trudging a mile through snow to school alone as a five-year old; surviving the 13-day crossing of the Pacific ocean with two babies under the age of two in treacherous weather on a ship that nearly capsized; summoning the courage to carry on following the sudden death of her three-year old daughter; raising one, two, and then three children alone for nearly three and a half years due to her husband’s absence for duty; her resolve not to let the ever-present neurological pain she carries destroy her life as she bravely bears it. + + + + As a bowler in Hawaii, Betty won the Ladies’ Pairs’ State Bowling Championship with a friend. + + + + As a grandmother of eight, she was jailed for nine days for defending a cause she believed in. + + + + The Queen of Thrift depicts the institution of motherhood in a non-traditional way. The motherly traits of maternity, childrearing, homemaking, soccor-momming, and school taxi-driving are well acknowledged. Seldom, however, are mothers given credit for their steadfast resolve to uphold, protect, and defend the sacred institutions of marriage and family against the popular trend of a world bent on discrediting of devaluing them. Queen is a tribute to one of them. CHAPTER 5, THE SHOPPER. There are countless women out there every day plying their shopping skills. They are a major pain in the high-priced, Madison avenue marketers’ asset column. Betty is one of them. She scans the aisles for the latest styles, sniffs her nose for the fashionable clothes, is a searching hawk for the best in stock, and a bobbing elf at the back bottom shelf. “I’m not paying that,” is what I usually hear when she eyes a price tag.