15 Minutes of Fame

"It usually takes me two or three days to prepare an impromptu speech." 

— Mark Twain 

I am a shy person. It may not come across that way in blog-land, where I can be as verbose as I want to be, but I am horrible at parties and would probably pass out if I ever had to give a speech. So as soon as a local news station contacted me for an interview, I regretted ever sending them an email. My palms began to sweat, and I thought to myself, "Erika, why on earth did you open your mouth?"

The reason I sent the email was simple- like I wrote about last week, the Illinois National Guardsmen who were activated to help with flooding won't be paid anytime soon. The current estimate is 2 weeks from the end of the mission...and I believe the mission is officially wrapping this weekend. As I've said, this means no civilian paycheck from their regular jobs during the time they're away, plus a delay of pay from the Guard (and actually, this money comes from the state, so I blame the governor)- all of this equals a month or more of no income for 400 Guard members and their families. This is absolutely unacceptable to me. It wouldn't be tolerated in any other career, so why should it be in the military? These men, who the governor praised for being courageous combat veterans, are simply being forgotten, and I'm angry about it.

And so, I wrote people. I wrote all the news channels in town. I wrote the local paper. I wrote the representative for our district, and I most certainly wrote the governor. When one of the channels wanted to do an interview with me earlier this week, I agreed. I was terrified of being on TV, to be honest with you, and I was worried that Sky could get repercussions for me speaking out- but we talked about it, I texted a friend to calm my beating heart, and I opened the door for the reporter and her cameraman.

I'm not going to post the interview on this blog, but I will say that I think it went relatively well. I expressed my frustration and got my point across, and Millie even made a very glamorous cameo in a pretty sun dress. After the interview, I was able to get in contact with a Major who was quoted in the story. He passed my information on to a few people, and I've been able to fill out some applications for assistance to help with our bills until Sky gets paid for his duty. I'm grateful for that, but I'm most grateful that I was able to spread the word about the way these soldiers have to sacrifice so much to help others. I hope I was able to convey the fact that the National Guard is not "Army Lite"- my husband and my brother have been to war, wearing the same uniform and doing the same things as active Army men. They have helped stateside with local towns. They have sacrificed their civilian job time to help, and I believe they deserve a faster, more efficient way to be paid. I can say that I most definitely felt like a military spouse when calling our utility companies this week, explaining to them that we would not be able to pay our bills until the state pays us.

And that is the end to my long soapbox speech. Another reporter called me tonight, wanting to do an interview for another station. And though I am dreading it just as much as the first one, I'll be back on the TV screen to share my story. I think it's one that needs to be told.