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American Morning

Financial Burdens Faced by Reservists' Families

Aired December 05, 2002 - 07:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, "The New York Times" says that the Pentagon is getting ready for a major call-up of National Guard and Reserve troops just in case there's a war with Iraq. That could put a lot of families in a fix that is faced by the Donahues of Arizona.
Chuck Donahue is among some 50,000 Reservists who are already on active duty. For the last seven months, he's been stationed in Afghanistan in that region. He has left behind Donna and seven children at home in quite a financial burden.

In today's edition of "Real People and Their Money," we're going to meet Donna Donahue. She is joining us from Phoenix, Arizona to talk about her husband's military service and how it is affecting their finances.

Donna, good morning -- good to have you with us.

DONNA DONAHUE, WIFE OF ARMY RESERVIST: Good morning.

KAGAN: First, we need to go ahead and talk about this incredible family of yours. When I was reading about it, I was thinking back to the old movie of "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.

DONAHUE: I love that movie.

KAGAN: I do, too. Tell us, how many kids, who is at home?

DONAHUE: We have collectively six children between us, ranging from ages 18 down to 3. I have a grandchild who is 7 months old, and they all live with us. So, it makes seven children in my household together.

KAGAN: It is a full household. Now, we've mentioned that your husband, Chuck, has been gone for -- oh, there's the baby. We had to get the baby on there. Darling. But quite a financial burden, I would imagine, as he's been gone for the last seven months.

DONAHUE: It has been. It has been. We struggle, but we're more fortunate than some.

KAGAN: Give us a little idea in terms of numbers here, the difference in pay of what he was making when we was at home vs. now that he's been called up.

DONAHUE: If you were to go -- I can't give you exact numbers, because I don't know them.

KAGAN: OK, but ballpark.

DONAHUE: But if you were to go with basic pay compared to what he makes at his civilian job is about a $20,000 a year pay cut.

KAGAN: Which anybody would feel in their wallet, let alone having all of these kids at home.

DONAHUE: Yes.

KAGAN: Now, this is something that, of course, in some respects, you have to plan for, because when you are in the Reserves, there's always a possibility you're going to get called up. And in fact, before he left, he tried to give you some help by contacting creditors and other people to let them know what's going on.

DONAHUE: Yes. We had two weeks to get ready for him to go, and in that two weeks, he needed to set his job straight, and he wrote letters to our creditors asking them to invoke the Soldier's and Sailor's Relief Act of 1942, I believe it is.

KAGAN: Which basically says they can't take your house or your car if you fall behind on payments.

DONAHUE: Well, it says that they need to reduce our interest rate to 6 percent, and yes, it does protect our home and our car.

KAGAN: So, you have that going and that helps a little bit. I know you're working full-time.

DONAHUE: Yes, I do. I work for Arizona State University.

KAGAN: ASU, go Sun Devils.

DONAHUE: Yes. Yea!

KAGAN: Go Sun Devils. As I mentioned, there's going to be as many as 10,000 other Reservists called up very soon by the Pentagon. What kind of advice can you give to those families as they're looking at a similar situation that your family faces?

DONAHUE: The only advice that I can give is to stand strong, bond together with other families, speak to your children if you have them, and never forget your loyalty to your country.

KAGAN: And we do appreciate the service of not just your husband, but your family is doing for this country. In terms of basic financial advice, what would you say?

DONAHUE: Oh, financial advice. There is no way that you can plan for the impact that you will have. We, like 80 percent of all Americans, live paycheck to paycheck, even with his civilian pay. You have to work to support a family, both of us have to work. My suggestion is if you are a stay-at-home mother and your husband gets called to active duty, look for a job. Some people can't afford baby sitters, so that doesn't always work for them. But there really is no way to plan for this type of financial devastation.

KAGAN: Basically bottom line, there's going to be some tough times ahead.

DONAHUE: Exactly. You learn to cut corners, you learn to eat leftovers, you don't go out a lot -- those types of things.

KAGAN: You do what you've got to do. Any light at the end of the tunnel for you and your family? Any sign of when your husband might be coming home?

DONAHUE: Well, his orders are for 365 days, so we don't count on anything until that 365th day is up. We can always hope for Christmas, but there is no guarantee.

KAGAN: In the meantime, doing your part for Phoenix, Arizona. Donna Donahue, thank you for coming on today. Also thank you for your contribution that your family and your husband is doing to the United States -- appreciate it.

DONAHUE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired December 5, 2002 - 07:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, "The New York Times" says that the Pentagon is getting ready for a major call-up of National Guard and Reserve troops just in case there's a war with Iraq. That could put a lot of families in a fix that is faced by the Donahues of Arizona.
Chuck Donahue is among some 50,000 Reservists who are already on active duty. For the last seven months, he's been stationed in Afghanistan in that region. He has left behind Donna and seven children at home in quite a financial burden.

In today's edition of "Real People and Their Money," we're going to meet Donna Donahue. She is joining us from Phoenix, Arizona to talk about her husband's military service and how it is affecting their finances.

Donna, good morning -- good to have you with us.

DONNA DONAHUE, WIFE OF ARMY RESERVIST: Good morning.

KAGAN: First, we need to go ahead and talk about this incredible family of yours. When I was reading about it, I was thinking back to the old movie of "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.

DONAHUE: I love that movie.

KAGAN: I do, too. Tell us, how many kids, who is at home?

DONAHUE: We have collectively six children between us, ranging from ages 18 down to 3. I have a grandchild who is 7 months old, and they all live with us. So, it makes seven children in my household together.

KAGAN: It is a full household. Now, we've mentioned that your husband, Chuck, has been gone for -- oh, there's the baby. We had to get the baby on there. Darling. But quite a financial burden, I would imagine, as he's been gone for the last seven months.

DONAHUE: It has been. It has been. We struggle, but we're more fortunate than some.

KAGAN: Give us a little idea in terms of numbers here, the difference in pay of what he was making when we was at home vs. now that he's been called up.

DONAHUE: If you were to go -- I can't give you exact numbers, because I don't know them.

KAGAN: OK, but ballpark.

DONAHUE: But if you were to go with basic pay compared to what he makes at his civilian job is about a $20,000 a year pay cut.

KAGAN: Which anybody would feel in their wallet, let alone having all of these kids at home.

DONAHUE: Yes.

KAGAN: Now, this is something that, of course, in some respects, you have to plan for, because when you are in the Reserves, there's always a possibility you're going to get called up. And in fact, before he left, he tried to give you some help by contacting creditors and other people to let them know what's going on.

DONAHUE: Yes. We had two weeks to get ready for him to go, and in that two weeks, he needed to set his job straight, and he wrote letters to our creditors asking them to invoke the Soldier's and Sailor's Relief Act of 1942, I believe it is.

KAGAN: Which basically says they can't take your house or your car if you fall behind on payments.

DONAHUE: Well, it says that they need to reduce our interest rate to 6 percent, and yes, it does protect our home and our car.

KAGAN: So, you have that going and that helps a little bit. I know you're working full-time.

DONAHUE: Yes, I do. I work for Arizona State University.

KAGAN: ASU, go Sun Devils.

DONAHUE: Yes. Yea!

KAGAN: Go Sun Devils. As I mentioned, there's going to be as many as 10,000 other Reservists called up very soon by the Pentagon. What kind of advice can you give to those families as they're looking at a similar situation that your family faces?

DONAHUE: The only advice that I can give is to stand strong, bond together with other families, speak to your children if you have them, and never forget your loyalty to your country.

KAGAN: And we do appreciate the service of not just your husband, but your family is doing for this country. In terms of basic financial advice, what would you say?

DONAHUE: Oh, financial advice. There is no way that you can plan for the impact that you will have. We, like 80 percent of all Americans, live paycheck to paycheck, even with his civilian pay. You have to work to support a family, both of us have to work. My suggestion is if you are a stay-at-home mother and your husband gets called to active duty, look for a job. Some people can't afford baby sitters, so that doesn't always work for them. But there really is no way to plan for this type of financial devastation.

KAGAN: Basically bottom line, there's going to be some tough times ahead.

DONAHUE: Exactly. You learn to cut corners, you learn to eat leftovers, you don't go out a lot -- those types of things.

KAGAN: You do what you've got to do. Any light at the end of the tunnel for you and your family? Any sign of when your husband might be coming home?

DONAHUE: Well, his orders are for 365 days, so we don't count on anything until that 365th day is up. We can always hope for Christmas, but there is no guarantee.

KAGAN: In the meantime, doing your part for Phoenix, Arizona. Donna Donahue, thank you for coming on today. Also thank you for your contribution that your family and your husband is doing to the United States -- appreciate it.

DONAHUE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.