Me Against the World January 1997
Eternal Point January 2007
A Soldier Comes Home January 1997
The Stranger September 1989
Coming Home October 2017
Incoming! October 2017
The Last Thing in His Wallet June 2015
Welcome
“War fever ran high in the New England town to which we new, young officers from Plattsburg were assigned.”
Bill W., “Bill’s Story,” Alcoholics Anonymous
Our cofounder goes on to say that he grew lonely during his military service in World War I and turned to alcohol, ignoring the “strong warnings” of “my people concerning drink.”
To the many members of Alcoholics Anonymous who have served, or are currently serving, in the military, Bill’s words probably ring familiar. Indeed, Bill’s experiences are reflected in the many letters that Grapevine has received from servicemen and women, from as far back as 1944.
This book is a collection of 66 stories and letters, previously published in Grapevine, by military AA members. In the first chapter, early AA members recount their experiences staying sober or getting sober while serving in faraway places and under high stress situations. As you’ll read, Grapevine was often the sober lifeline that these members depended on. Starting with the years around World War II, something phenomenal happened. AA members took their programs with them as they moved around the world—into the air, across the land and under the sea, spreading the AA message and seeding groups wherever they went.
Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are divided by area of service: Air (Air Force); Land (Army, Marines and National Guard); and Sea (Navy and Coast Guard). Chapter 5 chronicles the stories of AAs getting or staying sober in remote places across the globe, often during wartime, where there was little, if any, contact with AA back home or even other AAs in the service. Chapter 6 consists of stories by servicewomen, who have served in many capacities, including in battle.
The final chapter, “Coming Home,” is devoted to AA members who are veterans. Their stories frequently recount struggles with the emotional and physical aftermath of war experiences when they returned home. Their stories can be wrenching, with touches of AA-style humor. Their desire to try to give the gift of sobriety that they received to other veterans like themselves is inspiring.
This carrying of the AA message by our members in the military to faraway locales continues today. Groups continue to start up in remarkable places and harrowing situations, whether during a civil war in Mogadishu, Somalia (see “Incoming!” in Chapter 7) or a border crossing between Syria and Israel (see “Staying Sober in the Sand” in Chapter 5).
We salute our members who have served or are serving in the military. They give real meaning to carrying our message, often under difficult circumstances, to sick and suffering alcoholics everywhere.
CHAPTER ONE
Duty Called
The early days: Grapevine provides soldiers a vital connection to AA during and after World War II
Alcoholics Anonymous was still a young Fellowship when World War II broke out. Hundreds of sober AA members in the United States and Canada would enter the armed forces, some with little sober time under their belts. They would be sent across North America and around the globe. This meant leaving behind friends and loved ones, hometowns and AA groups. Many in the Fellowship wondered how these members, with little or no access to meetings or other AAs, would be able to stay sober.
At this time, interest had already sparked in creating a newsletter with AA news and inspiration—and its potential value to our members in the military seemed enormous. This newsletter would become our beloved Grapevine, and for those in military service, their “meeting in print.” From the very first issue, Grapevine kept servicemen and women connected to the Fellowship and our program of recovery, as the stories in this opening chapter attest.
In an article titled “Lieutenant Rediscovers the Beauties of Easy Does It” from 1944, M.L., a Second Lieutenant stationed in an “out-of-the-way place,” Grapevine editors recognize “a cry for help.” M.L. wrote of feeling a “total loss” when off duty and being unable to find “a single soul here that speaks the same language.” After receiving her first issue of Grapevine, M.L. wrote in again: “Does that mean I’m to get it every month? It’s proving no end of help to me.”
Very early on, Grapevine also received letters from AAs struggling to adapt to the return to civilian life. In a department called “Mail Call for All AAs in the Armed Forces,” published in the 1940s, a member writing with the initials T.D.Y. alerted AAs back home that “reconversion” from military to civilian life for AA members is “especially difficult—and dangerous.” He also wrote “that application of the AA way of thinking will ease the transition for the veteran in many ways.”
In a story called “Far From the Customary Skies,” member R.H. of New York City wrote that he received his first issue of Grapevine in June of 1944. He was stationed overseas at the time and had only four months of sobriety. He wrote that he found “staying away from the first drink isn’t easy.” The arrival of Grapevine “changed all that for me,” he added. He said that each issue that followed was “concrete evidence that we weren’t forgotten.”
The program helped these men and women get and stay sober far from home. And our servicemen and women helped carry our message across the globe and showed how to achieve sobriety in the most extreme circumstances.
Points of View
August 1944
Dear Grapevine: Your thought for servicemen is excellent. Alcoholics are put to their greatest test while under stress. The emotions take over, and we are in great danger. The strain in the Army is terrific. Voices shouting orders, the hurry up and wait, arbitrary decisions which cause great inconvenience; these, and the whole idea of regimentation, create stress enough to knock us for several loops as things were in the old days. It was well expressed by the soldier who was asked by the Colonel’s wife if he were happy in the service. “No, ma’am,” he answered, “I’m nervous in the service.” Then too, for those of us who like to be alone at times, it is extremely difficult. The only solitude I have been able to get in the Army has been in the middle of the drill field late at night.
Without the AA program I know that long before this I would have gotten into serious trouble. We must accept a situation we cannot change; and we learned in AA that the manner in which we accept things is infinitely more important than whatever we might have to accept. I don’t recommend