Quote:
Originally Posted by toad  For thirty years my Vietnam experiences were like wearing a stinky dirty shirt and not being able to take it off. Everywhere I went I had this aweful dirty smell about me that interupted my social life. Some guys came back from nam all right, some came back emotionaly wounded and scared. Like many others I turned to the bottle for relief. From 1974 to 1996 I was in and out of AA never honestly working the steps. I also was in and out of the VA going to rehab and treatment programs for PTSD. While doing time in 1983 I became a Christian which gave me strength, but I still could not stay clean and sober. In 1998 at what I considered to be the end of my life. Broken and beat by life's terms, I crawled back into AA for another try at life. This time I became honest and worked the steps, having been humiliated by life. I had beat my "self" up pretty good this time.
Here's the kicker............the 12 steps allowed me to get and stay sober one day at a time, and the first nine steps cleaned away some of the trash I had brought home from Vietnam and gave me relief for the first time in my life from my Vietnam experiences. As I ride on PGR missions weekly with other Vietnam vets, I see many that are not alcoholic, but could use the benefits of a thorough house cleaning for relief of the bondage of the past. I am so grateful to be alcoholic. Not only have I been able to get and stay sober through the 12 steps, but the nighmare of Vietnam has been eased considerably.
I am truly grateful.
"That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. That God could and would if He were sought." (Alcoholics Anonymous, How it works, page 60) |
A young SGT Toad in 1968......second from left.
"We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it."
(Alcoholics Anonymous, page 83)
"We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."
(Alcoholics Anonymous, page 84)