ONE
PILOT'S
STORY
KICKING
&
SCREAMING
Let
me
be
clear
from
the
beginning
that
I am
referred
to
by
many
in
our
fellowship
as a
"walk
on"
but
in
truth
I
was
a
"drag
on",
kicking
&
screaming.
While
I
have
not
attended
a
formal
treatment
center
I
have
learned
much
from
just being
around
sober
people
who
have
attempted
to
explain,
by
example,
and
show
me
how
to
walk
the
walk.
It
all
began
back
in
my
hometown
of
Wheeling,
WV
where
my
parents
showed
me
how
much
fun
drinking
can
be.
Constant
fights,
arguing,
dishes
being
thrown,
falling
down
and
throwing
up!
I
swore
I
would
never
be
like
them,
but
you
know
what
happened,
I
was
worse.
I
found
that
alcohol
could
keep
me
insulated
from
the
person
I
hated
to
be
around--
myself.
When
I
drank
I
could
for
that
brief
period
of
time
be
someone
else
in
my
own
mind
and
that
was
heartwarming
to
me.
After
college
I
joined
the
Air
Force
and
became
an
instructor
pilot
in
jets.
At
that
point
it
was
almost
mandatory
to
display
your
manhood
by
getting
drunk
regularly
and
I
did.
After
a
five
year
stint
with
Uncle
Sam
which
resulted
miraculously
in
an
honorable
discharge
I
was
hired
by a
major
airline
to
fly
their
jets.
I
had
arrived
at
my
dream
job.
Good
pay
and
plenty
of
time
off
allowed
me
to
fine
tune
my
alcoholic
drinking.
I
met
my
dear
friend
Charlie
S.
who
taught
me
the
finer
points
of
excessive
drinking,
blackouts
and
long
periods
of
time
missing in
action
from
any
decent
kind
of
activity.
Unfortunately
for
Charlie,
who
was
also
a
pilot,
he
became
a
little
too
obvious
and
was
sent
to
treatment
and
I
lost
my
best
drinking
buddy.
That
did
not
stop
me
as I
found
new
drinking
buddies.
My
drinking
continued
and
was
getting
worse
by
the
day.
It
was
causing
me
problems
at
home
and
with
friends
who
did
not
want
to
be
with
me
in
that
condition.
I
was
the
poster
child
for
a bad
drunk.
One
day
in
1984
around
Mardi
Gras
I
came
home
drunk
again
at
11
a.m.
and
thought
that
my
friend
Joe
S.
may
have
had
the
right
idea.
Joe
was
one
of
my
last
drinking
buds
because
he
drank
like
I
did.
Unfortunately
for
Joe
he
retired
to a
motel
in
Jackson,
Ms.
with
a
loaded
shot
gun
and
a
bottle
of
Scotch.
The
shot
gun
won
and
Joe
took
his
life.
Drinking
had
taken
me
to
the
same
point
in
my
mind.
I
knew
I
had
a
problem
but
did
not
believe
there
was
any
hope
for
me.
For
some
reason
my
wife
did
not
share
my
ideas
of
suicide
and
she
called
my
friend
Charlie
S.
who
had
been
sober
for
five
years.
He
gathered
up a
posse
of
my
old
drinking
buds
who
had
also
found
sobriety
and
they
descended
upon
my
home
one
afternoon
while
I
was
trying
to
recover
from
my
latest
binge.
They
surrounded
me
and
insisted
that
I
listen
to
them.
They
had
an
unofficial
intervention
on
me
and
one
of
the
biggest
memories
I
have
of
that
time
was
when
my
friends
Charlie
S,
Paul
L.
from
Gulf
Breeze,
Florida and
a
couple
of
others
advised
me
that
they
were
offering
me a
life
ring
that
would
save
me
from
drowning
in
alcohol
but
they
would
not
return
again
if I
chose
not
to
grab
the
ring.
OK,
I
thought,
I'll
play
the
game
until
they're
gone
and
then
I
can
get
back
to
normal.
Charlie
was
like
a
bull
dog
and
he
stayed
next
to
me
for
the
next
five
days,
day
and
night,
and
he
dragged
me
to
five
meetings
in
three
states
in
three
days
and
that
started
my
journey
into
sobriety.
He
insisted
that
I
get
a
temporary
sponsor,
do
90
meetings
in
90
days,
read
the
Big
Book
and
learn
to
pray
to a
higher
power.
That
was
the
beginning
of
my
transition
from
"hopeless"
to
"hopeful"
and
it
came
from
a couple
of
recovering
drunks
and
God.
This
all
started
on
Mar
12,
1984
and
I
have
been
trying
to
follow
some
simple
suggestions
ever
since
and
thanks
to
you
and
the
grace
of a
loving
God
I
have
not
found
it
necessary
to
pick
up a
drink.
I
write
this
from
the
Int'l
Convention
in
San
Antonio,
Texas
and
I
continue
to
marvel
at
all
the
miracles
that
I
get
to
see
at
these
great
events.
I
hope
to
continue
my
journey
in
sobriety
and
each
day
I am
presented
great
evidence
of
the
promises
of
AA
coming
true
in
my
life.
My
wife
& I
will
celebrate
48
years
of
marriage
in
December
2010
and
she
is a
shining
example
of
unconditional
love.
I
learn
from
her
every
day
because
I am
now
willing.
With
God's
help
I
hope
to
continue
to
enjoy
sobriety
by
living
one
day
at a
time
&
trying
to
live
by
the
principles
of
love
&
service.
Bill
B.
Return
to:
ONE
PILOT'S
STORY