What happened on this day in History?
Click Here "Don't Drink & Drive" - Warning, this is very graphic
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What happened on this day in History? Click Here "Don't Drink & Drive" - Warning, this is very graphic |
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This story is published with permission of the author: William E. Swegan SMS (RET.) The Life Of An Air Force Sergeant And His Recovery From Alcoholism By William E. Swegan SMS (RET.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR William E. Swegan was born in Niles, Ohio and lived there until his entry into the military service in 1939. Mr. Swegan has been actively involved in the field of alcoholism for one half century after his own recovery from the problem. A veteran of twenty-one years of Air Force Service, he began working with military alcoholics in 1948. He received a scholarship from Yale University in 1949 to attend the School of Alcohol Studies through the efforts of Marty Mann, the founder of the National Council on Alcoholism. In 1953, with the concurrence of the Air Force Surgeon General and the Chief of Air Force Chaplains, Mr. Swegan (the a Master Sergeant) was transferred to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas to work exclusively with alcoholics. He teamed up with Dr. Louis J. West to form the first "EAP" in the Military. Swegan co-authored a paper titled, "An Approach To Alcoholism In The Military Service" with Dr. West in 1956 which was published in the "The American Journal of Psychiatry" in June 1956 and it received worldwide distribution. He has published many other articles in trade journals and has written two books, one which was self-published in 1980, and the other, "The Life of An Air Force Sergeant And His Recovery From Alcoholism" in 1998. He retired from the Air Force in 1961 as a Senior Master Sergeant. He was employed as an Employee Assistance Coordinator at Fort Ord and Alameda Naval Air Station in California. Upon retirement he was awarded the Meritorious Service Award, the Navy's highest award for a civilian at a duty station for his work while employed at the Naval Air Station. Mr. Swegan presently lives in Sonoma, California with his wife Ann. DEDICATION This book is dedicated to my friends who were either killed or wounded on 7 December 1941. As one of the first people subjected to the horrors of war, the loss of my friends and fellow airmen was devastating. The destruction wrought during the first three hours of the attack at Hickam Army Air Base defied description. Many of the casualties were my friends as we were a much closer unit during those years and very few members of the Army Air Corps were teetotalers. The major social contacts were at the NCO Club and the "Snake Ranch" as the Beer Garden was known as in those days. Perhaps of the five regular attendee's including myself, I was lucky to escape without being wounded. The other four were killed and this left an indelible impression on me regarding the horrors of war. Because of the security measures in effect, my family was unaware of my survival for several days. Many people in the United States was ignorant of the location and importance of Hickam Army Air Force Base. The major emphasis was placed on Pearl Harbor because of it's strategic importance and the Navy population at that time. Little did they know that the casualty rate at Hickam Army Air Force Base exceeded those at Pearl Harbor. Two hundred eighty two individuals received either Purple Hearts or Silver Star's as a result of this attack. This did not include those who were killed that morning. One cannot imagine the feelings which transpired due to this sneak attack. TABLE OF CONTENTS Intro: The Impact of Alcoholism On Society. Chapters: 1. Why Me? 3. My First Experience With Alcohol. 4. My Advanced Alcoholism Problem. 5. The Final Chapter In My Drinking Career. 6. The Beginning Of A New Life. |
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