Military Alcoholism: Decades of Service and Decades of Drinking – Cappy T.

About This Speaker Tape

Cappy T. from Tampa, Florida, tells his story as a career Army officer whose alcoholism ran alongside decades of military service. An action drunk by his own description, every time he drank he was on the edge of disaster — not occasionally, but every single time. Fights would break out, police would raid, and somehow Cappy was always right there when it happened.

One of the most revealing moments comes during his service in Vietnam, when a chaplain approached him for help with his own drinking problem. Cappy — deep in his own alcoholism, counting the days until R&R in Bangkok so he could fill a glass with bourbon and sit in a hot tub — solemnly advised the priest to pray hard and say the rosary. A drunk counseling another drunk with advice neither one of them could follow.

Before the Army, Cappy was the kid who always sat on the back steps alone, daydreaming, never quite fitting in. He ran for vice president of his senior class, told everyone not to vote for him, and was disappointed when he lost. That strange contradiction — craving acceptance while pushing everyone away — defined his alcoholism. His father gave him a shot glass of beer as far back as he could remember, and he always wanted more. He always wanted more of everything, and he never had enough until he found AA.

Topics

Timestamps

• 00:00 A career Army officer and action drunk from Tampa
• 08:00 On the edge of disaster every single time he drank
• 16:00 Vietnam and counseling a chaplain's drinking problem while drunk
• 24:00 Counting days until R&R in Bangkok for bourbon
• 32:00 The kid who always sat on the back steps alone
• 40:00 Running for vice president and telling everyone not to vote for him
• 48:00 Craving acceptance while pushing everyone away
• 56:00 Always wanting more of everything until he found AA