The Young Men and Women in Iraq Who Needed AA – Steve B.

About This Speaker Tape

Beartooth Mountain Conference - 2004

A chaotic morning of missed cabs and wrong flights serves as the opening for Steve B.'s account of a life lived in the margins of sanity. From self-mutilation in the 60s and a fraudulent insurance scam involving a coin vault and a crimp machine to a career in the Army that took him from Honduras to Baghdad Steve describes a pattern of self-obsession and spiritual death. He recounts a volatile marriage marked by violence and the wreckage of his daughters' struggles with addiction. After hitting a bottom that left him spiritually gray Steve found a lifeline in the 1982 AA community of Oklahoma. He reflects on the power of simple 'Higher Power ideas' and the surreal experience of carrying the message into war zones where a single flyer in a PX bulletin board became a bridge to sobriety for a soldier in the middle of a desert.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Steve B. opens with a comedic account of his travel mishaps and missed flights.
• 11:45 Discussion of childhood self-mutilation and early psychological struggles before drinking.
• 15:20 The coin vault theft and the 'insane' plan to fake a head injury with a crimp machine.
• 22:10 Life in the Army and the 'Wolf Brand Chili' diet.
• 28:40 The volatility of his marriage and the 'gray death' of his family spirit.
• 34:15 First AA meeting and the experience of being redirected from AA to Al-Anon.
• 38:30 Laughter: Story about Ray M., an abusive drunk who became a beacon of kindness before dying of cancer.
• 43:10 The chaos of the Oklahoma State meeting and the conflict between Jim S. and the state chair.
• 51:20 The wreckage of his daughters' addictions and the financial cost of treatment centers.
• 56:40 The role of sponsors Dave B. and Steve C. during his divorce and health crisis.
• 62:15 Carrying the message in Iraq: the PX flyer and the 'seconds and inches' of recovery.
• 68:10 Closing stories about prayer rugs and a man praying on an American flag.