Why the Fellow Astronauts Stayed Quiet About His Drinking – Buzz A.

Tonight we are joined by a true American hero. On July 20th, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed their lunar module on the moon and they became the first people to walk on the Moon. Buzz Aldryn has been in recovery a long time. He has been very, very active. I first met Buzz back in 1976 when I was involved in a program called Operation Understanding with the National Council on Alcoholism where 52 prominent people stood up without shame and said, I am a recovered alcoholic. Buzz Aldrin has a brand new book out. It is called Magnificent Desolation. It's a fascinating book, and there's a lot about his recovery in there as well. Buzz, welcome to Recovery Coast to Coast. Well, Neil, I'm real happy to join all of your listeners. Buzz, let's go back to 1976 and Operation Understanding. What are your recollections of that historic event? Well, I have put it on my slide for my presentation that I give to most people when I'm asked to speak. And of course, there's some very recognizable people there, especially Dick Van Dyke. You can't miss his face in a crowd. I can kind of get lost in a crowd here and there unless people know I'm going to be there. I've written Return to Earth back in 73, 74, an autobiography that, of course, didn't deal with alcoholism because I didn't think that was my problem. I thought I inherited depression from my mother's side of the family. When we let people know that you're going to be on the radio show, Buzz, we invited our listeners to send in some e-mail questions for you. So I'd like to begin and try to get a few of them in as best we can. I don't want to keep you because I know your time is limited. We start with an e- mail from Sandra down in Atlanta, Georgia. She says, how long did it take you to get sober? Were there many relapses? And what is your sobriety birthday? October 25th, coming up, I'll have 31 years. it was not an immediate fix. It took a good while. I don't know, I jokingly have referred to having maybe 13 30-day chips, but I know that I did have a year's sobriety after going through the Long Beach Navy alcoholism treatment facility. I lost my sobriete shortly after that. Some of the Exact dates are, as you might think, a little hazy back there. But that's not really – it was not a real easy straight-ahead task. And I believe that I even lost my sobriety after that operation understanding that you're referring to. I wouldn't say in retrospect that it was too early for me to have participated in that. I don't regret that in the least. I remember while I was at Long Beach, I was on Antabuse and I took a weekend vacation about in the middle of my time there and I started drinking again. And that's not too pleasant when you get all flushed over and red-faced and everything, drinking alcohol after you've been taking AntabUSE. i've had a number of people early come up well not a number a few isolated come up and say uh i've seen a lot of people in aa and uh and you're just not going to make it and and i i think they may say that uh out of uh i don't know some uh feeling of superiority and and feeling that people who are of world note, or celebrities as we might call them, they do have more difficult time because they've been treated specially by the general public. Buzz Aldrin joining us tonight on Recovery Coast to Coast, brand new book out. It's a wonderful book. I certainly encourage you to pick it up. There's a lot about his recovery, his alcoholism and his recovery. Magnificent Desolation is the name of the book, Long Journey Home from the Moon. Question from Portland, Maine. Jan writes, what has been the highlight of your recovery, Buzz? Well, without a doubt, it's the fellowship and the longstanding friendships that I've built up. I'm a completely different person now than I was back in the Air Force days And at MIT, in the space program, then trying to re-enter the Air Force after the space program. I just have a clear-headedness, a confidence. I'm not scared of situations and people. I can't say that I'm immune from discouragement. I still feel quite sensitive to things of significance that I am involved in that aren't going my way, because I still feel that my way is pretty good these days. And it certainly wasn't so good at all during my descent into, well, you could call it desolation. I certainly reached a magnificent apex in my career and descended down into fearful discouragement. And I wouldn't say that I'm magnificent again, but I'm certainly a much more capable person and I'm embarking on what I think are magnificent standards of opportunity for our nation and the world in historic potential settling people on another planet in our solar system. That's a big deal And I'm involved in that, and it's my capabilities that have improved significantly to be able to carry out some of these things confidently. The book is by Buzz Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation, The Long Journey Home from the Moon. It's a great book. I encourage you to pick it up. We're visiting with Buzz Aldryn on Recovery Coast to Coast. We have some e-mail questions, one from John T. in Butte, Montana. John writes, as a recovering alcoholic, do you still struggle with depression? and was the depression because of the drinking? Yes, I do, but not very deep and not very long because I am very conscious of obligations and it just doesn't make me feel good at all to be able to sort of cop out even though the demands that are placed on me are pretty high and I can't do everything that people would like for me to do. I have to be kind of choosy. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't recover right away. I had the concern about depression and was on lithium for bipolar. I certainly think that there are periods when I'm maybe tempted to be overly optimistic about what I'm doing, and I try and guard against that fringes of manic behavior. and certainly I do know that I get discouraged because of the outward events, and it can be a feeding on itself if I allow it to do that. Gil from Natick, Massachusetts, what was the reaction of your fellow astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, about your alcoholism and your ongoing recovery? Very, very quiet. During my recovery, I did have a sponsor, and I was invited to some event in Lyon, France. So I took my sponsor with me and I think it really surprised a number of people that I showed up there because they obviously had heard that I wasn't doing too well. Buzz Aldrin has been joining us tonight on Recovery Coast to Coast, the book brand new called Magnificent Desolation. It's a great book. I invite you to pick it up. There's a lot about his alcoholism and his recovery but more about the life of an amazing American hero, Buzz Aldrin, the long journey home from the moon. Buzz, I want to thank you for your time tonight on Recovery Coast to Coast and wish you continued success one day at a time. Okay, look forward to seeing you again, Neil. Thank you very much.