Sober 19 years since 1/28/2003, Forrest took a while to get sober picking up four white chips in his first eight years.
He kept going back out as long as alcohol was his "ace in the hole".
He had to learn how to listen.
"The process of getting sober is learning to deal with how I feel in a realistic way without any chemical assistance."
He grew up in the 1950's in the rural center of moonshine distillers in Georgiaand was hauling moonshine when he was 16.
He was extremely impulsive. In 1965 he figured he could solve his virginity problem by joining the Marine Corps.
In 1967 he went to Vietnam and was in the thick of the fighting. He made lifelong friends but came home a mess.
They were not welcomed home as returning soldiers are today.
He had a five-year-old son and Forrest began looking for God and found his path to Peace eventually, and still today, in Buddhism.
Forrest's wife Becky told her story at the same meeting two weeks later.
(41 min) (9.4 MB) (id#2831)