James Claude Arnold U. S. Navy E-4 July 1966-February 1968 “A lot of us, including myself, came back from Vietnam as alcoholics. This may be hard to believe but in the time period I was over there, I don’t remember one person taking drugs. That was later in the ‘70’s. Our problem was alcohol. You know when it’s 110 degrees in the shade you’ve got to have some kind of liquid. Our water there was treated with bleach. It tasted exactly the way it smelled—I’ll guarantee it. So you could drink this water that smells like bleach or you could have beer. We would get beer in by the pallets. This was American beer they brought us when I was stationed on the island of Phu Quac off the coast of Cambodia. After you’ve been there for a while you learn not to drink anything cold. That puts your body in shock. We drank warm beer. After Vietnam, I was sent to Korea. I was spending my entire military paycheck at the NCO club, plus maximum credit. I mean I was drinking everything. One day my First Sergeant came in and told me he was going to put me in the stockade if I didn’t straighten up. This was in Chun Chon, eight minutes from the DMZ—I went from one combat situation right into the next one. Plus I had transferred from the Navy to the Army. I decided that I had to do something because I knew I wanted a military career. People realize today that alcoholism is a problem with all the homeless Vietnam veterans. They couldn’t lick it. But I can tell you how I did: my late wife helped me. When I met her in Korea—we got married in 1969—she helped me out by offering companionship, and by asking, ‘Do you really need that drink right now? Let me get you a coke instead.’ And by substituting beer for the hard liquor; plus I wanted to quit. I stopped drinking completely. If I hadn’t stopped then professionally I was finished. If I had gone to the stockade, I was out. That First Sergeant did me a favor. His name was A. D. Pridgen and if I knew where he was today I’d hug him and kiss him. I’ll never forget him as long as I live.”