Submitted photo
Bill Chadwick in the Army.
Submitted photo
William Chadwick photo with wife Joelle
TURNING HIS LIFE AROUND K AT Y H AU T E
Napa vet serves his community, mentors others in his journey of sobriety
A
trip down Memory Lane with Napa resident William “Bill” Chadwick is a bit like flipping channels on a television. Some episodes of his life resemble a scene from the popular 32 | INSIDE NAPA VALLEY
television comedy series “Cheers,” except that Chadwick’s version wasn’t always funny and he was seated at a barstool instead of behind the bar like Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Other episodes are drawn straight from the film “Charlie Wilson’s War,” a much more serious drama about covert operations in Afghanistan. Chadwick, who spent 25 years in the military, actually served in the U.S. Military in Afghanistan and although
neither Tom Hanks nor Philip Seymour Hoffman was tapped to play a character based on him, an actor did portray one of Chadwick’s deputies. And while not everyone can say their life has elements of a top grossing film or sitcom, there are aspects to Chadwick’s life that most of us can relate to. “I’d walk down main street all the bartenders knew me,” Chadwick recalls. He seemed destined for success
from an early age and his military career began at West Point where he enrolled at age 18. Chadwick continued afterward in the Army. The first 10 years he was in the military were a challenging period for our country and the military was still recovering from the after effects of Vietnam, according to Chadwick. Chadwick spent 22 years on active duty: he joined the Army’s special forces in the 1980s and later worked under cover for a different agency. Looking back Chadwick recalls the challenges those who serve long periods face including being away from family, being exposed to extreme temperatures, moving across long distances, enduring wrenching physical pain and loneliness. “Being a soldier is hard work,” he explains. One of the side effects of the intense demands of the job is alcohol abuse. “People were just trying to numb themselves,” he recalls. One of the only ways to relax during assignment in Germany was the officer’s club. Eventually in the late ‘80s there was a movement to “deglamorize” alcohol and discourage excessive drinking. Chadwick believes he could have been a better role model as a lieutenant and then a captain “I was not tough on people about drinking. I was pretty much in FALL/WINTER 2021
