A life of service

William Chadwick photo with wife Joelle

Submitted photo

TURNING HIS LIFE AROUND

Napa vet serves his community, mentors others in his journey of sobriety

Atrip 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

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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

Submitted photo

Bill Chadwick in the Army.

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

my disease,” he says.

Athletic activities and touring local attractions were alternatives to social drinking and Chadwick started to plan a lot of actives for his unit during weekends.

A life-long runner, Chadwick remembers periods of heavy drinking when he would offset his hangover with long runs. The turning point came April 20, 2010.

“I was living here in Napa … it had been a really stressful time period.

Chadwick was on the road a lot spending a lot of time out of the country. On the night of the 19th, he was outside grilling chicken and it was taking forever.

His wife saw the bottle of gin he was hiding behind him that he had been hiding in the garage

Chadwick credits his wife Joelle for holding him accountable. “She said what are you doing?

The next day he went to an AA meeting.

Chadwick believes that he’s a living miracle. As a result, he’s taken on a leadership role in the Napa County Advisory Board on Alcohol & Drug Programs.

It’s important to consider if Napa has larger problems that other counties where alcohol use isn’t as big a part of the wine and tourism industry.

Chadwick is still learning about all of the programs that Napa County offers but recalls benchmarks he learned while in the military. “Three drinks in three hours over three days” was considered risky behavior, he explains.

As a private citizen, he wonders who sets the barometer for tolerance of alcohol abuse in our community.

The ABAD committee supports county staff and hears regularly from the sheriff and city of Napa Police as well as the county mental health director and the committee for mental health.

County programming can assist teens, schools, families as well as adults. Chadwick hopes to assist as the county pivots from protecting the families of the ill or alcoholic dependent to educating the community from a public health.

Chadwick looks to Lindsey Stark, deputy director of the county Health and Human Services Agency, for information and feels that the committee should be the advocates to help raise awareness about available programs.

Having a voice, advocating is part of Chadwick’s nature, “l like people to listen to me to.”

Chadwick started learning more about a private rehab facility in Angwin through its director Bob Crutcher, who was the former owner of Serenity Homes , which closed about 10 years ago.

Another local mentor is Jason Pahlmeyer a local winemaker, who, Chadwick says “has continued to be my strength and inspiration.”

Pahlmeyer is many things, both fun and cocky, according to Chadwick, “I want to be him when I grow up.”

Meeting Carter Surrette, the director at Duffy’s in Calistoga, which Chadwick describes as similar to Serenity but more homespun.

Chadwick has spoken several times to guests at Duffy’s who working through their own detox process.

Chadwick says the key factor in his sobriety was the desire to live.

“I was Beat Down so low I couldn’t get any lower. I was going to die. I was going to kill myself or kill someone else,” he explains.

Chadwick can list the “stupid things” he knows were tell-tale signs of his issue with alcohol.

“It was catching up to me,’ he says

Eventually his doctor warned him that he was facing serious health consequences.

Chadwick’s healthy behaviors, including running 24 marathons and doing triathlons, wasn’t enough.

Unlike many Napa Valley retirees, Chadwick doesn’t see winery work in his future, “I never was much of a wine drinker. “

Although he has taken relatives to visit wineries, Chadwick demystifies the whole winery experience to a simple concept: tasting. For him, wine is “a liquid you put it in your mouth.”

For Chadwick, his sobriety has been hard won. “If you can find balance and keep drinking that’s the key. If you can’t have two drinks and walk away leaving half a glass a wine, then you have a problem,” he says.

It took a while for Chadwick to return to visiting local bars.

Chadwick returned to Zuzus to check in with bartender Mick Saliers, who took a while to remember that his friend had changed his ways. “He’d always get a glass ready for me because he knew what I drink.”

Life has provided lots of adventure and Chadwick treasures experiences like visiting the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.

“It’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. Whenever I got to Jordan we go down early in the morning. I love to be there down in the Suk when the sun comes up.”

Submitted photo

William Chadwick, left, running his first San Francisco Marathon.

It’s awesome to consider that people have lived in that valley for 6,000 years, he said.

In addition to serving on ABAD, Chadwick still serves on the faculty at the Army’s graduate school in Monterey.

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