Funny man shares his sobering story

Published May 19, 2009
By Howdy Stout
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Bernie McGrenahan is funny.

"A mandatory comedy show at eight o'clock in the morning," he told the Airmen in the base theater, shaking his head. "Must be in the military."

But it's a command performance he is more than willing to make. As part of Tinker's Wellness Day activities last week, stand-up comedian Bernie McGrenahan brought his "Happy Hour" routine to base to entertain -- and educate -- Airmen about the dangers of alcohol misuse . "I love this tour, sharing my experiences," he explains, "because I know before I hit the stage that up to 25 percent of my audience are at that problem drinking stage."

The use of comedy to entertain and educate is a concept, he says, that the military in general and the Air Force in particular is embracing. As a result of the Air Force's enthusiasm for the program, he'll spend the next two months on the road touring air bases presenting "Happy Hour."

"This is something different that we're doing and hopefully, it's made an impact," explained George Parker, ADAPT Program Manager at Tinker.

"His use of humor permits him to connect with people in a meaningful and powerful way," explains Lt. Col. Jill Scheckel, head of the Culture of Responsible Choices Committee. Mr. McGrenahan is modest about his comedic approach.

"You just want to find a way to present the message in a way that they'll absorb," he said. "The art of the program is I want them to say, 'he made us laugh and he made us think without preaching to us or lecturing.' It has to come from me, from the heart." It's a subject he knows intimately.

"I started drinking alcohol in high school, underage," he explains. "By the 10th grade, it wasn't just on the weekends."

A star baseball player with a college baseball scholarship in the works, Mr. McGrenahan found his studies and his sports suffering as he drank four or five nights a week, oftentimes with his brother, Scott. Drinking cut short his high school education and cost him his baseball scholarship.

But, armed with a fake ID, he kept drinking. He was sitting in a bar drinking when he found out his brother Scott had committed suicide.

"Alcohol is not a way to deal with stress," Mr. McGrenahan said. "For those of us who can knock back seven or eight drinks, it's a depressant."

But even his own brother's alcohol-induced death didn't change his behavior.

"One more time, I had an excuse to keep on drinking," he said.

Problem drinkers never seriously consider how drinking affects their lives, he explained. Instead, they view the effects of alcohol abuse as "bad luck" or "going through a rough patch." Even though he would occasionally give up drinking, after several weeks or months he'd soon return to alcohol.

"It's a trick we play on ourselves that we've got it under control," he said.

It wasn't until he began serving six months in jail for his third DUI conviction that he realized he had a problem. He decided to make a change.

"When I come out of here," he told himself, "I'm not looking back."

With the help of his father, himself a one-time abusive alcoholic, Mr. McGrenahan gave up drinking. And he's taken the lessons learned from his own experiences and is sharing them with others.

"I think former problem drinkers have the highest percentage chance of reaching current problem drinkers," he said. "That's the goal of Happy Hour. I know it works because my own father was able to reach me."

Although sharing his own story is physically and emotionally exhausting, Mr. McGrenahan says he does it because he wants to connect with young Airmen and to get the message across that they can change their lives if they want.

"I try to tell them there are methods to deal with it," he explains. "There's a great ADAPT program here on base. They've a great staff that's been doing this a long time."

For his own efforts, Mr. McGrenahan says he avoids preaching or giving advice as that tends to alienate problem drinkers. Instead, he attempts to share his own, oftentimes extreme, experiences in an effort to promote self awareness. And although he doesn't preach abstinence from alcohol, he does promote responsibility.

"Don't let this thing play you," he told the assembled Airmen. "Your country needs you, your Airmen need you, your family needs you. When you go out and get drunk, you put all of that at risk."