THE LIFE OF AN AIR FORCE SERGEANT AND HIS RECOVERY FROM ALCOHOLISM

[No publication information]. First Edition. A scarce edition with no publication information. Possibly issued by Sen. George McGovern (D-South Dakota), with a tipped-in page bearing his name and contact information in Washington, DC. With a facsimile presentation from McGovern on the same page: "For Bill Swegan, who has sought to help alcoholics for the last 48 years with the admiration of George McGovern." Kind of a mystery book, perhaps issued by Swegan? William E. Swegan [1918-2008] enlisted in the Army Air Corps and survived the Dec. 7, 1941 bombing of Hickam Army Air Base at Pearl Harbor. He was the principal spokesman of the early Alcoholics Anonymous (truncated) movement, which stressed the psychological aspects of the twelve-step program. He founded the first government-run military alcoholism treatment program at Mitchel Air Force Base on Long Island and ran other alcoholic treatment programs in the military. On the night of December 12-13, 1994, McGovern's daughter, Teresa, fell into a snowbank in Madison, Wisconsin, while heavily intoxicated and died of hypothermia. McGovern revealed his daughter had battled her alcoholism for years and had been in and out of many treatment programs while having had one extended period of sobriety. He authored an account of her life, Terry: My Daughter's Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism; published in 1996. He was big supporter of alcoholic treatment programs. 8vo., pictorial wraps; 94 pages. Very Good (little wear & staining covers; contents clean & tight). (Inventory #: 58229)