From the Grass Roots

We thought it was high time that a report from the real hinterlands was made to all you nice people, so here we are. It was with some apprehension that I (Jack) came out to Guam in the early part of December. But on New Year's Eve I attended a meeting and a party in the elephant Quonset which is the headquarters of the local AA group. At once I felt at home. After years of Brooklyn, 41st Street, the Park Slope Clubhouse, etc., I feared that a void would be created that I could never hope to replace in a tropical island 8,500 miles from home. The old saying is true. . . AA is the same anywhere. It is a wonderful group, consisting largely of transients because most of the members are armed forces personnel, civilian and Navy, who are here for a fixed period of one year or eighteen months only. There was one thing missing from the Group. Women. On April 4th, last, Ann and the rest of the children arrived (one had been with me since early February). So now the group had one female alcoholic. About a week later, another girl Hew in and on the same day was married to a member of the Group. Another member of the group, a native attorney and former Island Judge, arranged the ceremony. This was a remarriage. The couple had been married before; separated through you know what; found AA; found each other again; and were remarried. Two more women came in rapidly, but one had to go back stateside by reason of husband's transfer.