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Master Sergeant Blinebury was a recovered alcoholic. I was surprised to see him tending bar at the NCO club. "Isn't it hard for you to be serving beer, and not drink any beer yourself?" I asked.

"No, it isn't hard," he said. "It helps me stay determined not to take even one little sip of any alcoholic drink. I know that I can't do that."

Sergeant Blinebury told me how he found out he couldn't handle alcohol. "When I enlisted in the Army in 1939, I didn't have access to alcohol most of the time. Every payday I would go to the PX and buy necessities I would need for a month. Soap, shaving cream, razor blades....stuff like that.

"Then I would get a three-day pass, and go into town on a three-day binge. I could never remember a lot of what I did in those three days. But I always came back to the base on time and often brought a cat with me. I've always liked cats. I would make friends with a stray cat and bring it back to the base. I didn't think I was addicted to alcohol. I was just having fun.

"Well, things changed when WWII started. I was sent to the Pacific with an artillery unit. Didn't have access to alcohol often then. We took casualties, and I got battlefield promotions. When the war ended I was a captain and company commander of the artillery unit. Back in the states after the war as a captain I had more access to alcohol and found out I couldn't drink socially. If I had a little, I had to have a lot. So I quit drinking alcohol completely.

"Then the Army decided they didn't need so many officers. I was told I was going to be put on inactive reserve status as a captain. If I wanted to stay on active duty, I could go back to my rank of master sergeant. I had earned my commission on the battlefield, and it pissed me off to be told I could not stay on active duty as a captain. So I took a discharge and got a civilian job.

"It was a pretty good job that paid well. I supervised a pool of typists for a large company. But it was frustrating work. If I criticized a woman for doing a bad job, or for throwing away paper clips along with discarded paper, she would cry. When I criticized soldiers, they said, "Yes, sir," and did a better job. They never cried.

"One day a salesman came into the office and recognized me. 'Captain Blinebury, you old sonofabi***. How are you?' "We had been together at Iwo Jima. Went out to lunch together that day, and he bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate our reunion. I told him I couldn't drink, but he insisted. Just one little glass for old time's sake. I said OK, just one little glass.

"When I woke up with a terrible hangover, I was in an Army barracks and wearing a new uniform. I went to the company commander's office, and asked why I was there?

'You are a new recruit, Pvt. Blinebury,' he said. 'You enlisted yesterday.'

"It had been less that 90 days since I had been discharged. If I reenlisted, I could keep my rank. 'I am not Pvt. Blinebury, Sir. I am Master Sergeant Blinebury.'

"The Company commander didn't believe this, until he checked the serial number that I gave him. 'Welcome back, Sergeant. We will find a suitable assignment for you. What are you going to do with the cat?'

"I will keep him, Sir. My wife likes cats, too."

- Dean Norman

Dean Normanis a cartoonist and humor writer, whose work has appeared in greeting cards,The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, The Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday MagazineandThe Kansas City Star. He's also written comedy for cartoon shows and written and illustrated children's books. He illustrated a cartoon book for Cleveland Metroparks,Cleveland Metroparks Adventures.