European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Gambling in the military profits problems a amps Sharon Kilda the Road to ruin and Mackby Chuck Roberts staff writer the truth came to Sam on a sidewalk in Germany. He found himself walking Down the Street with a bag containing a Carton of cigarettes a pair of underwear and a Sandwich and with no idea where he was going or what he was going to do when he got there. But he knew the truth. He knew that his gambling addiction was destroying his life a commit me. In a dead a he told the doctor. A a in be totally lost my his wish was granted. Sam a civilian married to an officer was flown to a veterans Hospital in Ohio. That treats people with drug alcohol and gambling addictions y some of his fellow patients on the medevac flight had their arms and legs restrained to their cots. Sam was scared when told he would be placed with these hardcore drug and alcohol addicts people he then considered the Dregs of society he became even More frightened when he realized that his addiction was As bad As theirs a a in a the same person a Sam said a i just make More now he is on the Road to recovery. He helped begin a gamblers Anonymous group in Heidelberg he knows that he never will be cured and that he can t undo the damage he has caused his family but he has Learned to accept his problem. To t no asam0d what i am anymore a Sam said during a group therapy meeting led by or. Ralph Ettinger a clinical psychologist who treats compulsive gamblers at his office in Heidelberg. I m ashamed of what in be done but not of what i am. Sam said his gambling problem began when Hean addict s Story arrived in Europe and played one of the video poker machines the military relies on for Money for its morale welfare and recreation programs. I put a Quarter in and came away with $20. I la never forget that Quot he said As if recounting a fond childhood memory. Later he would lose $2,500 in a poker machine that had to be emptied because he filled it to the limit. Same a winnings and losses became As tops Turvy As his personal life. He once had $10,000 in Cash in the trunk of his car his losses skyrocketed from $9,000 to $30,000 the year after his son was injured in a motorcycle Accident. He owed about $7,000 2v& years ago when he finally admitted to his wife that he had a gambling problem. Compulsive gamblers characteristically Are intelligent people who Are Able to hide their problem. Quot you can t spot them a Sam said a they Don t fall Down and they Don t have car accidents we Are real Good at making people see what we want them to see Quot Sam said he won $85,000 in the last five years playing Slot machines Spiel machines Bingo the pottery and other gambling devices. But winning became secondary. Its not the Money Quot Sam explained. Quot it s the Omin Rex a nthet8nd Thep Ayle Thim december 1996 ,sb9 but a the red in r0is,thu a a a finance Al Fuino Sam l0st Uch with reality. He s still not sure How sound a footing he is on. I really Don t know what is real and what is not when it come to me Quot Sam said. Quot i know tvs Couch is real and things like that but in the mental Frame i in re �9 Between fantasy Sam was convinced that his car had a mind of its own. My car has a brain a he said to the amusement and agreement of his fellow groud&i&drmn9homeapd�?osd when he did get Home he usually was late and needed a Good excuse. So Sam would drive off the Road raise his Hood and reach into the engine and rub grease onto his hands As evidence of engine trouble of course the repairs would Cost $300, the amount head just lost at the no club. Another gamblers trick Sam used was to keep a bottle of Cleanser in his car to wipe the Black smudge from his hands that developed each Day from putting hundreds of coins into the machines. He still has difficulty not lying to his wife even when he has a legitimate excuse for being late. When he decided to find help for his gambling problem Sam found out that information and qualified doctors were in Short Supply in the military. His first Call for help was the army Community service. You be got a what Quot is the response he said he received he feels he was dealt with in a a so what Quot manner Sam was referred to an alcoholics Anonymous group which proved to be no help. Eventually he found out about Ettinger at the Heidelberg army Hospital a he now tries to get the word out that help is available for people who think they have a gambling problem. But that is an especially difficult task before he returned to the states because it takes him to his old haunts military clubs and German casinos. The encounters Are painful he said recalling an occasion when he watched two people fill out a Terv form literally Damn near had an angina attack it s that physical for Sam and the other compulsive gamblers in his therapy group believe that the army should do t the a the pm a ply who become addicted to is gambling machines. If a person becomes an alcoholic because of excessive drinking at the �h6 s tb0re Are Hiil itary programs available at person Sam said. The same support needs to be there for gamblers he said. A
