Preacher couldn’t wait until he could leave the church office and get to the Thai One On bar just outside the west gate of the Fort Jackson Army Base in Columbia, South Carolina. The temperature was 96 degrees and the humidity felt even higher on this hot summer day in 1972. Preacher, whose name is Steve Stone, wasn’t really a preacher, but only worked as a clerk in the chapel on the base. His friends tagged him with the nickname Preacher.

When he stepped through the door of the bar, he could hear Sly and the Family Stone singing It’s a Family Affair on the jukebox. Preacher loved that song and it usually brought a smile to his face. He loved the line that went, “newlyweds about a year ago, and they’re still checking each other out, yeaahh” and he would lower his voice and sing along with Sly. But not today, he was mad, hurt and embarrassed – and he was there to get drunk.

Preacher’s good friend Big Ben had opened the bar about three months ago and it was the most popular hang out for the enlisted men from Fort Jackson.

Everybody called him Big Ben because he was 6-feet-4 and weighed 265 pounds. Ben was strong as an ox and gentle as a lamb. He was big corn-fed Iowa boy.  ”Big Ben,” Preacher said, “Watch over me tonight, because I’m going to get drunk and I might tear this bar apart.”

“Well, little buddy,” Big Ben said with a grin, “I’ll let you get drunk, but I won’t let you tear my bar apart.”

Big Ben knew what was bothering Preacher and he chuckled to himself as he thought about it. “Preacher,” Big Ben said as he slid an ice-cold can of Budweiser across the bar, “this first one’s on me. I know it was kind of a shock to you last night and it was a little embarrassing, but hell, it’s no big deal really.”

“I don’t know,” Preacher said. “I think the only way I can face these people in here again is to be drunk when they get here. That’s why I rushed right over here after work. I want to be on my way to being drunk when everybody gets here?”

“Yeah, it’ll be at least another hour before the crowd gets here,” Big Ben said. “Nearly everybody that comes in here are your friends, don’t worry so much.”