Comic gets laughs while spreading 'sober' message Published June 12, 2009 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Leaders at Robins are willing to try just about everything to persuade Airmen not to drink and drive, and now they have even turned to humor. Comedian Bernie McGrenahan gave three performances of his show called "Happy Hour," billed as "comedy with a twist." The twist is that after about a 30-minute stand-up routine, Mr. McGrenahan turns to the serious subject of his own bouts with alcohol, his DUI arrests and his 19-year-old brother's suicide, which Mr. McGrenahan blames on his brother's excessive drinking. Both he and his brother were heavy drinkers as teenagers, he said. "Alcohol is a depressant and my brother got depressed," he said. "I know it's tough with the deployments that you have, but no matter what the military asks of you, alcohol and drugs are going to make those problems worse." Mr. McGrenahan said as a high school freshman, he was a straight-A student with dreams of winning a college baseball scholarship. But his partying ways led to excessive drinking, and by the time he was a senior, he was a D student and his baseball skills had declined sharply. He got his first DUI at 18, then another at 19, then a third DUI that sent him to the county jail for six months. Even his brother's suicide did not stop his drinking. It was during his time in jail, he said, that he decided to turn his life around. The people he drank with, whom he thought were his close friends, never visited him while he was in jail. "Not one of my boys showed up for that six months," he said. "When the chips are down, your party boys are not going to be there." This January, Mr. McGrenahan said, marked his 21st year without a drink. He told the Airmen he was not suggesting they should never drink, but that they should recognize if they have a problem with excessive drinking and should never drink and drive. "I pray that none of you Airmen get behind the wheel of a car after even one drink," he said. Command Chief Master Sgt. Harold Hutchison followed the performance by telling the group Robins Airmen have had 22 DUIs during his seven months on the job. He told the story of the latest DUI in which an Airman said he shared a pitcher of beer with friends at a local bar, had more drinks, then drove home. He rear-ended an SUV and registered a blood-alcohol level of .24, which is three times the legal limit. Chief Hutchinson said he wondered about the people who shared the pitcher of beer with the Airman. "I'm willing to bet those people knew he shouldn't have been driving," Chief Hutchison told the Airmen. "I need you to grab your friend by the ear and stop him from doing something stupid."