Rusty Duck

Thanks Charity. I am too. I appreciate your kindness.

I feel that, thanks Waysider. I have more to share but it took 25 years to tell my story. I'm still basking in the relief of letting the first chapter out. It's been a marathon of a life. Thanks for seeing me.

For years I'd told myself, "Someday I will talk about what happened while I was a member of The Way International. I will tell how Limb Coordinator Christoph Stoop threatened my life when the US Army JAG and CID offices were investigating an incident that occurred involving us and others at my secure Army microwave transmitter station during my assignment in Europe. Those events eventually ended with me being (oddly) medically discharged a full 18 months early, after being hospitalized three separate times for suicidal ideation. Furthermore, as the guilt and fear consumed me post-discharge, and after several suicide attempts, I found myself in a VA psych ward, which was the beginning of my recovery with the help of the VA. It was a cathartic experience. I became stronger during that lengthy and intensive treatment process. It was excruciatingly slow and painful – but in the end, I am more whole today than ever before thanks to the caring professionals at the VA. During that time, I was evaluated for multiple service-connected disabilities, including PTSD related to the experiences centered on TWI. I was rated permanently disabled and awarded 100% compensation. I’ve never felt money fixes anything but it has opened doors for educational opportunities and housing possibilities I would not have realized beforehand." Thanks for listening.

Show me 'round your fruit cage, 'cause I will be your honey bee

Any stories about serving on Bless Patrol at any of the Rock of Ages? I was on Bless Patrol at the back door of the House of Wierwille in 1981. It was surreal watching Dubofsky, Lynn and Martindale shooting hoops and performing for anyone nearby. The motorcoach was tucked into a portion of the driveway and seemed to be a social meeting spot for the upper muckety-mucks. I was a nervous wreck, so petrified of being singled out for an inquisition or something of that sort. Silly, I know. But it's my memory.

Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends and Influence People" was handed to me by my Twig Leader after attending several fellowship meetings. I was told many important sales principles needed to recruit others to pay $100 for the PFAL cassette tape seminar were in that book. Later, I served a year as a Military WOW Ambassador in Europe in the late '70s.

Thanks for the note. I purchased your book last year and it was a very good read. I've shared it and Karl's book with my spouse, who was not in my life during my wayword years. Thank you for all the good work you've done and are doing. Cheers!

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody. I wish I had more time to putz around the cafe but life hasn't slowed down much. Summer is glorious and I am here for it!

Hi WW, I appreciate the reconnoitering and overview, thanks. Still poking around a bit. I certainly don't want to breach protocol right out of thr gate! I'm not much of a gamer but a do like to tell stories. I'm seeing quite a few great threads here and even though many are from years ago, they are all relevant to our common bond. I do appreciate this forum being here for us.

Thanks for the howdy, Nathan. So happy to have found this place. I followed earlier websites created to support ex-way folks like us but it seems most have faded out. John Lynn was chasing me for a while but seems to be out of the picture now. Relief.

It only took four years for TWI to destroy my confidence and replace it with a catastrophic codependence. My family, my faith and my will to live were all sacrificed in servitude to this dastardly cult. I'm very happy to be here today. It took 30 years for me to regain my confidence and sense of self and purpose. I can never forgive what those monsters in sheep clothing did to so many of us. Sure, I chose to stick around for a while but one can only take so much BS and ego. Thank you for listening.