It’s been an extraordinary week for me and for us at Radio Boston. We’ve been collecting stories about remembrance, sacrifice and, the wounds of war carried by a very few in a country that seems largely untouched and uninvolved in that war seemingly so far away.
 
If you want to get a glimpse into how the war in Iraq has come home to small town America in ways that are largely unseen and unappreciated, check out what we heard this week in west central Massachusetts…

At left: Athol Memorial Hall

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This week Radio Boston is going on location. We broadcast from Athol’s Memorial Town Hall. 

Residents from the town of Orange participate in the tolling of the town bell for 4,000 seconds to commemorate Americans killed in Iraq.

We’re talking with veterans from north central Massachusetts about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan and what they think now that they’re home.

Listen to the full show:

This Friday, David Boeri talks with the Boston Globe’s Charles Sennott who has been following the Marines’ 1st Battalion, 25th Regiment from the field in Iraq to their homecoming in Massachusetts. 

Photo Credits:  Bill Greene, Boston Globe

It’s almost Veterans Day 2007 and almost five years since the start of the Iraq war. 30,000 Massachusetts military service members are back from the war, but many are fighting something else at home: mental illness. We’ll talk with some veterans, doctors and a reporter who’s been covering the war from overseas and here at home. He describes this situation for returning vets "a mental health crisis." What do you think? Is the nation prepared for the soliders returning ? Do you know a veteran? Remember our veterans by sharing your stories with us.

Listen to the full show:

Plus, in our web specials: Remembering Bobby’s War, a deeper look at PTSD, and links to veterans’ resources…

One thing I love about Boston is the constant churn of new ideas and new work.This year’s Boston Young Contemporaries Exhibition is a case in point. From painting to print-making, photography, sculpture, and video, it featured the work of university and college graduates from across the region.Among those whose work was chosen for display by the art jurors is my friend Tim Geers. A talented and gregarious cameraman and former comrade in television, Tim long ago mastered what have become the low arts of local TV news and has now certifiably mastered the fine arts of video with a recent degree from the Art Institute of Boston.