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
I’ve been staggered this week by stories of veterans and PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
An Army Advisory Team reports that 20 percent of soldiers in Iraq are showing acute stress, anxiety and depression, 30 percent in the case of those with more experience of combat.
When I asked one veteran what it was like to come back home from war, he answered “you don’t come back.”
This interview contains disturbing and violent content.
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…
