While some of this is covered in the About Me page I thought I’d put it right out on the front for all you all to see. Since I’m asking for people to share their personal, emotional stories and feelings, I thought it only right to put myself out there also. I am a photojournalist for a small daily newspaper in Central Texas only 20 miles from Ft Hood. Being so close to the largest military base in the country, I am no stranger to the impact of PTSD and TBI on the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. So it was always in my mind as I applied for this fellowship program that I would do a piece on the emotional trauma caused by these wars. I just wasn’t really sure was direction to go in. I mean, there were so many different issues and so little time for in-depth reporting that I couldn’t just wrap my head around it all. At the end of October 2009 I found out that I had been selected and would join a group of only four other journalists to spend 6 months in Ohio working on our individual projects. A week later, the shootings at Ft. Hood occured and now, PTSD was thrust back into worldwide attention and the stories flowed faster then the ink could carry. Through all these news casts, articles and government reports I kept finding that there was always something missing but still hadn’t put my finger on it. I had read the extended Rand report and knew the numbers, 600,000 servicemembers with PTSD and TBI. I interviewed a few soldiers with PTSD and the stories were all quite similar to the rest of the reporting – Lack of doctors and staff. I would find nothing new here. Early in December I spoke with a young specialist suffering from PTSD, Eric Jasinski who, with his parents was in Killeen to turn himself to the post after being AWOL for a year. I photographed and interviewed Eric and his parents that night, the next day I wrote the story and soon after I began the packing and final preparations to move to Ohio. Two days after Christmas, I kissed my wife goodbye, packed the car and headed northeast for 6 months leaving her alone in Texas.
This site is about how to cope when a loved one suffers from combat PTSD and about how to lend support to others through volunteering your testimony in an open and honest forum. By offering to share your personal story with the world we hope to lift the stigma surrounding seeking treatment for the emotional scars of these wars.
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