If you're in the New England area this weekend, be sure to watch "Hidden Wounds," an award-winning documentary on the effects of combat trauma, to be aired multiple times on New England Cable News (NECN.com). See schedule here.
According to the promotional material about the show,
"Hidden Wounds'' is a powerful documentary about veterans returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder. The film profiles three local men and their struggles with overcoming the affliction, which affects 1 in 6 returning veterans.
The one hour film -- shown without commercial interrruption-- tells the story of Nate Fick, a graduate of Dartmouth College who believes privileged men like himself should be represented in the military. He was a platoon commander in “Recon,’’ the elite unit of the Marines. He fought in Afghanistan, then Iraq, returning from war in June of 2003. Fick descended into depression for close to a year. To cope, he began writing. His resulting book, “One Bullet Away’’ has been met with wide acclaim. He is currently pursuing graduate degrees at Harvard’s Kennedy school and business school.
“Hidden Wounds’’ also delves into the life of Sgt. Russell Anderson of Norton, MA who joined the Army in 1969, right out of high school. He served four years monitoring worldwide communications. He returned to civilian life, but kept re-signing with the reserves. Sgt. Anderson volunteered to go to Iraq in 2004 because he wanted to continue to serve his country. He returned in February 2005 hostile and depressed, but he was too proud to seek counseling. He finally agreed to treatment when he “bottomed out,’’ but he continues to cope with the affects of PTSD.
And, it spotlights Jeff Lucey of Belchertown, MA who joined the Marine Reserves as a high school senior in 1999. He spent a year as a truck driver in Iraq, returning home in 2003. He drank heavily and became increasingly despondent. His parents tried to get the Veterans Administration to commit him and treat him for post-traumatic stress disorder, (PTSD) but the VA refused to do so until Jeff Lucey stopped drinking. He committed suicide at age 23. His parents are now activists trying to ensure adequate government funding for PTSD treatment.
It was written and produced by NECN’s Executive Editor Iris Adler, edited by Beth Kidwell, and primarily shot by chief photographer John Stuart and videographer Ryan Scafuro. Graphic design was done by Angela Bertalotto. (It sounds like it's narrated by Natalie Jacobsen, but perhaps this is in error.)
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NECN does a great job identifying in their blurb about the documentary where New England veterans can go for help with PTSD symptoms. See the link to the site for details, because there are too many to list here.
It's not clear yet whether those outside the viewing area (New England) will be able to purchase this show on DVD. If the answer turns out to be yes, we'll post details here shortly.
