Staff Hits the Road to Record Interviews and Footage for PTSD Documentary

(SALEM, Ore.) - For the next ten days, Salem-News.com is on the road as we gather elements for our upcoming documentary on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD as it is commonly known, is a serious problem affecting hundreds of thousands of combat veterans and their families. A great deal of education needs to take place for all Americans on this subject.

When you work in this area, you learn that there are many approaches to treating PTSD and there are success stories and absolute horror stories also.

Our goal in this hour long program is to show and evaluate a wide range of treatment and therapy options, and we are going right to the heart of the matter.

The documentary will be formed around a series of interviews that I recorded in Iraq last summer with soldiers and Marines who are still actively engaged in the war.

We are told this is the first time in history that PTSD has been studied in this manner.

It seems clear that part of the education needs to start before troops enter the war. For those who are deploying for the first time, the insight from these combat theater interviews is a particularly valuable aspect of the program.

The group Veterans United for Truth, has already stepped forward with a donation to assist in the production of the documentary.

The group's Vice Chair, Sanford "Sandy" Cook in San Luis Obispo, California, explains that VUFT found our documentary to be the type of project that will benefit many veterans and their families, and VUFT's board made individual donations as well as a contribution from the group itself.

An upcoming long distance veteran's walk to benefit the project will follow this current trip. We appreciate our visitor's patience as we labor to gather interviews in Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona and keep the news flowing with our helpful team of writers.

Because our staff size is limited, information about our upcoming 500 Mile March has been limited. We look forward to this event that will raise money for the production of our hour long documentary on PTSD.

The event will begin in the Portland, Oregon area and end in San Luis Obispo. This is a distance well in excess of 500 miles, but the journey will be partly traveled in vehicles to avoid having the group be a traffic hazard.

"No casualties" is the theme of the event for those who participate. We will travel from one point to the next, collecting donations for the documentary and camping in the evenings. Along the way the group will distribute educational material about PTSD and the entire 500-Mile March will receive strong media coverage on Salem-News.com and through all of the traditional social networking sites.

When possible, the event itself will be shown live on our front page as it progresses from point to point.

The march is not intended to be a grueling, painful event. Vets who are tired will simply rest in a follow up vehicle with no ridiculous demands expected.

Veterans are the primary group at this point suffering from PTSD; it is a disorder that reaches out to affect people for a variety of reasons. The march is open to anyone who is interested in participating and who is willing to follow a general set of rules and guidelines.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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Beryl Enfield August 19, 2009 9:57 am (Pacific time)

Yes Bob the public needs to know more about PTSD as it relates to our military veterans. The best sources for this information actually comes from those who have PTSD and have made significant adjustments. There are actually many PTSD service-connected war veterans who have managed to get professional credentials to help others and provide them with various methods some vets have used to ameliorate their PTSD symptoms. Literally decades of experience is available to vets who network thru various veteran organizations, who by the way can help also vets with many other problems. Experience, it is available. One should always qualify the sources out there for there are many who have agendas that have nothing to do with helping our vets.

Tim King: I agree with Beryl but there are not yet enough people working in this area. We just interviewed Lily Casura in the Bay area Monday and she has an excellent working relationship with PTSD vets. She does not have PTSD. As we learn time and time again, There is no question that some people want to make this into a political issue and it is with due cause. There are people with ties to the right wing think tanks out there right now trying to complicate the process for these veterans. PTSD costs money and the wealthy citizens who never served in the military in the first place, often have little interest in helping combat veterans.

Bob August 17, 2009 5:53 am (Pacific time)

I wish you and Bonnie the best with the PTSD documentary. The tragic effects of veterans with PTSD are often in the news. We send our young off to war and then ignore their pleas for help when they come home. There’s no question that the public needs to know more about the causes of this illness and what can be done to help our veterans. God speed.

War Vet with a Degree August 16, 2009 5:48 pm (Pacific time)

Tim and Bonnie King are the type of people who should be working with PTSD afflicted individuals. These individuals are some of the best and most faithful people in Oregon when it comes to this, and beyond for that matter. Then there is Dr. Leveque who has more medical experience than most doctors would ever hope to. Northwest veterans are getting the facts on Salem-News.com, you are simply the best.

Susan Tackitt August 15, 2009 11:51 pm (Pacific time)

Wish I were there to help. I will have a garage sale and send money. I havent worked since last Oct. due to back surgery but I know our Military and Veterans need help from this often disabling affect from war. PTSD not only affects those who serve/served but their family as well. I know there are little girls hiding behind couches because their dad is having a melt down and that will affect her through her life. I amt thankful for people like Tim and Bonnie King for reaching out across America to help those who suffer from PTSD. Thanks Salem News.

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