‘Broken’ is First Novel to Address the Epidemic of Returning Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans with PTSD

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September 3, 2008 – Broken: One Soldier’s Unexpected Journey Home is an intimate portrayal of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from Author and PTSD survivor W.C. Turck. The book describes the physical and psychological trauma faced by returning Iraq and Afghan War Veterans, and its brutal effects on families and relationships. These are the silent casualties of war, suffered by perhaps as high as 70{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of returning vets. They are scars not easily seen, but as real and debilitating as any physical wound. The book is currently available at barnesandnoble.com, and at Amazon.com.

The USA TODAY reported in August that the Army treated 75,000 veterans for PTSD with another 35,000 on permanent disability. The Army’s own figures show 121 service-related suicides, and 2100 attempts in 2007, a 20{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} rise over 2006. Inspired by a true story, Broken: One Soldier’s Unexpected Journey Home is the first novel about the psychological scars of war faced by returning Iraq War veterans. Set in a small Midwestern town, Broken bares the complex nature of PTSD, and how it weaves itself like a cancer in the lives victims as well as families and friends. PTSD causes physical changes to victim’s brains. Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, psychiatrist for Veteran’s Affairs in Atlanta found the Hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for processing memory, was damaged in all of the Vietnam-era veterans studied. Traumatic events, such as war, quite literally rewire the brain.

Walter Reed Hospital reported that one in eight returning Iraq and Afghan War veterans reported PTSD symptoms. Some experts believe that number is far higher. Since many veterans may be reluctant to report symptoms the effects may not become apparent for years. Broken: One Soldier’s Unexpected Journey Home, by W.C. Turck, 193 pages published by iUniverse, intimately portrays the complex nature of PTSD like no other novel before.

PTSD Survivor, author William Turck witnessed the genocide in Bosnia and the siege of Sarajevo. He organized relief into Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. His wife, Ana, survived the Bosnian War. FOX NEWS, ABC and CBS News, the Chicago Tribune and The Joliet Herald covered their reunion after the war. Turck has been a guest on WLS-AM radio in Chicago, National Public Radio and has spoken frequently on Human Rights, Genocide and Nationalism.

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