CBS News and 60 MINUTES Correspondent Steve Kroft will host “Combat Stress: Finding the Way Home,” a special radio hour exploring the impact of post-traumatic stress on our nation’s veterans. The hour, a partnership between CBS News and CBS Cares – the award-winning public service campaign of the CBS Corporation — will be produced by CBS Radio News and made available to its 550 affiliates to be broadcast over the Memorial Day Weekend.
“PTSD can be devastating. It’s a critical issue that needs to be discussed often, so the thousands of vets affected by this illness can learn how to cope with it,” said Kroft, a combat correspondent and photographer for Pacific Stars and Stripes in the Vietnam War. Kroft has recently been active in veterans’ affairs; he delivered the keynote address at the Vietnam Veterans of America national leadership conference held last year in Irving, Texas.
Kroft anchors and speaks with veterans and top experts for “Combat Stress: Finding the Way Home.” Consisting of six eight-minute, standalone segments, listeners will hear personal stories from veterans and their families, discussion of treatment options, and stories of encouragement for those suffering with combat stress. Each ends by giving listeners the Web and phone contacts providing help for PTSD.
The four authorities Kroft interviews for the program all have vast experience with PTSD and veterans affairs: Col. David Sutherland, U.S. Army (Ret.) Chairman of the Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services, and former combat brigade commander in the Iraq War; Ret. U.S. Army Col. Charles W. Hoge, a nationally recognized medical doctor who is an expert on PTSD; Ret. Capt. Shannon Meehan, author of Beyond Duty (Polity Press), which he wrote after recuperating from his own wounds suffered in an IED attack; and Steve Robinson, a retired non-commissioned officer and Gulf War vet who is recognized as a subject matter expert on a variety of veterans issues including mental health and the resiliency of the force. Sutherland, Meehan and Robinson have all dealt with the effects of PTSD and each found his own path to recovery and healing.
To watch the video, please click here.
