My name is Yuri Lowenthal, and I’m just a guy who couldn’t idly stand by anymore while an alarming number of our brothers and sisters kill themselves rather than deal with the pain of post-traumatic stress. My experience in storytelling and the entertainment industry connected me to Rick Collins at Veterans 360 (vets360.org) and Carry the Challenge (CarryTheChallenge.org) who has already made great strides towards normalizing PTS, educating the public, and providing support and helping to reintegrate combat veterans into civilian life. He explained that PTS is not solely a military challenge, but one that many people face. We decided to combine our skills to create Breaking Silence.
At this time, we have completed the first episode: “The Magnificent Bastards of Ramadi” where we interviewed and had a roundtable discussion with 4 U.S. Marines and a Navy Corpsman who served with them during the Battle of Ramadi in 2004. It is currently in post-production and we are working to have it available to the public for free before the end of 2015.
Our goal is to keep producing the show, with each episode focused on a different group of people suffering from PTS, from combat veterans, to first responders, to victims of sexual abuse and more. While each group’s experience may differ, the pain is the same. We want to shine a light on PTS so that it can’t hide in the darkness any longer.
We will need help to produce these future episodes, and will be seeking support and sponsors, so stop by often to see what we’re up to and how you can help.
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