- Playing
- Love, War, and PTSD
- From
- Karen Brown
Anna and Peter Mohan are a married couple their mid-20s who live in Western Massachusetts. They met just before Peter went to Afganistan with the army -- and married just before he left again for Iraq. But when he returned from duty the second time, Peter was a different man. He has since been diagnosed and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but the future still feels very uncertain for them both.
Anna and Peter narrate their own story -- with no reporter tracks.
A SHORTENED VERSION IS SCHEDULED TO AIR ON NPR'S ALL THINGS CONSIDERED ON MEMORIAL DAY.
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Piece Description
Anna and Peter Mohan are a married couple their mid-20s who live in Western Massachusetts. They met just before Peter went to Afganistan with the army -- and married just before he left again for Iraq. But when he returned from duty the second time, Peter was a different man. He has since been diagnosed and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but the future still feels very uncertain for them both. Anna and Peter narrate their own story -- with no reporter tracks. A SHORTENED VERSION IS SCHEDULED TO AIR ON NPR'S ALL THINGS CONSIDERED ON MEMORIAL DAY.
Broadcast History
Aired in two parts on WFCR on April 12 and 13, 2007. SCHEDULED TO AIR ON NPR'S ALL THINGS CONSIDERED IN SHORTENED FORM ON MEMORIAL DAY.
Transcript
LOVE, WAR, AND PTSD
Produced by Karen Brown
P: My name is peter mohan, i served in afganistan with the 82nd airborne division, and i served in iraq with the north carolina national guard.
A: my name is anna mohan. i'm married to peter mohan. he's suffering now from post traumatic stress disorder. and it's been very difficult.
P: we met a friend of mine's wedding,
A: i'm sitting on the bride side of the aisle, and he's sitting on the groom side, he was this big huge guy, and his face was all red, and he was crying during the vows. and i sort of pointed him out to my friend and said, look at the big cute guy crying.0:03:19.9
P: i thought she was beautiful, and i was surpirsed that anna wanted to talk to me.
A: peter was fun, loud, gregarious, around other army guys, 0:09:31.9 Alone, he was very senstivie, very sweet,.0:09:49.5
P: i was a typical, 22 year old guy in...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
It runs through 11:13 -- but can be separated into two parts at 5:36.
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Tanya Ott
Posted on May 23, 2007 at 08:55 AM | Permalink
Review of Love, War, and PTSD
Producer Karen Brown has a history of producing very well-researched and compelling stories on mental health and this piece is no exception. I have to admit that when I first started listening I worried that even a good non-narrative story would be laborious at just over 11 minutes long. Once or twice I felt like it was "long", but then the husband or wife profiled in this piece would say something that was just so genuine and heartbreaking that it drew me back in immediately. And the use of music in this piece was stellar!
This piece is produced in Massachusetts, but I only caught one location specific reference (clinic in Springfield) and I think it could easily air on any station in the country. Memorial Day would be a wonderful peg for this story, but it could air any time.