Why You Should Hug a Veteran Today

In commemoration of Veteran's Day and November being National Veterans and Military Families Month, today's guest is a decorated Vietnam vet with a unique inspirational story. Duke Talbott, author of a new memoir, Appalachian Free Spirit: A Recovery Journey, takes us on his adventures, from the Peace Corps in Somalia, to serving in Vietnam, to his return home when his problems also came home to roost. He tried self-medicating his undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with alcohol and drugs, until he finally found the help he needed. What's especially interesting about Duke's story is that the trauma of being on the front lines in Somalia and Vietnam combined to make his PTSD especially severe. And it wasn't physical injury behind his PTSD, rather it was the moral challenges he had to face there that went against his family values: from racism to murder. Hear how he 'fought' his way back to become a college professor, city council member and mayor of a town in West Virginia.