Today's topics include: Support and aid for deployed soldiers, A personal experience of the Berlin Wall, and the Reclaiming the Right to Rock conference.

Dakota Midday - 11/12/2009

-  Veteran's Day is a day to salute Americans who have served in the U.S. Military.  Sometimes, saying thanks is not enough.  Post traumatic stress disorder dates back to the Revolutionary War, but recent wars seem to have produced more cases of it.  The South Dakota National Guard is dealing with a suicide problem.  Lt. Colonel Harvey Fitzgerald joins host Paul Guggenheimer to talk about a new program of support designed to help soldiers who face problems after deployment. 

-  Midday marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall by talking with a South Dakotan.  Istvan Gombocz is a language instructor at the University of South Dakota.  He grew up in Communist Hungary, and shares with Paul what that event and the fall of Communism means to him. Gombocz also shares pictures he took from the East German side of the Berlin Wall in 1973 when he was 17 years old (see photos below).

-  "Reclaiming the Right to Rock" is the name of a conference being held at Indiana University this weekend.  The conference examines black experiences in rock music.  Portia Maultsby is the Director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture.  She joins Paul by phone to talk about this event.    

South Dakota Focus: Soldiers and Suicide

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Richard Muller – Host, SDPB

Lt. Col. Harvey Fitzgerald – SD National Guard

Janell Christensen – Veterans Admin. Suicide Prevention Coordinator

Betsy Homan – Help Line Center

Sue Keller – Trauma Crisis, SD National Guard

 

Email us: SDFocus@sdpb.org

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