“Never talked about it.” That’s what most people say when they’re asked if the veteran in the family ever shared wartime experiences. Describing combat, imprisonment or lost comrades from the World Wars, Korean War or Afghanistan is reserved for Remembrance Day or the Legion lounge. Nobody was ever supposed to see them get emotional, show their vulnerability. Nobody was ever to know the hell of their war.

On July 10, Ted Barris returns to the Oshawa Probus Club to offer perspectives on PTSD, based on his bestselling book Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.

Over 40 years ago, Ted Barris began his “journey with veterans.” Because of his unique interviewing skills, he found that veterans would talk to him, set the record straight and put a face on the service and sacrifice of men and women in uniform. As a result of his work on 18 different books, Barris has earned a reputation of trust among Canada’s veterans.

Indeed, over the years, nearly 6,000 of them have shared their memories, all offering original material for his books. This is perhaps Ted Barris’s most personal talk, as he unlocks the terrible silence of combat while showcasing his extraordinary skills to enable some of this country’s most courageous veterans to share their stories for the first time.

Ted Barris is an author, journalist and broadcaster, who has hosted regularly on CBC Radio and contributed to the National Post and Legion, Air Force and Zoomer magazines; he has authored 18 published, non-fiction books.

In 2011 he received the Veterans’ Affairs Commendation and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His book The Great Escape: A Canadian Story received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award.