Amanda Plachek and Steven Weber
We’ve heard a fair share about the problems troops face when they return to civilian life: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sometimes suicide. But, it’s rare for us to actually hear from the troops living — and sometimes suffering — through that. Sometimes, it’s not a news reporter or a government official that will get to the heart of the story. In this case it was actually two students at Norwich University.
Amanda Plachek, 21, and Steven Weber, 22, haven’t been to war yet, but they know what to ask people who have. As students, they devised a set of 30 questions to ask veterans about their experiences back home. They are in the process of putting those interviews into a documentary, “The War at Home.” A goal for the film is to educate people about all aspects of military life. For example, they say, “Some civilians don’t understand what questions they should and shouldn’t ask when someone comes back from tour. Don’t ask someone how many people they’ve killed. Don’t ask ‘were you wounded or blown up?’”
Amanda is going into active combat duty with the U.S. Army as a transportation officer with the 82nd Airborne, 1st Brigade Combat Team. Steven is commissioning in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Both feel honored to be serving and to be able to tell these stories before they do.
What would you like to ask Amanda and Steven? Post your questions here or at iReport.com. Be sure to watch my interview with them on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CNN.com Live.
















