The distinguished retired lieutenant-general and humanitarian Roméo Dallaire discusses his new memoir Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD (Random House, 2016), with Joseph Planta.

Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD by Romeo Dallaire (Random House, 2016). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Waiting for First Light

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

One of the important books of the year is the new memoir from the celebrated humanitarian, distinguished retired lieutenant-general, and former Senator, Romeo Dallaire. The book is called Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD, and it’s a remarkable book that gives us harrowing reality that Dallaire experienced following his time as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda. In a previous book, Shake Hands with the Devil, he recounts the genocide he witnessed. This new book recounts the nature of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, how it manifested itself in General Dallaire’s life and how it drove him to the depths of depression, even cutting, and attempted suicide. He recounts too in this book, his experience with the bureaucracy, and the lack of resources not to mention indifference that our wounded warriors and veterans get at home. He also talks about how the family is affected. General Dallaire joins me now, and I’ll ask him about why he wrote this book, how he deals with these wounds, and what we can do to improve how we treat the soldiers and first responders who do so much. He is the founder of the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, an organisation aimed at eradicating the use of child soldiers. The book is published by Random House and it is written with Jessica Dee Humphreys. The website for more is at www.romeodallaire.com. I am very pleased to welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Romeo Dallaire; General Dallaire, good morning.

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