My Private War: Liberated Body, Captive Mind: A World War II POW's Journey

The vivid and emotional story of one soldier's heroic struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

1944: Norm Bussel, an introspective and happy-go-lucky teen from Memphis, finds himself bailing out of a burning B-17 bomber just months after his 19th birthday. Touching-down in a field outside Berlin, Norm was immediately seized by local farmhands, who were in the process of lynching him when a passing German soldier put a stop to the execution. For the next year, Norm would struggle to survive at the hands of the Nazis as a prisoner of war.

And that is when the rage began. Rage that he and his fellow captives were cold and starving, their wounds and illnesses left untreated. Rage that men were shot without warning. The rage and emotional turmoil he suffered during that year of hell would follow him home, denying him the peace and stability he and his loved ones longed for. This is one soldier's searing and honest story of his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. A battle that speaks to the hearts and minds of veterans of all wars who find themselves with liberated bodies but captive minds.

Norman Bussel was a technical sergeant in the USAF. On April 29, 1944, he was shot down over Berlin and held prisoner at Stalag Luft. A year later, he was liberated by General Patton's tank corps, but would spend the next several decades battling the crippling effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has testified before the House Committee on Veteran Affairs and is a leader in spreading awareness and promoting research on PTSD. Bussel lives in upstate New York.