Book signing ends long journey

LCol Chris Linford will be at the CFB Esquimalt CANEX on Sept. 12 to sign his book, “Warrior Rising.”

LCol Chris Linford is filling the shelves with his book Warrior Rising: A Soldier’s Journey to PTSD and Back, a personal story about his struggles with the illness, and the tools he used to overcome it.

To honour his writing journey, there will be a book launch and signing next Thursday, Sept. 12, at the CFB Esquimalt CANEX.

“It’s been a long, hard road and I’m glad to finally see the end,” says LCol Linford, a former nursing officer. “I’ve put my heart and soul into this book and to get it out to the public is hugely gratifying.”

From noon until 3 p.m. people can meet and talk with the military veteran and learn firsthand about his experience, and buy a copy of his book.

“This book is about what happened to me and how it affected my life and my family’s lives,” he says. “I think it’s important to hear about these things directly from me. It affects way more people than a lot of people realize.”

The soldier’s struggle began with his deployment to the Gulf War, and continued through his time in Rwanda during the Genocide of 1994, and finally his seven months in Afghanistan at the NATO Role 3 Combat Hospital in Kandahar.

At the keyboard he had to re-live the memories that had afflicted so much pain.

“It wasn’t easy reliving those memories,” he says. “I had to stop and collect myself pretty often. I still remember those times like they were yesterday and it can be painful.”

Following the book signing at CFB Esquimalt, LCol Linford and wife Kathryn will fly to St. John’s, Newfoundland, for the Sept. 19 start to the book release and speaking tour.

From there they will travel to Halifax and Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and Gagetown, New Brunswick. The Military Family Resource Centres will host the Linford’s for talks on how PTSD affected their family.

“It’s not something that is really openly talked about,” says LCol Linford. “PTSD really kicked our family’s butt, and people have been really interested in hearing my wife’s perspective on it.”

Currently, LCol Linford is on transitional employment working for The Veteran’s Transition Program out of UBC, which is a 10-day residential program for veterans with transitional issues.

After 25 years of full-time service and eight years as a reservist, his military time is nearly over as he will be medically released early next year.

He will continue to speak publicly, write, and help veterans suffering with PTSD through his work as a facilitator with the Veterans’ Transition Program.

-Shawn O’Hara, Staff Writer