Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Empty Casing

Empty casing: a soldier’s memoir of Sarajevo under siege by Fred Doucette 2008

Fred Doucette was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 as a peacekeeper.“This war was the beginning of the end of the Fred I had been for forty-three years”.

The Bosnian Serbs launched a massive assault on Bosnia’s Muslim and Croats. Sarajevo, the largely Muslim Bosnian capital was devastated by Serbian motors and incessant sniper fire. The UN forces were supposed to impose and maintain peace between the warring forces. This impossible task took its toll on residents and UN soldiers. Fred Doucette was billeted with a Bosnian family and he was offered a window into the soul of Sarajevo.

When the war ended and Fred returned to Canada, another war began. He had terrible nightmares and flashbacks of the horrors from the Bosnian War. Fred was suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). This memoir recounts his time in Bosnia and how he overcame and adjusted to life with PTSD.

He now works with the Department of National Defence’s Operational Stress Injury Social Support Program and provides peer support to Armed Forces personnel and veterans suffering from PTSD. A very inspiring memoir and a useful read on people suffering with PTSD.