host: we've got about 15 minutes left with yochi dreazen.he book is "the invisible front: love and loss in an era of endless war," recently named one of "new york times" best books of the year. on the line for active and retired military members, madison heights, michigan, good morning, john. caller: i have a question. i'm a vietnam veteran and a lot of us are going through ptsd. it's a good book you've got. i was wondering if you've ever thought about doing a study on agent orange for the vietnam veterans. when we came back, we were not treated very well. everyone just ignored us and wanted us to go away. -- and with agent orange getting our older vets, and the suicide from that, i was wondering if you would consider doing a study on that. guest: that's a good point, the fiscal impact of chemicals used theietnam, and frankly, in gulf war. there was a respiratory illness from iraq that they still do not know what caused it. there are physical factors that we do not yet know what they are. is next in louisville, kentucky, the line for republi

host: we've got about 15 minutes left with yochi dreazen. the book is "the invisible front: love and loss in an era of endless war," recently named one of "new york times" best books of the year. on the line for active and retired military members, madison heights, michigan, good morning, john. caller: i have a question. i'm a vietnam veteran and a lot of us are going through ptsd. it's a good book you've got. i was wondering if you've ever thought about doing a study on agent orange for the vietnam veterans. when we came back, we were not treated very well. everyone just ignored us and wanted us to go away. -- and with agent orange getting our older vets, and the suicide from that, i was wondering if you would consider doing a study on that. guest: that's a good point, the fiscal impact of chemicals used theietnam, and frankly, in gulf war. there was a respiratory illness from iraq that they still do not know what caused it. there are physical factors that we do not yet know what they are. is next in louisville, kentucky, the line for repub

host: yorkie treason is the author -- yochi dreazen is the author of "the invisible front: love and loss in an era of endless war." up next, we will talk about the relationship between police and minorities, whether it will be better or worse in the coming year. our phone lines will be open for that question. but first, a news update from c-span radio. >> it is 9:32 a.m. eastern time. north korea will not attend united nations security council meeting, where members for the first time will discuss the country's human rights situation. the tension is focused on north korea in recent days as the u.s. is blaming pyongyang for the hocking attack -- for the hacking attack against sony. -- the sheriff in maricopa county is trying to plan tosident obama's illegal immigrants from being deported. the share of seized a program as a way for more people to illegal enter the country and commit crimes. department across the country are telling their officers to be extra careful following the weekend killing of two police officers in new york city. officers in newark, new jersey, are being told to not

but it's my special privilege and pleasure to introduce yochi dreazen. [applause] >> thank you all for coming. before i start i want to thank richard, some people in the back of the room come a lot of people who made me feel welcome when i was trying to wrestle up any food beyond granola bars that were haphazardly sprinkled throughout the office. i'm very grateful and i look forward to talking into your thoughts and questions. mark and carol graham is at the center of this book, had for longtime a norman rockwell painting. they had three children who are all extraordinarily close. kevin was the middle child and sensitive, the perfect one when his parents what they do something, he would do it without hesitation, without thinking. jeff, his older brother was for rambunctious one. he drank. he was with was the life of the party. kevin would fall into the party and sit by himself in the corner. then melanie was the young sister, the one they tried to look out for brevity what in the world. the three of them were a single you know, the three them against the

yochi dreazen, i will let you jump in. you get into the politics at all of this issue? a debate on the right way to move forward? about there is a debate whether you spend this amount or that amount of money. you don't hear republicans say it's not real. the bush and ministration started the afghan and iraq wars, but the obama administration surged the war. it is to solicit to say one deserves blame and gas to a simplistic to say one deserves blame and the other doesn't. house, democrats and the white house. this is not a partisan issue. isre is good and bad and it not easy to break it down in black and white. within then military, what do you do with someone who kills themselves? do you give them a military funeral? do you give them a 21-gun salute? to butople say no oncene who is troubled, you have served, you oh them that debt. you of them that honor. it is not an easy issue. host: thomas has been waiting on the line for veterans. from kentucky. go ahead. thomas, are you with us? caller: i am a vietnam veteran with ptsd. just turn down your tv and go ahead with your

later, yochi dreazen talks about his new book "the invisible front" about families that posttraumatic stress disorder p or week, the brookings institution ran a on military health care systems, and dr. woodson is the assistant director of defense and discusses the challenges for caring for the nation's military personnel today. here is a bit from that event. [video clip] >> nowadays, we have a professional military force with if they become ill or injured, we contain them as long as possible to demonstrate their ability to serve. that is a commitment we make to both of them and they expect of us. so the whole issue of the dynamics of what we have to field and be ready for, rehabilitation, has changed. it is not automatic that they will go to the veterans administration and receive that care. finally, we have to make this commitment for decades. so the issue is that we know that the wars will have a tail relevant to the medical system. an amputee, to walk on a prosthetic device, it takes 20% to 60% more energy, depending on whether it is a below the knee, above the knee, single amputee