NOVEMBER 18, 2009

JOIN VFP IN THE EFFORT TO CLOSE THE SOA!

Since 1990, under the leadership of veteran and VFP member Roy Bourgeois, demonstrators have gathered outside the gates of Fort Benning, GA to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change the oppressive U.S. foreign policy that the SOA represents.  Veterans For Peace has been a part of this effort since close to the beginning and it's contingent grows larger every year as the SOA Watch gets closer to closing the School of Americas. 

VIEW THE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
There is always a lot of things happening around the weekend of the SOA Watch.  But some of the ones that VFP will be involved with are:

Saturday, 11am - Vigil outside the gates of Ft. Benning.  Join VFP members, including several board members, as they listen to speakers and music.

Saturday, 7pm - VFP gathering and sharing, Community Center room 208. 

Sunday, 7:15am - VFP will gather at the Days Inn (3170 Victory Drive) to march together to the gates of Ft. Benning. For questions please contact Joey King with questions at 615-485-1616 or 615-278-4929 or email jbkranger@aol.com.

Sunday, 8am - Memorial Service outside the gates of Ft. Benning

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

CALL TO ACTION AGAINST AFGHANISTAN TROOP INCREASE

Any day will likely come the sickening news that President Obama has decided to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

Here in the U.S. and no doubt around the world people will react in pain, anger and sorrow, knowing what tragedy and suffering will follow. 

• It will mean at a very minimum that the U.S. will occupy Afghanistan for several more years, sending home dead and wounded soldiers while killing and wounding many times more Afghani people.  The suffering in Afghanistan today will grow by orders of magnitude and the U.S. will be that much less secure in direct proportion.
• As tragic as it was to see Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" crash and burn on the rocks of the Vietnam War, the stakes are much higher now.  The U.S. economy today still teeters at the abyss.  Escalating the Afghanistan war will not just be the ruin of desperately needed domestic programs but may very possibly destroy the entire economy. 

For those reasons and many more we call upon our members and every U.S. citizen with a love of humanity in their heart to pledge to at least the following actions:

1) Within the next few days, ideally prior to any decision from President Obama, conduct any of a wide range of local activities -- from calling Members of Congress to nonviolent civil resistance and everything in between -- demonstrating our opposition to and disgust with any decision to widen the war in Afghanistan.  To show unity of purpose, we suggest local "March of the Dead" to Federal Buildings, local Congressional offices and government buildings of any sort.

2) On the day immediately following an announcement to escalate the war in Afghanistan, respond again in a variety of ways.  To show unity of purpose, we suggest

a) making an appointment that day with at least one group that you're not already a member of -- a church, union, civic group, etc. -- to go and speak with them about the war 

b) return to the streets and again conduct any of a wide range of local activities -- from calling Members of Congress to nonviolent civil resistance and everything in between -- and be prepared to comment to the news media about the escalation of the war.

VETERANS / ARMISTICE DAY STATEMENT

Veterans' Day began as "Armistice" Day, to celebrate November 11, 1918 when the guns of World War One finally stopped - and what cause for celebration there was!

From August 1914 until November 1918, 30 million soldiers were killed or wounded and another 7 million were taken captive. Never before had people witnessed such industrialized slaughter.  A hint of the wreckage can be glimpsed by visiting a Great War memorial in any European town and invariably seeing a list of names long enough to include every young man who lived there at the time - hence the "lost generation."

november 6, 2009

VFP'S STATEMENT ON THE TRAGEDY AT FT. HOOD

The nation will mourn and try to make sense of this awful day. VFP does not pretend to know the answers, nonetheless as veterans, all who have trained for war and some who have seen death or taken life, we know that violence begets violence.  The trauma of war stays with us and is passed on to others. 

This event makes visible the countless hidden and forgotten tragedies.  It shows us those tragedies are not restricted to the combat zone, but in ways big and small affect us at home, in our communities and as a people.  It motivates us to work harder to end the madness of war.

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

MICHAEL MCPHEARSON, TO STEP DOWN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF VFP

OCTOBER 27, 2009

VETERANS' GROUP CALLS ON MEMBERS TO REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO ENDING THIS CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IN AFGHANISTAN

1) Take the actions listed below within the next several days, before President Obama decides to escalate the war in Afghanistan, and

2) Plan acts of even greater resistance during the two days following any such decision.

• Continue writing and calling our representatives and demanding peace.
• If we've done that: take to the streets
• If we've done that: sit down in the streets
• If we've done that: sit down in Congressional offices
• If we've done that: sit down, clog up, incapacitate, call in sick, withdraw consent and generally bring the nation's business to a halt, wherever and whenever we can, with any peaceful means available.

OCTOBER 26, 2009

PHILADELPHIA'S ANNUAL VFP DINNER:  AN EVENING OF COMMUNITY AND THE BLUES

The VFP31 dinner on Saturday, October 24th was a great success; 53 people had a fine dinner and lots of fun meeting with VFP members and old friends from the Philly peace movement. As the chapter does every year, we awarded the $1000 Eugene Bloomfield Peace And Justice Award, this year to Charlotte Castle, a 22-year-old inspiration who has worked with aids victims in Africa and now works with the poor and homeless in North Philadelphia. President Chuck Rossi gave an erudite and sobering analysis of the futility of escalation in the war in Afghanistan, as he listed some of the activities chapter members have been involved in this year. The evening's speaker was Paul Socolar, an old friend who is editor of the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a 15-year-old success story in progressive journalism in Philadelphia, home of The Brian Tierney owned Fat-Cat Inquirer.  An August 9th front-page New York Times Magazine article on how the city's two newspapers are on the ropes, suggested that Socolar "may be something like the journalist of the future. He is earnest, dedicated to cause, foundation-financed." Chapter 31 is now a supporting organization for The Notebook and will be taking out a small ad offering veterans to speak in classrooms and assemblies. Socolar emphasized that while The Notebook is driven by a progressive, education-based cause, the accuracy and fairness in its reporting and the quality of its writing are critical to its success.  

Below, the two You Tube URLs are of a couple blues songs performed at the VFP31 annual dinner, which had a theme of art and community. My apologies to Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, the inspiration for the two songs. I dedicated the songs to Marvin Thall, a WWII era member and dedicated socialist who died recently and who loved to make art, in his case sculpture and poetry. The point of my dedication was that Marvin never let a little thing like perfection get in the way of making art.

John Grant

Watch videos - ["The run-away-train blues"]  ["The REMF blues"] 

Frank Corcoran and Bloomfield Peace And Justice honoree Charlotte Castle Photos by John Grant

Chapter 31, president Chuck Rossi

The Notebook editor, Paul Socolar

OCTOBER 23, 2009

CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER 136 TO HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE CONSTITUTION

Memorial Service for the Constitution
November 11, 2009, Noon

On September 28th, 2009, the Constitution died in St. Augustine, Florida after a ten plus year battle with an extremely viral strain of fascism. The Constitution was born September 17th, 1787 in Philadelphia with a multitude of congenital problems, including slavery. She endured 27 major surgeries during her brief life, ten immediately after birth. Although she remained severely handicapped by imperialism and greed, there had been great hopes for what she might have accomplished in her life. She is survived by her children Freedom and Justice, who are, unfortunately, suffering from the same virus that killed their mother.

A memorial will be held in St. Augustine in front of Castillo de San Marco on November 11th, at noon, followed by a short funeral procession and graveside service. Everyone who knew the Constitution is invited to participate. Due to her large number of friends and admirers we ask that you contact us if you plan to attend. We ask that you not send flowers but a donation can be made in her name to Veterans For Peace. 216 South Meramec Ave, St. Louis MO 63105.

> Learn more

OCTOBER 20, 2009

REPORT FROM FACT FINDING DELEGATION TO HONDURAS

La Resistencia were our hosts and arranged our housing, transportation, security and itinerary.  They are amazing people and I hope more members of VFP have the chance to travel on solidarity delegations to Honduras.  Our solidarity is appreciated and embraced in so many genuine ways.

In making the coup d'etat (la golpe) the oligarchy has unleashed the genie out of the bottle.  The Honduran people have suddenly woken up and things will never be the same - their demands are not only for the restitution of President Zelaya to office - considered a first step - but now go much further.  They want to transform their country.  While there have always been Honduran radicals and activists never has such a wide swath of Honduran society been so politically active.

Our hosts arranged for us to meet and have serious discussions with various sectors of society - including political leaders, a presidential candidate, women, trade unionists, youth, human rights activists and members of the clergy.  We were able to observe various street protests and unfurled the banner of our delegation numerous times in solidarity with La Resistencia.

We also met with indigenous people who had traveled to Tegucigalpa from their rural homes near the border with El Salvador to take part in demonstrations, Garifuna from the Caribbean coast and Afro-Hondurans.  Honduras is a multi-national country and the golpe is forging a level of unity among the different communities that never existed in the past.

La Resistencia is a non-violent resistance.  It is important to note that all demonstrations against the government are now illegal and are countered by large aggressive formations of the Honduran Army and National Police.  Tear gas and 3-foot batons are regularly used.  Women and youth make up 65% -70% of the demonstrators and the women are particularly targeted by the security forces.

A few words about the military.  Just as there is repression in the streets there is repression in the barracks.  The ranks of the Honduran Army (armed with M-16's) and National Police (armed with Israeli-made Galil assault rifles) are overwhelmingly comprised of youth from compesino families.  They are not given leave because of fear that their families may confront them over what they are doing.  They have been told that if it is found out that they are with La Resistencia they will be executed!  Thus there is a tremendous sense of distrust and fear in the barracks.

In our meetings we did hear anecdotal instances of soldiers showing solidarity with La Resistencia but these instances have been limited.

The Hondurans we met with felt that a letter addressed "To the Soldiers of the Honduran Army" from veterans organizations in the U.S. could be very helpful.  Perhaps IVAW would be interested in signing such a letter.  How it would be distributed would be up to La Resistencia - but it would be a modest contribution from us in solidarity.

I would like to write the letter in consultation with one of the members of our delegation - Reverend Rigoberto Avila.  Padre Avila was a member of the Honduran Army for six years in the 1970's and I have recruited him to VFP!  He lives in Westchester County, New York and I have asked Ben Chitty to follow-up on his interest in joining.

I hope the Executive Board can give a quick approval to this initiative as the situation in Honduras is so critical.

In solidarity, Michael Kramer, Chapter 021

OCTOBER 19, 2009

MEMBERS IN BOSTON JOIN PROTEST IN COPLEY SQUARE

Veterans For Peace members in the Boston area gathered with hundreds of others in Boston's Copley Square Saturday to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the speakers for the event was Zoya, a representative from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

Demonstrators gathered in Copley Square yesterday to protest the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. (David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff) 

OCTOBER 15, 2009

MAJA KAZAZIC CAME TO THE U.S. WITH HELP FROM VFP - SHE'S STILL MAKING HEADLINES!

The October issue of Reader's Digest features one of the kids VFP brought to the US during the Bosnian conflict on its cover. Maja Kazazic was one of the early kids in the effort to save wounded kids there and bring them to the States for treatment. The Fall 1993 issue of the VFP Journal kicks off her story and each edition for the next couple of years covered later developments.

> read more

"Maja Kazazic, 16, of Mostar was hit by mortar shell fragments that severely wounded both of her legs and her left wrist.  She underwent immediate surgery in a makeshift field hospital where her lower left leg was amputated without anesthesia.  Maja was evacuated by a British nurse, Sally Becker, and was flown to Andrews AFB near Washington D.C. by the U.S. Air Force on September 8.  VFP National Treasurer Bob Taft of Ft. Ashby, WV, Aleta Weaver, RN; Sophie Holbrook, interpreter; Bill Holbrook; Jim Smith, Photographer; and an ambulance crew met the plane and took her to Memorial Medical Center, Cumberland, MD for immediate surgery.  Maja's prognosis is very good.  She is accompanied by her aunt, Majda Paunovic."

OCTOBER 12, 2009

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Thomas Paine Chapter 152 bannering over Route 22 overpass in Whitehall, PA.

OCTOBER 9, 2009

TWO VFP MEMBERS HONORED WITH 2009 PEACEMAKER AWARDS BY WISCONSON NETWORK FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE

Jason Moon, 35, is a leader in Milwaukee's chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), a member Veterans for Peace (VFP) Chapter 102 and a board member of VFP's Homeless Veterans Initiative to find and assist homeless veterans in the Milwaukee area. A singer-songwriter, he also uses his musical talents and organizes benefits to promote peace.

Will Williams, 65, a member of Madison's Veterans for Peace Chapter 25, uses his own experience in Vietnam to speak and counsel young people about the realities of military service and challenge promises of recruiters. He has spoken across the state, linking peace, prison reform, and immigrant rights. He and his wife, Dot are part of a singing group called The Gospelaires, which also performs at peace and social justice events.

The Peacemakers of the Year presentations were October 3rd in Madison, WI.

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