Veterans For Peace, Chapter 21 New Jersey

Ending War

2009-12-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

By Jan Barry

Army Captain Paul K. Chappell attended West Point with an usual goal, "determined to study war the way a doctor studies an illness." What he found in his studies and in a war tour in Iraq was a pragmatic way of envisioning what it would take to create a cure for war fever. "In the U.S. Army, as in ancient Greece, the most admired trait in soldiers is not their ability to kill but their willingness to sacrifice for their friends," Chappell notes in his new book, Will War Ever End? A Soldier's Vision of Peace for the 21st Century (Ashoka Books, 2009). His book argues that soldiers and folks at home, in order to protect each other, should mount a concerted campaign to wind down warmaking, due to the massively deadly threat of military escalation in the nuclear age. A better way of dealing with international disputes, he contends, is to adapt nonviolent tactics to produce conflict resolution that de-escalates violence.

In an essay titled "How Patriotism Can Save America," posted earlier this year on The Huffington Post and other websites, Chappell summed up his call for peace actions in terms that echo the stance of Veterans For Peace and other antiwar vets groups: "With the survival of our planet now at stake, our country needs patriotic Americans to question, think critically, and pioneer this democratic experiment. Now more than ever, our country needs us to help it become a beacon of hope that exports peace instead of war." Chappell, who served seven years on active duty after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 2002, is the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

In his book, Chappell argues that the war on terrorism "can never be won with an army alone, because terrorism is not a place we can occupy or a dictator we can overthrow." He also notes "how multiple deployments have pushed many soldiers to the breaking point." He argues that military actions are stoking the hatred fueling angry people who use terrorism as a tactic in fighting for their beliefs and causes. "If we are going to win the war on terrorism ... the United States will require many more soldiers, and not just soldiers who are armed with guns. ... During the challenging years ahead, our planet will need soldiers of peace who understand this truth of our brotherhood, because our survival in an interconnected world will not depend upon our ability to wage war. The fate of humanity will depend upon our willingness to wage peace."

Chappell grew up in a military family, where his view of war's widespread consequences was shaped by his father's raging threats to shoot himself. His mother, he adds, grew up in Japan during World War II and then moved to Korea, where her family endured the Korean War, where Chappell's father began a 30-year military career, which also included combat in Vietnam. "Throughout my childhood, I watched my father lose his grip on reality ... Rage overshadowed his once peaceful nature, and when I heard him complain about violent nightmares, I realized that something called war had taken my gentle father from me ... when I was a teenager, I wanted to know if war will ever end."

At West Point, Chappell studied peacemakers as well as warmakers. Gandhi, he discovered, was a British army medic during the Boer War in South Africa, where he took close measure of the British military culture that he outmanuevered to gain India's independence with a nonviolent campaign. Chappell found that some other West Pointers had come to the same conclusion as Gandhi. His book quotes General Dwight Eisenhower's farewell address as president, in which he warned that "another war could utterly destroy this civilization" and that people must learn "to compose differences" without war.

Chappell found a model for banishing war in the 19th century campaigns to ban slavery. "Slavery existed on a global scale for thousands of years, but due to the courageous actions of our ancestors who fought this injustice, no country today sanctions slavery. Together we have the capacity to create a world where countries no longer sanction war."

He was struck by how hard the military has had to work to train and prod soldiers to fight a battle, rather than flee for safety. This is proof, he argues, that humans don't have a gene for waging wars. And he took note of General Omar Bradley's comment after leading armies in World War II: "Modern war visits destruction on the victor and the vanquished alike. Our only complete assurance of surviving World War III is to halt it before it starts." Reflecting on his own military career, which started at West Point and spanned two world wars, Bradley stated, in a 1948 Memorial Day speech: "Wars can be prevented just as surely as they are provoked."

In the foreword to Will War Ever End?, Lt. Col. (ret.) Dave Grossman noted "there is cause to hope, and believe, that there can be an end to war. The West has won the Cold War without resorting to mega-death ... In recent years we have exercised the choice to step back from the brink of nuclear destruction." Chappell is currently finishing a sequel titled The End of War, designed to offer what Grossman calls a "toolbox" of information on peace actions.

For more information:
http://www.paulkchappell.com/
http://www.wagingpeace.org/

Maybe It's Time to Cut Defense Spending

2009-11-15T05:04:00.000-08:00

Dear VFP 21 & VVAW-N.J. Members and Friends

I just read in today's newspaper that the Obama Administration want to freeze domestic spending. Yet, when it comes to war and the military, money is no object, just like it was with the guy before him!

Tonight over dinner, this subject came up in a conversation with my son who is a Japanese language major and who has also spent time studying in Japan. We talked about how after the Second World War, the Japanese people adopted Article 9 to their constitution on May 3, 1947. This article prohibits the Japanese nation from engaging in war as a right of that nation and as a method for resolving international disputes.

The United States, on the other hand, has been in some kind of an overt or covert war against other nations almost continuously ever since V-J Day in 1945. In fact, many of these conflicts are unknown to most U.S. citizens. As a result, our country is morally, physically and financial bankrupt.

Perhaps what we really need is less spending on wars and weapons and more spending to uplift our citizens.

Please check out the information and pictures below and pass them on to all your contacts.

Peace and Solidarity

Ken Dalton
VFP 21, N.J.
VVAW

WHO "WON" THE WAR?
(Courtesy of John Ketwig, VFP 21 & VVAW)

I wonder at the reason this commentary was made? Is it saying that nuclear war is not such a bad thing after all? Or that Detroit, the home of the American automobile industry, has lost its way? My take is that the Japanese have a severely limited military activity as required by the surrender agreement we imposed on them at the end of WWII. The U.S., on the other hand, has a military budget greater than all of the planet's other countries put together, and there are no resources left for our societal needs. Our industrial base is gone. We find ourselves in the business of death and destruction, able to export nothing else, and now morally and financially bankrupt. What a shame.

Photos of Hiroshima in 1945 and today contrasted with photos of Detroit

VFP Leaders Arrested at White House

2009-10-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Three-fourths of the VFP Executive Committee arrested along with others in DC today

Dear Colleagues,

VFP President Mike Ferner, Vice President Leah Bolger, and Treasurer Ken Mayers were all arrested in front of the White House today while standing vigil over three mock coffins draped with US, Afgan, and Iraq flags. Other VFP members arrested included Mike Hearington, Jim
Goodnow, Tarak Kauf, Tom Palombo and Louis Wolf. VFP Executive Director Michael McPhearson, along with Colonel Ann Wright and members of the capital area VFP chapters also supported the protest. The VFP members were among 65 arrestees who included Kathy Kelly, Liz McAlister, and Cindy Sheehan among others. All those arrested were taken to the National Park Police Headquarters, booked, and released. They now have 14 days in which to reappear at the National Park Police Headquarters either to pay their $100 fines or to obtain a court date.

Along with Veterans for Peace, a broad range of affinity groups, such as the Atlantic Life Community, Witness Against Torture, Veterans for Peace, World Can’t Wait, and Activist Response Team had members arrested. Other groups fully endorsing the action and participating were Peace Action, Code Pink, the War Resisters’ League, and Student
Peace Action Network.

The protest called for withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, ending the illegal bombing with US drones, including neighboring Pakistan, and the closing of the Bagram prison and ending indefinite detention and torture. We called for an end to these wars and
occupations, including that of Iraq, so that our resources can be used for life-sustaining actions including the funding and the rebuilding of Afghanistan’s and Iraq’s infrastructure and medical assistance to Afghans and Iraqis, in addition to poverty reduction programs in the United States and world wide. We continue to call for accountability for those who have committed war crimes.

Kenneth Mayers
Veterans for Peace - Santa Fe
Wage Peace!

Convention '09

2009-08-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 23, 2009
Convention '09
". . . the best people and
the stoutest souls in the world . . ."
- Mike Ferner
Never been to a convention before. Heard about 'em often enough; I'd formed a few opinions: a large gathering of people from around the country (or state or world), a lotta speechs and meetings, funny hats and boisterous behavior, good opportunity to meet, drink, push agendas, settle scores, pick up bumperstickers, act like a fool . . . I was filled with prejudices and misconceptions.
But I'd been scorched by the emotional intensity of the Winter Soldier Hearings, March 13-16, 2008. As Security volunteer, I found myself part of the biggest and truest thing happening in America those four days. My particular job was small and anonymous, but I walked with heroes those days. My life was changed in ways marchs and vigils, signs and slogans could not match.
So I went to the Convention for the fellowship . . . and maybe to read a few poems. In a time when even political victory doesn't seem good enough, I went to rekindle my spirit, revive my dedication. I went looking for those heroes.
And in the hallways and meeting rooms, the food court and lit room, I found them . . . guys like Paul Brailsford, Englishman, Massachusetts VFP, activist and poet, who went to sea in 1932 at age 16, stood the lonely watchs as a deck officer in the Pacific during World War II and at age 93 remains a stalwart voice for peace and justice . . . and Suel Jones the Marine rifleman from Texas and the Vietnam War, who now divides his time between Alaska and Vietnam, went from oilfield machinist to gifted memoirist and friend to the Vietnamese people . . . and the service brats: Deborah Forter, Navy, M.F.S.O.'s new leader and Donna Edwards, Air Force, Maryland's new Congresswoman. Dragged around the world as service kids are, these eloquent women learned at an early age to love the warrior and hate the war . . . and everywhere I turned, there was Carlos - just like at Winter Soldier - a curly-haired Saint Everyman, tirelessly holding heaven and earth together, his presence our whole meaning, his tragedy our fight . . .
The names and faces go on and on, anchored by a corps of Vietnam veterans and their good spouses, enriched by those of other eras and re-affirmed by the strong, young faces of the men and women of the Afghan and Iraq Wars.
Days later, outside the Teaneck Armory, at our four year old vigil, Chapter 21 Prez Ken Dalton regaled the watchstanders with tales of conventions and conventions to come. Ken once lived up in Portland, Maine, had , like the rest of us - Nancy and Paula, Barry, Fallon, Hancock, the Drozds - a great time at '09. I interrupted him to ask, what's Portland, driving time from Jersey? 'Bout six hours. Next year I thought. Sounds good.
- Walt Nygard August 23, 2009

Recruiting for Peace

2009-08-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

By Jan Barry

Suel D. Jones is on an unusual mission. The 60-ish Vietnam vet, who hails from Texas and has a hideaway cabin in Alaska, wants to create a Veterans For Peace chapter in Hanoi. “I already got 10 members,” Jones said last week as he talked up his latest campaign, while hawking copies of his memoir, Meeting the Enemy: A Marine Goes Home, at the 24th national convention of Veterans For Peace.

In his memoir, Jones wrote: “At a Veterans For Peace convention in 2006, I was asked about how I was recruited into the Marine Corps. I replied that I didn’t have to be recruited. My parents, the church, and society had recruited me since birth.” After years of wrestling with rage he brought home from the war, Jones moved to Vietnam and did volunteer work with the Vietnam Friendship Village, a hospital for children and Vietnamese veterans affected by Agent Orange, the chemical defoliant used by the US military to destroy much of the forests in Vietnam. “I felt that as a warrior I was not complete until I returned to the country where I had fought in order to help heal the wounds of the war,” he added.

At a nearby table, Marine vet Doug Zachary of Austin, Texas, was selling a variety of books, buttons and bumper stickers on peace themes, including War Is a Racket by Smedley D. Butler, the legendary Marine major general and two-time winner of the Medal of Honor. Among the most popular items for men and women who stopped by between workshops on conflict resolution and other aspects of peacemaking were olive drab T-shirts emblazoned with the Veterans For Peace logo—a white dove on a military helmet—and an unusual team spirit message: “Recruiting for Peace.”

The event at the University of Maryland also drew Master Sergeant (ret.) Wesley Davey. A draftee during the Vietnam war, Davey ended up in Iraq with an Army Reserve unit at age 54. He arrived in College Park on a dual mission. A founder of the Minnesota chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Davey is also challenging the official “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that discriminates against gays in the military. “I was against this war, but felt that as the first sergeant I should deploy to Iraq to look out for the good people in my unit,” Davey told an assembled gathering of antiwar activists with ties to the military.

In a news article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2007, Davey bluntly said: “For the second time in my life, a president has plunged our country into a quagmire where there is no way to win a victory which can be defined. I thought we learned a lesson in Vietnam. I was wrong.”

Another participant was a mother of a young war veteran who attended a workshop on poetry for peace. “My son has several poems in this anthology,” said Tina Richards, a Missouri member of Military Families Speak Out, waving a copy of “Warrior Writers: Re-Making Sense,” a collection of poetry and art by members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Writing and reading poems on the war at antiwar events was a great help to her son, who was struggling to cope with severe health problems after two tours with the Marines in Iraq. When requests to the VA and traditional veterans’ organizations for assistance proved fruitless, Richards said she found Veterans For Peace on the Internet.

“I called my son and said ‘we’re going on a march to New Orleans,’” joining a protest march by veterans’ peace groups in 2006 through hurricane-ravaged towns awaiting federal assistance while billions of dollars were spent on waging war in Iraq. During an evening of songs and poetry by participants, her son got up, she recalled, and read a poem he’d jotted down on a napkin. And now he’s a published poet, Cloy Richards, with a growing family of his own and a future he couldn’t see through the pain before.

The veterans’ convention in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, drew scores of people from across the United States. It also drew one of the newest members of Congress. “It is important to hear a voice for peace. We who are working for peace have to open up the space for people to move in that direction,” said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Maryland), who was elected last year. “I think that the work you do as veterans working for peace gives the rest of us validation for what we do,” she added.

In her keynote speech, Edwards noted that she grew up in a career Air Force family and lost her brother at age 27 as a result of “psychological problems” from his military service. “I feel that I, as a very strong opponent of the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, am a great patriot,” she said. Yet in working to change these policies, activists need to “work for peace with respect” for other people’s perspectives, she advised. Noting that she went on a tour of Afghanistan with other members of Congress, she concluded that the US strategy of widening the war with more troops “will not work. I’m a big supporter of President Obama. But I disagree with him on this.”

Summing up the focus of the convention, Michael T. McPherson, executive director of Veterans for Peace and a Gulf War I veteran, wrote in the program book that “We must reach out and educate about the full horrors and impact of war. … We must provide and live alternatives to war. We must become examples of conflict resolution in all aspects of our lives and build solidarity with allies in search of justice. … This weekend we gather to gain strength and learn from each other to do that work.”

For more information:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
http://www.ivaw.org/
http://www.mfso.org/

2009 VFP National Convention

2009-05-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

The 24th Veterans For Peace National Convention is Aug. 5 – 9 at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. Come for a day of workshops ($75), two days of workshops ($150) or the full program ($200, if register by June 1). To register, go to http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/.

Workshop topics include GI Rights and GI Advocacy, Counter Recruiting, Torture, War Profiteering, Winter Soldier hearings, Women’s Voices, Vets 4 Vets, VFP’s Mission and many more. Learn how, as veterans, we can do more to address the widening war in Afghanistan/Pakistan, as well as the war in Iraq that is supposed to be winding down.

At the 2008 Convention, VFP passed a resolution calling for: “the government of the United States to immediately withdraw all military and intelligence forces from Afghanistan and Pakistan; to provide humanitarian aid directly to the people of Afghanistan, in non-coercive forms, to help the Afghan people rebuild their own nation and their lives in cooperation with other nations in the region; and to allow the people of Afghanistan to freely determine their own government without interference by the US.”

Home for Veterans

2009-05-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

By Jan Barry

Coming home for some war veterans means slipping off the track of chasing a fading American dream. Despite the yellow ribbons of support for the troops festooning patriotic front yards and backs of cars, there’s an army of homeless former soldiers seeking shelter in cities and towns across this country. Compounding the shock of becoming homeless can be another bitter discovery: Few communities provide programs to help veterans who hit a rough patch get back on their feet. Consequently, an estimated 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Why are so many once-able military troops living a hobo life straight out of bleak stories from the Great Depression? Besides the “factors affecting all homelessness -- extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care -- a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks,” says the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans web site. While the VA assists about one-third of the homeless vets, the majority have to look for state and local programs.

“The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, ‘veterans helping veterans’ groups,” says the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves. … There are about 250 community-based veteran organizations across the country that have demonstrated impressive success reaching homeless veterans. These groups are most successful when they work in collaboration with federal, state and local government agencies, other homeless providers, and veteran service organizations.”

When an empathetic religious group in a suburban New Jersey town proposed turning an empty church into apartments for homeless veterans, however, neighbors turned out to vehemently oppose the plan. What happened next showed the other side of America. When the proposal came up for a vote by the Highland Park Board of Adjustment recently, the room was packed by a crowd of veterans wearing military caps, peace activists in protest T-shirts, church members and residents of the central New Jersey area appalled by the neighbors’ complaints.

“Joe Vanliew broke down as he uttered his first words to the Highland Park zoning board, one of dozens of people who spoke Monday at a tense, four-hour meeting at which the board ultimately agreed to allow a shuttered church to be converted into an 11-unit housing complex for homeless veterans,” The Star-Ledger correspondent reported. "’I hope the sacrifices of every veteran are remembered tonight,’ the white-haired man said, his voice cracking. ‘They were in the thick of things, and I can't believe that anybody in Highland Park or anywhere else wouldn't support the veterans.’"

The objecting neighbors, who included a veteran or two, maintained that the conversion would add traffic to a busy street, ruin an historic building and put veterans in substandard basement-level apartments that, paradoxically, would cost much more in government grants than would be needed to buy houses on the market.

During the hearing, testimony was provided that the housing plan had the approval of federal agencies seeking to address the fact that “New Jersey has more than 3,500 homeless veterans, according to Victor Carlson, a psychologist and chief of homeless services for the Department of Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System,” The Star-Ledger reported.

The veterans’ home project was launched by Highland Park Reformed Church pastor Seth Kaper-Dale, who told the newspaper that “the project stemmed from years of preaching about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of his congregation would ask him to pray for nieces and nephews going to war, then they asked him once again to join them in prayer when the veterans returned, he said. ‘They were praying for their nephew who came back and was sleeping on someone's couch.’"

For more information:
http://www.nchv.org/
http://www.nj.com/news/mustsee/index.ssf/2009/04/highland_park_agrees_to_conver.html
http://www.mainstreethp.org/polDoc.cfm?Doc_Id=590

Six Years of War is Too Long

2009-03-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Veterans For Peace marked the 6th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq with a call for the Obama Administration to end the war now, not years from now.

Veterans For Peace objects to President Obama's plan to keep troops in Iraq until 2011. “Beside the suffering and death caused by prolonging these wars, America simply can no longer afford the cost of empire,” commented Mike Ferner, the group’s National President. A long time critic of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, VFP calls for President Obama to bring all the troops home now. The organization’s consistent position has been that the presence of U.S. soldiers only ensures there will be violent resistance from Iraqis. The Administration’s plans to leave 50,000 “non-combat” troops in Iraq will not ensure less violence; it will guarantee the deaths of more U.S. troops and Iraqis at the hands of U.S. service members.

March 19-21, to mark the end of the 6th year of the occupation, Veterans For Peace members will participate in various events across the U.S. including the March on the Pentagon scheduled for Saturday. They are also urging their members to write and call Congress and the Obama Administration to register their dissatisfaction with the President’s timetable.

Ferner went on to say, “Barack Obama became president in part because millions of voters were sick of these wars and wanted them stopped, period. The People of Iraq can handle their affairs. They have proven that over thousands of years. It is time for U.S. to pull out all troops.” Violence in Iraq has lessened and sectarian divisions appear to be coming together, but military and Administration officials remain cautious that violence could escalate at anytime.

“U.S. policy claims to keep troops in Iraq to ensure stability,” continued Ferner. “With violence down, the President is taking over 2-1/2 years to leave. If violence rises, will plans change to stay? Either way, U.S. policy keeps troops in Iraq. This is not the sentiment of the majority of people in the U.S. or Iraq. We want all the troops to come home now!” Ferner concluded.

Open Letter to President Obama

2009-03-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dear President Obama:

Recently, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont convened a "Truth Commission" to investigate the CRIMES committed by the Bush Administration during the last eight years. As president of the Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021, New Jersey, I strongly urge you to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate those crimes and take appropriate action in order to bring the guilty individuals to justice. We believe that members of that administration have committed numerous crimes, subverted the U.S. Constitution and have soiled the reputation of this country in ways which will last for generations. Therefore, a "truth commission" is totally inadequate and there must be prosecutions in order to preserve our democracy.

Peace and Solidarity,

Kenneth A. Dalton, President
Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021
Veterans For Peace, New Jersey
Life Member, Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Community Action on War Trauma

2009-02-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

By Jan Barry

Many communities in the United States have a hidden problem, one that is in grave need of the American tradition of neighbors helping neighbors. The problem is the burden of memories that many young men and women bring home from a war, which can often become harder to deal with as time goes by.

Many veterans try to deal with war memories by trying to forget, by drinking or taking drugs. Some join veterans’ groups that offer comradeship and service programs. Yet an increasing number of veterans and active duty soldiers have felt nothing eased their anguish and committed suicide. Most veterans find ways to cope with life after war. But too often, when a veteran realizes he or she has a problem and seeks assistance from government agencies, they run into a bureaucratic logjam. Family members and friends often feel they don’t know where to turn to find a helpful program.

This is where community networking and community forums can play a vital role. Non-profit agencies may have counseling programs that are not widely known. Some advocacy groups have trained counselors to help navigate the mental health care system. Government agencies are trying to figure out how to do improved outreach to veterans, active duty troops and National Guard members.

Adding to the problem is pent-up anger. Perhaps most of all, soldiers, veterans and family members need public forums or community gatherings where their concerns can be heard and responded to in supportive ways.

A forum on this issue at Bryant University in Rhode Island drew a small, but emotionally intense gathering of veterans and supporters on the weekend before Veterans Day last fall. The forum included viewing a new documentary film, Leave No Soldier, which explores how diverse activist groups of vets (Rolling Thunder, Veterans for Peace) cope with war grief. Speakers on a panel included the filmmaker, vet activists, Veterans Administration counselors, a National Guard public affairs officer and a Navy officer with a program to address post traumatic stress. Several Vietnam veterans in the audience bitterly described experiences that soured them in seeking government assistance. In response, one of the government representatives thanked the vets for helping bring these problems to public attention. The VA and military representatives talked about how programs are being revised to address what is now recognized as a widespread, national problem.

This problem has become even more acute since Congress approved legislation more than a year ago to boost programs that assist veterans with acute post traumatic stress. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act, signed by President Bush just before Veterans Day 2007, was named after a 22-year-old Army reservist from Iowa who killed himself after returning from Iraq. The bill requires additional mental health training for VA staff and improved counseling and treatment programs at VA medical facilities, as well as “outreach and education for veterans and their families, peer support counseling and research into suicide prevention,” as The Associated Press reported.

One way to help expand this outreach would be to hold community meetings on this issue throughout the country. Donna Bassin, the director of Leave No Soldier, who is a psychologist, suggests showing her film as a discussion starter, which she has done in Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York and other locations. In film fund-raisers, Bassin has done showings of the work in progress in friends’ living rooms, followed by candid discussions of these issues by veterans with their neighbors.

“Like a Greek chorus, our veterans express our collective sorrow; they warn of the dangers of ignoring and forgetting. They hold the grief of war for us who will not, and in so doing help us come to grips with its catastrophic impact,” Bassin says of the veterans of Vietnam and Iraq she interviewed. “Their communal mourning forces us to reflect upon our politics, and to pause and think critically about actions done in our name and that of our nation. If we as a nation send our children to war we have a responsibility to share the heavy load they carry.”

At a showing of the film at Pratt Institute in New York in December, Iraq veterans and I joined Bassin in a panel discussion with a roomful of mental health therapists. In the 1970s, I spoke to similar audiences on behalf of Vietnam vets beset by problems of readjusting to civilian life, in a time when many Americans dismissed or ignored what was then called post-Vietnam syndrome. Activist veterans, with the help of supporters around the country, helped identify what is now called post-traumatic stress and convince Congress to fund VA outreach centers to provide counseling and treatment—a program that still exists. This is one wheel that doesn’t need reinventing, but does need a renewed infusion of civic action.

For further information:
http://www.leavenosoldier.com/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/87964.php
http://www.truthout.org/021809A

For PTSD resources:
http://www.ptsdinfo.org/
http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/

Suicide and Soldiers

2009-02-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

By Jan Barry

The Army says it’s at a loss to explain the latest twist in US war casualty figures—which show that more soldiers killed themselves than died in combat operations.

“In January, 24 U.S. soldiers are believed to have committed suicide — seven confirmed cases and 17 more awaiting confirmation. By comparison, last January there were only five suicides in the Army,” NPR reported recently. “Last month's total is not just the highest monthly total since the Army started counting in 1980; it is more deaths than were sustained in combat last month by all branches of the armed forces combined.”

Addressing this issue, “Gen. Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, says that the Army is actively looking into the deaths and is trying to figure out why the suicides are happening. ‘If we knew why, in every single instance we would, in fact, be able to stop this problem,’ Chiarelli tells NPR's Robert Siegel. ‘We've got to try to find out why the numbers continue to go up.’"

For a start, the generals ought to study the Rand Corporation’s report to the Pentagon last year, "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery," which found that “Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression. … Since October 2001, about 1.6 million U.S. troops have deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with many exposed to prolonged periods of combat-related stress or traumatic events. Early evidence suggests that the psychological toll of the deployments may be disproportionately high compared with physical injuries.”

"If PTSD and depression go untreated or are under treated, there is a cascading set of consequences," one of the Rand researchers wrote. "Drug use, suicide, marital problems and unemployment are some of the consequences.”

The generals ought to also study the Portland (OR) Tribune’s investigation last August titled “‘Suicide epidemic’ hits veterans,” which found that one-third of recent suicides in Oregon was a military veteran. “In 2005, the last year for which complete Oregon data has been compiled, 19 Oregon soldiers died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. That same year, 153 Oregon veterans of all ages, serving in various wars, committed suicide.

“The rate of suicide among Oregon men who are veterans is more than double that of Oregon men in general — 46 suicides out of every 100,000 compared to 22 out of 100,000 — according to the Oregon Department of Human Services Center for Health Statistics,” the Portland newspaper reported.

“Nationally, reports of high suicide rates among veterans began to gain attention in April, when a series of e-mails from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs officials came to light during a class-action lawsuit brought by a veterans group in San Francisco. The e-mails say that 12,000 veterans under VA treatment attempt suicide each year, and that more than 6,000 veterans succeed in killing themselves each year. There are about 25 million veterans.

“’There is clearly a suicide epidemic,’ says Paul Sullivan, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Veterans For Common Sense, which brought the lawsuit. Sullivan says the VA’s own data on calls made to its suicide hot line might be the best indicator of the depth of the problem. According to the VA, in July there were 250 calls a day to the suicide hot line. And veterans have made more than 22,000 calls since the hot line started in July 2007. “

The Portland Tribune found evidence of increasing numbers of suicide among Vietnam veterans, as well as National Guard, Reserves and Marines who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Linda Rotering, a social worker who counsels veterans at the Portland Vet Center on Northeast Sandy Boulevard, says she is seeing an increase in the number of Vietnam veterans coming in to see her with post-traumatic stress disorder. Rotering and others say many Vietnam veterans may have been able to keep the symptoms of their stress disorder at bay while they busied themselves with jobs and families after the war. Now, she says, many are retiring, with adult children, and may be more susceptible to the images from the war in Iraq.

“’There’s nothing to block out the memories,’ Rotering says. ‘I hear over and over again, if I have a 19-year-old sitting in my office or a 60-year-old from Vietnam, the exact same things are coming out of their mouths.’”

During the Vietnam war, the VA and the Pentagon pretended there was no such problem for veterans. Yet as early as 1963, nearly 10 percent of Army deaths in Vietnam were suicides or otherwise killed themselves—“accidental self-destruction,” “misadventure”—according to casualty reports. Only after massive evidence of veterans experiencing serious readjustment problems was presented by Vietnam vet and other organizations during the 1970s was post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) given a name and a treatment plan. Under prodding from Congress, the VA in 1979 created storefront Vets Centers that provided counseling and therapy services for PTSD.

With the US fighting two hellacious wars in Asia, the VA is overwhelmed by a tsunami of vets seeking help and the military is scrambling to stop a suicide epidemic among the troops. "It's going to take system-level changes — not a series of small band-aids — to improve treatments for these illnesses," a Rand researcher said.

For more information:
http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/
http://www.rand.org/news/press/2008/04/17/
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121926671416052100

Asbestos and Military Veterans

2009-02-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

My name is Allen Dutton and I’m the Veteran Liaison for the Mesothelioma Cancer Center (Asbestos.com); an organization devoted to assisting veterans through their application processes for VA benefits, and helping them obtain the maximum benefits for which they are entitled. I’m also a Veterans Benefit Counselor for the Veterans Assistance Network, and a retired Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy. I came across your site while searching for bloggers who post about veterans' issues.

Countless veterans are currently suffering from life-threatening illnesses that are a result of exposure to asbestos, a material that was commonly used in hundreds of military applications, products, and ships primarily because of its resistance to fire. Unfortunately, asbestos-related diseases are not always recognized by the VA, which is why I’m reaching out to veterans -- in hopes of helping them win the rights to their benefits.

The Mesothelioma Cancer Center provides a complete list of occupations, ships, and shipyards that could have put our Veterans at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases. In addition, they have thousands of articles regarding asbestos and mesothelioma and they’ve even created a veterans-specific section on their website in order to help inform them about the dangers of asbestos exposure. The main reason I’m contacting you is to see if you’d be interested in posting an article about military asbestos exposure on your blog.

Thank you for all your help,
Allen Dutton
Mesothelioma Cancer Center
Asbestos.com

Vets, Soldiers, Peaceniks Find Common Ground

2009-01-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

Members of Veterans for Peace Chapter 21, Military Families Speak Out and other peace groups were featured in a Jan. 25 New York Times article titiled “Soldiers and Protesters, Seeking Common Ground”: <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/nyregion/long-island/25Rparenting.html?_r=1&ref=new-jersey>

The lead article in the Sunday section for regional news profiled some of the core members of the weekly peace vigil outside the National Guard Armory in Teaneck, with comments by National Guard members and local veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“On the face of it, you’d think the protesters and the National Guard members are divided and separate, antiwar outside the armory, pro-war inside. But that is not so. There is much common ground between the two groups,” the insightful investigative piece by reporter Michael Winerip notes.

For instance, he writes: “Joseph Nygard, 27, who served 16 months in Afghanistan with the Army, said he likes that his parents, Nancy and Walt Nygard [a Vietnam vet], are regulars at the vigil. ‘We have pretty much the same feelings about the war,’ he said. At one point during his tour, he flew home to Newark, on leave from Afghanistan. ‘When we landed, the pilot made an announcement: ‘Please stay seated and let the soldiers leave first.’ We got up and everyone on the plane clapped for us. It was a great feeling.’ Asked how he would describe the American public’s attitude, he answered, ‘I’d say, ‘End the war, support the troops.’ ”

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Rally

2009-01-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Monday, Jan. 19, 1 pm in Teaneck

Rally and press conference to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
and to call on President-Elect Obama and the new Congress to:
· end the war in Iraq
· bring all of the troops home NOW
· keep the New Jersey National Guard in New Jersey for New Jersey
· take care of the troops when they get here
· bring the more than $12/billion home to use for our communities –
· for health care, housing, jobs, and education

Where: 713 Teaneck Road (across from Holy Name Hospital)
at the site of the newest Bring them Home billboard.
Please bring food and baby supplies for National Guard families.

Sponsored by:
Military Families Speak Out, Bergen County Chapter http://www.mfsobergencounty.org/
Bergen Peace and Justice Coalition http://www.bergenjustice.net/
NJ Peace Action http://www.peaceaction.org/
Teaneck Peace and Justice Coalition http://www.teaneckpeace.org/
NJ Coalition to Bring the Troops Home NOW

Speakers include:
Teaneck Town Council member Barbara Toffler and other elected officials
Hallie Emma Brevetti, Teaneck High School student
Veterans, Military Family members, community activists

Call for Cease-fire in Gaza and Israel

2009-01-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Our chapter, in keeping with our charter, calls for an end to all violence against innocents in Gaza and Israel. We also call for an immediate United Nations monitored cease-fire and provision of food and medical supplies to all Palestinians and Israelis in the war zone.

Investigate Iraq War Crimes

2009-01-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

We, the members of the Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 21 of Veterans for Peace, New Jersey, at our January 3, 2009 meeting, voted to endorse a resolution that the Iraq War was an illegal and immoral invasion and occupation, whereas, all those responsible should and must be held accountable as per the Nuremberg Principles and International Law.

Therefore, we strongly urge that the national leadership of Veterans for Peace and all chapters take up this matter and make it an immediate priority. Furthermore, we call upon the leadership of Veterans for Peace to petition the President of the United States to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the war crimes of the Bush administration.

2008-12-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

Michael Kramer and Ken Dalton accepting peace award from Lisa Marie Palmieri in Jersey City on December 27. Chapter 21 received the award from the Jersey City Peace Movement in recognition of our activism for peace and justice. Kramer, chapter secretary, is an I.D.F. veteran of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war; Dalton, chapter president, is a U.S.N. veteran of the Vietnam war.

Sign Up to Bring NJ National Guard Home

2008-12-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

PETITION: Bring New Jersey's National Guard Home From Iraq
SPONSOR: New Jersey Peace Action, endorsed by Veterans for Peace Chapter 21
DESCRIPTION: In June 2008, President Bush ordered the deployment of nearly half the NJ National Guard to Iraq. With the deployment, many local families have been disrupted and are suffering financial and emotional hardships and our State’s ability to respond to emergencies has been greatly impaired. The war in Iraq has resulted in the deaths of over 4,118 American service men and women, with costs exceeding $1.5 trillion, $16,500 for each American family of four—already too great a cost.We, the undersigned, call on our elected officials in the NJ State Senate and Assembly to pass the resolution currently before the Legislature to order the return of NJ National Guard members, limit the service of the Guard within NJ and to withhold consent from further deployment of the NJ Guard to Iraq unless lawfully called into service under a valid and subsisting authorization from Congress.

To participate, please visit http://njpon.org/petitions/sign.php?pid=72.
Please share this with your lists.

Now More Than Ever, Our Activism Is Needed

2008-11-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Members and Friends of VFP Chapter 21

Now that the crazy season is over and Barack Obama is the new President Elect, the question of "Where do we go from here?" has come up many times. I have also heard many voices of discontent by Obama supporters who are now upset over the people Obama has either appointed or may appoint to his new administration like Rahn Emanuel, Hilary Clinton or Joel Klein. There is also a feeling that Obama may be backing off his commitment to end the Iraq occupation due to the amount of hawks that are being brought into this new administration in order to placate neocons and republicans.

Well, this past Saturday, November 22, which was my 57th. birthday, I treated myself to a conference at William Paterson University sponsored by the Young Democratic Socialist of W.P.U. There were several fine speakers on the three panels in this program including Greg Palast, author of "Armed Madhouse" and John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". The main message all the speakers on the panels I attended was that the changes we're all hoping for won't come from Obama or the Democrats in Congress. Those changes will have to come from us!

I'm sure many of you remember me saying time and time again that we should not depend on or put too much faith in the Democrats. Once again, I'll repeat that message. Barack Obama will not end the Iraq occupation or find a resolution to the situation in Afghanistan. That is unless, we keep the heat on him, just like we did with Bush and the Republicans.

So if any of you thought our job was done by getting Obama elected President or by getting a sizable Democrat majority in Congress, you better think it over again. If you thought that you could forget about the anti war vigils, marches or demonstrations, you got another thing coming. NOW, MORE THAN EVER, OUR ACTIVISM IS NEEDED! NOW ISN'T THE TIME TO PUT AWAY OUR BANNERS AND SIGNS BUT INSTEAD, IT'S TIME TO KEEP THE HEAT ON! In fact, we'll probably need to turn it up a few notches. So don't get too comfortable, get more active! Change will only happen if all of us make it happen!

Peace and Solidarity,

Ken Dalton,
President Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 021
Veterans For Peace, New Jersey
Life Member, Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Message from VFP 21 President

2008-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

Dear VFP Chapter 021 Members and Friends

Well we did it. We changed the course of the country away from the policies of the last eight years towards a new course that hopefully will bring a new era of peace and prosperity. Actually, the problems we all have been experiencing over the last eight years actually began with Ronald Reagan and his aggressive foreign policy based on military force and a domestic policy based on selfishness and greed.

For most of us, the Iraq war was the straw that broke the camel's back and the motivating force behind our activism. How many marches, vigils and demonstration have we participated where we had to deal with cold winter winds, hot summer sun, humidity, snow, sleet and rain? How many time have we been called traitors, unamerican or had our past service to this country questioned? Through it all we stood together and changed the attitude and opinions of our fellow citizens, laying the ground work of this new revolution.

As president of the Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 21, Veterans For Peace, New Jersey and a life member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, I would like to salute each and everyone of you for your courage and persistence in this struggle for our nation's soul.

Please be warned that the results of the November 4th election will not be the end of our efforts, but only the end of the beginning. There will still be so much more to accomplish and gains that will have to be protected. The forces on the right are only wounded, not eliminated. They'll be back with more vigor and viciousness to impose their will and promote the wishes of Wall Street and the military industrial complex. Therefore, take a few days off to celebrate your hard earned victory and I expect to see you all back on the job next Monday.

Until then, peace and solidarity.

Kenneth Dalton,
President Alan Reilly-Gene Glazer Chapter 21
Veterans For Peace, New Jersey
Life Member, Vietnam Veterans Against the War

VFP Chapter 21 Endorsement

2008-11-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

JEWS UNITING TO END THE WAR AND HEAL AMERICA: ORGANIZING FOR ACTION
SUNDAY NOV. 23, 9:30AM-5PM
Central Synagogue, 123 East 55th Street, between Park & Lexington Avenues, NYC

Join hundreds of domestic and international policy, human and civil rights, peace and Jewish community experts and activists from across the nation for a daylong call to conscience and strategy session focused moving the incoming Presidential Administration---whichever it will be---to end the war in Iraq, attend to pressing domestic issues and shift to a saner foreign policy.

Speakers and workshop panelists include:

Rabbi Rebecca Alpert, Temple University; Diane Balser, Brit Tzedek V’Shalom; Jan Barry, Veterans for Peace; Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street; Lawrence Bush, Jewish Currents; Leslie Cagan,
United for Peace and Justice; Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network; Jeff Cohen, Park Center for Independent Media; Penny Coleman, author; Adrienne Cooper, Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring; Je!rey Dekro, founder The Shefa Fund; Liza Featherstone, journalist and contributing editor to The Nation; Rabbi Marla Feldman, Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism; Gary Ferdman, Common Cause; Emmaia Gelman, Center for Working Families; J.J. Goldberg, The Forward; Amy Goodman, Democracy Now; Cantor Jonathan Gordon; William Hartung, New America Foundation;!Honorable Elizabeth Holtzman, former Congresswoman, author and attorney; Mark Johnson, Fellowship of Reconciliation/Olive Branch Interfaith Partners for Peace; Rokhl Kafrissen, Jewish Currents; Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America; Esther Kaplan, The Nation Institute; Robert Kaplan, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring; Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, scholar and poet; Rabbi Peter Knobel, Central Conference of American Rabbis; Charles Komano!, Carbon Tax Center; Steve Kretzmann, Oil Change International; Brad Lander, Pratt Center for Community"Development; Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives; Myriam Miedzian, author; Sammie Moshenberg, National Council of Jewish Women; Congressman Jerrold Nadler, (D-NY); Sue Niederer, Goldstar Families for Peace; Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights; Lilly Rivlin, Meretz USA; Rabbi Or Rose, Hebrew College; MJ Rosenberg, Israel Policy Forum; April Rosenblum, author; Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center"; Basya Schecter and “Pharaoh's Daughter”; Marty Schwartz, Workmen's Circle/
Arbeter Ring; Rabbi David Shneyer, Am Kolel; Dan Sieradski, Jewish Telegraphic Agency;
Dara Silverman, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice; Greg Speeter, National Priorities Project;
Ann"Toback, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring; Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center;
Rabbi Simkha Weintraub, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America.

Panel discussions and strategy workshops on:

-Building a Jewish Anti-War Activist Network
-Confronting the War in the Jewish Community: A Historic Moment of Opportunity
-Domestic Economic Consequences of the War and Peace
-Healing Veterans, Their Families and the Families of the War Dead
-Impacts of the Iraq War on Human Rights and Civil Liberties in the U.S.
-Impacts of the Iraq War on Peace and the Broader Middle East
-Oil, War and Climate Crisis
-Takhlis: Jewish Values, Texts and Organizing with Rabbis and Synagogues
-The Media and Changing Jewish Public Opinion

For further information:
jewsunitingtoendthewar@circle.org / 212-889-6800 ext. 274
Or register online at: www.circle.org/jewsuniting

Veterans' Poetry at Puffin Cultural Forum

2008-10-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Friday, November 7, 8 p.m.
POETRY: Vets Against War
Puffin Cultural Forum
20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ
201-836-3499

Vietnam veterans Jan Barry and Gerald McCarthy will headline this evening of anti-war poetry and solidarity with our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Other poets include Dayl Wise, Thomas Brinson, Jim Murphy, Walt Nygard, Sam Weinrab, and Michael Embrich.

This will also be an open mic event emceed by Walt Nygard (VP of Veterans for Peace, Northern NJ, Chapter 21). Free and open to the public.

For more information and directions: http://www.puffinfoundation.org/forum/forum_new/home.html

Turning Military Uniforms into Art

2008-10-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

A thought-provoking project by a band of Iraq veterans is to gather a group of vets and students at local colleges and shred military uniforms into handmade “combat paper”—which is then inscribed with images or messages designed by the vets.

For instance, Drew Cameron printed a poem over photos of a soldier shedding his uniform, titled “You Are Not My Enemy.” His work appears in a collection of poetry and art titled Warrior Writers: Re-Making Sense, published earlier this year by Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The Combat Paper Project is bringing this creative take on war memories to New Jersey on November 10-15 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Garden State vets are invited to participate in the workshops, which are free, at the Brodsky Center for Print and Paper.

“Veterans of wars in Iraq, Viet Nam, World War II and Bosnia, have contributed so far,” says Cameron, an Army vet of the Iraqi campaign who has helped lead more than a dozen such workshops across the country. “From each new participant, I take a piece of fabric and mix it into the lineage pulp. This pulp is then mixed in with each new batch of pulp, so a little piece of each vet’s uniform is in every new piece of paper made.”

Many of these recycled works of art have been shown in a number of art shows and galleries around the country. But the biggest artistic impact may be on the vet who shed the uniform. “The Combat Paper Project gives vets a chance to fight back against their trauma — taking the horrors of war from the battlefield into the studio, sharing their experiences with other veterans, and remaking those experiences into something entirely new,” writer Julia Rappaport noted in a perceptive news report (“Scars & Stripes,” 9/25/08) in the Boston Phoenix.

“The story of the fiber, the blood, sweat and tears, the months of hardship and brutal violence are held within those old uniforms. The uniforms often become inhabitants of closets or boxes in the attic. Reclaiming that association of subordination, of warfare and service into something collective and beautiful is our inspiration,” says Cameron, who founded the Combat Paper Project in Burlington, Vermont with fellow artist Drew Matott.

Cameron, Matott and other papermaking veterans will be at Rutgers November 10–15 at the Judith K. and David J. Brodsky Center for Print and Paper in the Department of Visual Arts, Mason Gross School of the Arts, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. They will conduct a combat paper workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday with area veterans and students, followed by an evening of readings and performances on Friday. To sign up, call 732-932-2222 ext 838 or email Cameron at drewcameron@combatpaper.org.

For more information: http://www.combatpaper.org/index.html

Another Move to Bring NJ Soldiers Home

2008-10-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

The Teaneck town council sent a message this week to Washington that it wants the NJ National Guard out of Iraq. Last month, about half of the state’s National Guard members began shipping out to Iraq, many for a second tour in the war. As host community for a National Guard armory, Teaneck has debated the war since the Bush administration invaded Iraq. Reflecting the course of that debate, the council voted 4-3 on Tuesday to support a bill in the state legislature that calls for keeping the National Guard in the state, unless Congress declares war.

“I think it is part of our responsibility to advocate on behalf of our residents,” Mayor Michael Feit replied to a councilman who questioned the legality of local government addressing a national issue. Councilman Adam Gussen said he felt the message the council majority wanted to send should be directed to Congress, but not via a local resolution in support of a state bill. A local American Legion leader spoke against the resolution from the audience, arguing that "it does not reflect the entire township" and in particular members of his veterans' group.

Teaneck’s resolution was based on one passed by Highland Park in August. The municipal resolutions support bills introduced earlier this year by state Senator Loretta Weinberg (SJR55) and Assemblywomen Connie Wagner and Valerie Huttle (AJR89). The bills challenge Bush’s authority to order National Guard troops to Iraq, arguing that the U.S. Senate’s 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq has expired.

Paula Rogovin, a leader of Military Families Speak Out, Bergen County and other peace activists in the audience applauded the Teaneck council vote. The next step, Rogovin said after the meeting, is to lobby state legislators to hold hearings and approve the National Guard bill.

“The premise of the bill is simple,” Weinberg said last month as she joined peace activists outside the Teaneck Armory to present a petition with over 4000 signatures to a representative of Governor Corzine that calls for keeping NJ’s National Guard in New Jersey. “The National Guard was called up under an Iraqi threat posed by Weapons of Mass Destruction. There were no weapons, and Iraq’s military has been defeated. There is no threat left for the National Guard to defend us from."

For more information: http://www.bringhometheguard.org/

WE NEED YOU

2008-09-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Vets for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, NJ Peace Action and other peace groups are mobilizing a campaign to bring National Guard units home from Iraq. The next step is to seek resolutions of support from local governments for a bill in the New Jersey Legislature to challenge the Bush administration's misuse of the National Guard in prolonging a reckless war. Activists in Teaneck plan to raise this issue with the town council next week.

WE NEED YOU.
On September 23, we will call on the Teaneck Town Council to pass a resolution of support for Senate Joint Resolution 55, a resolution in the NJ State Legislature. SJR55 explains that the 2002 Congressional Authorization for the use of the National Guard in Iraq has expired and insists that the Governor take action to bring the NJ Guard Home from Iraq NOW and keep them and their equipment here for the safety of the people of NJ (and other states when necessary). We all know that THE NJ NATIONAL GUARD IS A LOCAL ISSUE. It's time for the Teaneck Town Council to take a stand. Of course, we continue with our larger demands: Support the troops, Bring all of the troops home now, Bring the contractor army (of 180,000) home now, take care of our troops when they get here.

Please let us know if you will attend the meeting and if you are willing to speak during Good and Welfare. Please respond to this by hitting reply. Thanks.
_______ Yes, I will attend the September 23 meeting of the Teaneck Town Council. 8:00 pm. Municipal Building. Teaneck Road and Cedar Lane.
_______ Yes, I will speak about this resolution during Good and Welfare.

We are continuing the petition drive calling on other municipal and county governments, as well as members of the NJ Legislature and Governor Corzine to support legislation SJR55. Let us know if you would like to get your municipal government to introduce a resolution. To get more information, sign on-line or download the petition, and get a copy of SJR55 go to www.bringhometheguard.org or www.bergenjustice.net. Please return completed copies of the petition at the Wednesday vigils.

George (age 95!), a World War II veteran, and member of the Wednesday vigil, has been concerned about the numbers of troops wounded in Iraq. Here is some data and a link to www.anti-war.com/casualties. The exact numbers are not known. Injuries such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury, depleted uranium poisoning from US weapons, are not even counted. American Wounded: Official: 30,634, Estimated: Over 100,000.

Peace NOW!
Paula Rogovin, Military Families Speak Out, Bergen County. www.mfsobergencounty.org
paula.rogovin@verizon.net