MFSO member Marcia Westbrook is asking for support for this 5K event! This 5k and kids’ race will raise money toward THE MATTHEW RAIRDON SCHOLARSHIP FUND –
When preparing to go to college, Matt was extremely appreciative to receive a scholarship to attend St. Joseph’s College. The intent of this scholarship fund is to help other people who want to pursue a nursing education at St. Joseph’s College in the future.

Matthew Steven Rairdon’s life was tragically taken from us on November 30th, 2013. Matt was born on July 17, 1991 to his loving parents, Gary & Laurie (Wescott) Rairdon. Matthew was a devoted son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and cherished friend by so many. Matthew was a 2009 graduate of Westbrook High School and a recent graduate of St. Joseph’s College with a degree in the nursing program. Because of who he was and the legacy he has left us, Matt will always live among us, a bright star shining in our darkest moments. Find out more

Donations may be made directly to “The Matthew Rairdon Scholarship Fund” at: Evergreen Credit Union c/o Pauline Campbell, P.O. Box 1038, Portland ME, 04104-1038

Military Families Speak Out is joining with organizations throughout the country and the world in support of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS).  This year, April 5-18, have been designated as days to support moving the money from out-of-control military spending to life-affirming, sustainable human needs. 

Our special role as members of Military Families Speak Out is to point out the human costs of these wars, as we know them personally.  This campaign raises awareness about the insane amounts of money spent on wars and weapons demanding it be redirected to care for our veterans and the needs of our communities – jobs, education, health care, infrastructure improvements, climate change and other pressing human needs. 

There are many ways interested members can participate.   Here’s a fun one!!     

Between now and April 15^th  Post a Selfie – Telling Us What You Think!  We invite you to:

1)      Take a photo or video of yourself holding a “Taxes – What Are They Good For?” or “What They Are Not Good For” sign with your message in the blank space. Perhaps in front of what you want to fund. (Blank signs are available online or make your own.) Or just type your comments and post them on our TAXE$ Facebook event page at this link.

2)      Post your photo or comment on our “Taxes – What Are They Good For?” event page with notes you want to add. (http://bit.ly/TaxesWhat )

3)      Invite friends and others to post their messages on the Page. (http://bit.ly/TaxesWhat)

4)      Come back to the Page and see what others are posting. 

Members can also organize an event in your community or work in coalition with other organizations on an event such as a rally, meetings with elected officials, forums, etc. 

National Priorities Project (www.Nationalpriorities.org ) has excellent resources for information about our overwhelming military spending at the expense of Americans needs here at home.  For example, if you go to that website and go to data/tools, then click on trade-offs, you will see a chart. You can get information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its financial cost to taxpayers in the United States, your state, your county, and in your city. This information and other data on the website can be useful for a flyer, a fact-sheet, a class at a school, a poster, or elsewhere.

Please notify Pat Alviso (mfso-oc@earthlink.net )of any events you are planning so they can be posted on the MFSO Facebook page and website. Take pictures and write a short article for the next MFSO newsletter. Send those toPaularogovin3@gmail.com.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is committed to supporting and raising awareness for our service members who have experienced sexual trauma during their time in the military. Sexual assault and harassment that occurs during military service is referred to as Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

A 2014 study found that about 1 in 20 women and about just under 1 in 100 men have been the victim of MST during their time in the military. However, many of those who are affected by MST while serving do not report and are oftentimes worried about the stigma attached to their suffering. This fear can cause increased isolation, making it hard to reach and treat those who have survived MST. 

If you or someone you know has a history of Military Sexual Trauma, please contact IAVA’s Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP). Our trained social workers are available to connect veterans to best in class resources with care and sensitivity, and will support veterans every step of the way. To get connected to RRRP, please call 1-855-91-RAPID, emailtransition@iava.org, or click here.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is issuing a call for action to protest the continued US military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, for the use of diplomacy, and for the government to take care of our service members and veterans. If you have an upcoming action or an on-going vigil in your community, please, please send information about it to MFSO-OC@earthlink.net so that it can be posted on the MFSO website, the MFSO Facebook page, and the MFSO newsletter.

We understand that you might be the only MFSO member in your community. That’s okay. Many MFSO members are doing very important work in coalition with other organizations in their communities. Our participation and our stories, our perspective is so important.

If you have participated in any action want to know about those events. Often, we can help you support these events. These could be on-going vigils, demonstrations, rallies, forums, film showings, lobbying efforts, letters to editors, your participation in campaign  etc. Your participation may even lead to finding new members for MFSO. Thanks so much for your work.

When you send information, please list:

• Name of the event
• Goals, demands, issues for the event
• Date, time, location, including City or town
• Co-sponsoring groups
• Contact information, if available
• Photos, if available

The activists, who include local residents and military veterans, said the United States should help because of its tradition of humanitarianism and welcoming immigrants, but also because of this country’s role in conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

“Republican candidates and governors have said we don’t want refugees from that region, but U.S. policy has actually created a lot of the refugee crisis,” said Paula Rogovin, co-founder of the weekly vigil, which marked 539 consecutive weeks on Wednesday.

She added, “It’s a terrible thing to say that your country is responsible for creating such a crisis, but it’s true and we have to take responsibility.”

The vigil was held outside the Teaneck Armory at the corner of Teaneck and Liberty roads, where eight people stood with signs and a bull horn, getting some honks of support from passing cars. The vigil participants included members of the Bergen County chapter of Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 21.

The group also chose to focus on refugees to counter the heated rhetoric about those coming into the United States from Syria, participants said. Some governors and Republican presidential contenders, including New Jersey’s Chris Christie, have argued that the United States should not take in Syrians because terrorists could be hiding among them and because they don’t trust the screening process.

The Obama administration, though, has argued that refugees must go through a long and thorough vetting process and that the United States has a moral obligation to help.

Norman Fisher, of Teaneck, who was at the vigil, agreed that the country should offer help. “That’s what this country is about – people coming here to better their lives,” he said.

Frank Wagner, a Vietnam veteran, said the Iraq war sent millions of people fleeing to neighboring countries while the war itself “created monsters over there with ISIS.”

The people fleeing just want safety, he said. “They’re human beings,” Wagner said. “Whether they’re from another part of the world, who cares?”

Gov. Christie has said he does not want Syrian refugees placed in New Jersey due to security concerns, but he has acknowledged that he does not have the power to stop their resettlement because immigration is handled by the federal government and not states. So far, around 80 have been resettled in New Jersey since the start of the conflict there nearly five years ago.

Altogether, millions of people have fled fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan amid war, bombings and the spread of the Islamic State extremist group.

Article first published on NewJersey.com 

We are very sad to hear that that since the recent influx of troops and airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the first US soldier was killed today. This soldier’s is the first American to die in combat in Iraq in four years. And so another American has died in this administrations futile attempt to stabilize a country that we never should have attacked in the first place.

Before more troops and airstrikes were sent to Iraq last year, MFSO warned this administration that if more troops were killed in Iraq, it would likely cause us to slide down that “slippery slope” of deepening our involvement in Iraq. And although Press Secretary Peter Cook called the raid “unique” and said, “US forces are not in an active combat mission in Iraq”, they actually are in combat and we believe this could be the beginning of further involvement. This brings the total of US troops that have been killed in Iraq to 4,494.

Sadly, all this comes on the heels of President Obama’s recent announcement, one we had all been dreading, that he was extending American troops presence in Afghanistan- a decision that looks more and more like we will have our troops there beyond the Obama administration. Please take a moment to read MFSO member Larry Seyverson’s interview, which he conducted  the day after Pres. Obama’s announcement. Larry speaks for all of us when he describes how military families feel about keeping our troops  in Afghanistan and he expresses our despair of being dragged deeper and ever closer into “endless wars”.

10/07/2015

Fourteen years ago today, the United States attacked Afghanistan; this was the beginning of the longest war in U.S. history.  After years of war and nothing to show for it, the public was told last June, that the war in Afghanistan was finally winding down, ground troops would be phased out and our troops would be limited to  advisory roles only. Instead, we mark this day with sadness and alarm after the recent US bombing of the only functional medical facility in the Afghan city of Kunduz. We were horrified to learn that this Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed repeatedly, even though staffers had informed the US and Afghan military officials of its GPS coordinates several times. Over 22 patients and hospital staff died, including children that were helplessly engulfed in flames after bombs set the hospital on fire. The Taliban now describes our troops as “barbaric American forces”, and in the eyes of the international community, we have sunk to a new low.

Last week, the LA Times reported that officials from the Obama administration had privately acknowledged that “airstrikes and violent raids in civilian areas help fuel support for insurgents” ¹, so, the Obama administration could not have made a worse decision than to send “advisers” out on combat missions again.  Instead of removing all of our troops from Afghanistan, as we and so many Americans urged, this decision resulted in a major humanitarian catastrophe, a crime against humanity.

Join MFSO by calling President Obama today and demanding that he end all combat operations, including airstrikes, and bring all of our troops home now.  Tell President Obama that every day our loved ones are put in the position of fighting these wars, the result can only be more deaths, injuries, and the inevitable moral injury our troops have endured for fourteen years. This is enough!

MFSO calls on the American people to rise up and demand an end to the war in Afghanistan now!  March, vigil, rally, and be sure to voice your demands today- the 14^th year of the war in Afghanistan.

Call President Obama today: 202-456-1111