My Thoughts on Veterans Day AKA Armistice Day
I feel like a zombie. I don’t look dead or crave human brains for my next meal. I must look like my former self because people still recognize me …maybe just older and somewhat detached. I get up each day, do the usual things and go to sleep at night. Life goes on for everyone else and my anti-depressant dose is double what it used to be.
Everything appears normal on the outside, but a zombie resides inside of me. For the ??? time since 9/11 a pierce of my heart is deployed. I quit counting how many times my sons have been deployed. Such is the life of a triple Blue Star Mother.
“Sure I’m proud of their accomplishments”, I reply to well meaning people that ask about my sons. And, “Yes. They enlisted”, I answer those who are trying to make the point that they must want to be deployed. But those facts don’t matter a bit to a mother who is worried sick about her child’s life while he is deployed fighting in a war we know should never have happened in the first place .
Today, on the day we used to call Armistice Day, I will honor all my loved ones living and dead at the 11th hour, and pray that every military family finds peace. Tomorrow I will go back to being a zombie because others who are not carrying my load will go back to business as usual. I know many of my brothers and sisters in MFSO and other peace groups like Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War will continue doing the work needed to bring peace and I will have to let others carry my load while I am in the zombie mode where I need to stay until I know my son is home again and safe.
That is the way I roll. That is how others I know in Military Families Speak Out roll too. I am eternally grateful for the support from MFSO because they know what is in my heart. Thank you. I couldn’t make it without you.
Marcia Westbrook
Military Families Speak Out
West Virginia
Zero Troops in Afghanistan, Keep the Pressure On!!
Zero Troops in Afghanistan-Keep the Pressure On
This is an urgent appeal to all peace and justice organizations:
Please unite with Military Families Speak Out to stop the Bilateral Security Agreement from getting signed by Pres. Obama and the new president of Afghanistan. If signed, our troops could remain for another 10 years.
You can help by working with groups in your community to plan a special event (s) in the coming weeks that calls attention to SR 347* and the Zero Troops campaign** http://www.mfso.org Here are some ideas:
-
Teaneck NJ Peace Vigil Hold rallies and/or Special Vigils ( see mfso.org for signs, dimensions, logos etc.)
- Organize a special march or picket at a popular location- outside a shopping center, major traffic area or congressional office.
- Rent a bill board, bus stop sign or ask to leave a sign or flyer at friendly business, office or post a flyer where yard signs are in your neighborhood
- Do a Banner drop ( legal if held), hold a banner over a freeway over pass during rush hour
- Project an image on a wall in a high traffic area about Zero Troops in Afghanistan. A simple sign such as “Enough! Zero Troops in Afghanistan! mfso.org” says it all
- Host a postcard party. (Postcards are online at mfso.org and are pre- addressed to the White House) Download Postcard
- Do a special demonstration by making “Zero Troops in Afghanistan” letter signs and do the wave in a high traffic area. Each person holds up one letter. This project can usually be added to any local vigil and most are very happy to have more people there
- Plan a car procession with signs on cars and drive through a neighborhood or along a major boulevard.
- Host a speaker to talk about why we need to stop the Bilateral Security Agreement from being signed.
- Create a calling list of people who are willing to call your senator about supporting SR 347 in succession one right after the other or the White House on “We want zero troops in Afghanistan”. ( Armchair organizing works too!)*
- Host a ZTA Party. Show a film such as The Ground Truth or Thomas Young’s powerful movie “Body of War”. Pass out postcards
- Organize a ZTA work party to send Zeros or other symbols to the White House. Be creative
- Get someone from your group to interview people on the street and ask them, “So how many troops do you think should be left in Afghanistan?” You should get an overwhelming amount of answers like “Zero” or, “What? I thought that was over” etc.” All good. Post on youtube.
Whatever you do, make sure and post it on our website at mfso.org, YouTube, blog about it/ or send a press release. Hold a press conference before your event, facebook and freeway blog your action.(See press release at mfso.org). Draft Press Release at http://www.mfso.org To make this action spread nationwide, please call a friend in another state and ask if they will do an action on this week in solidarity.
Need help call/email MFSO at mfso@mfso.org 562-597-3980 or 562-833-8035
*SR237 http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-resolution/347
** Zero petition http://org.salsalabs.com/o/161/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15316
Zero Troops in Afghanistan
The American people overwhelmingly agree:
ZERO Troops in Afghanistan! Bring the War Dollars Home!
All of our troops can finally come home from Afghanistan in 2014, as promised, UNLESS the U.S. & Afghanistan governments sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). The U.S. government is practically begging the Afghanistan government to let the U.S. military remain in Afghanistan until at least 2024! The American people in overwhelming numbers say NO! Bring the troops home! Bring the war dollars home!
The two leading presidential candidates in the April 5 election have agreed to sign the BSA agreement, but WE THE PEOPLE know the decision allowing American troops to remain in Afghanistan should not belong to either the new Afghanistan President nor President Obama – it belongs to the American and Afghan people.
We must tell President Obama:
“THE CORRECT NUMBER OF TROOPS LEFT IN AFGHANISTAN IS ZERO!”
SPEAK OUT. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY
- Signing the on-line petition calling for ZERO Troops in Afghanistan!
- Asking your organization to co-sponsor this petition.
- Sharing the ZERO Troops in Afghanistan! petition on Facebook, twitter & other social media and “ comment, like and share”
- E-mailing this flyer to your contacts & circulate in your community. Ask others to help
- Download Flyer
- Calling or e-mailing President Obama: 202-456-1111.e-mail: www.whitehouse.gov/contact or tweet @BarackObama
Tell him: ZERO Troops in Afghanistan! All troops home in 2014. Don’t sign a Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan. Bring the war dollars home! - Writing letters to newspapers or blogs and send postcards.
- Planning local vigils or other actions. Send pictures of actions to MFSO@MFSO.org.
Announcing Zero Troops Week of Action
Week of Action Photos and Reports
Help us deliver 50,000 petitions to the White House!
For more info and action ideas, go to: Peace Action (www.Peace-Action.org ) and Military Families Speak Out (www.MFSO.org) 562-833-8035
Sponsors: Peace Action (www.Peace-Action.org )*Military Families Speak Out (www.MFSO.org), Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, US Labor Against the War, United for Peace and Justice * PeaceHome Campaigns * Progressive Democrats of America – End War & Occupation * Jobs Not War * Teaneck Peace Vigil/NJ* Indiana Peace and Justice * LA Resist * War is a Crime/David Swanson * Intercommunity J&P Ctr Cincinnati, Topanga Peace Alliance, LBA Peace Network, OC Peace Coalition, CODEPINK, Women of Color in the Global Strike, Margaret Prescod, Global Women’s Strike, Every Mother is a Working Mother Network, Queer Strike, US PROstitutes Collective, Pay Day Men’s Network.
David Swanson to Speak on Ending All Wars
Teaneck Vigil Earns Honor for Antiwar Efforts
Teaneck vigil earns honor for antiwar efforts
TEANECK – Since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, local activists have gathered in Teaneck to call for an end to war. Once a month, the group would stand at the corner of Cedar Lane and Teaneck Road, with signs protesting the war and calling for peace.
In 2005, the Teaneck Peace Vigil moved to its present location just outside the Teaneck Armory, where it has gathered for more than 450 consecutive weeks.
Later this month, the vigil will be honored at New Jersey Peace Action’s annual dinner for its longstanding antiwar efforts.
Now sponsored by Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 21-NJ and residents of Bergen County, vigil members stand on the corner every Wednesday afternoon, through snowstorms, rain and bitterly cold and extremely hot days.
The Teaneck Peace Vigil has worked closely with New Jersey Peace Action through the years, said Paula Rogovin, a Teaneck resident and one of the founders of the group. During the group’s larger vigils, Madelyn Hoffman, the executive director of New Jersey Peace Action, has come and spoken, and the groups have also walked together over the George Washington Bridge to participate in marches in New York City.
While she appreciates the honor, Rogovin said she wishes it were celebrating the end of the need for the vigil.
“I wish it was a joyous event honoring us and our work, but our vigil is going to continue until the War in Afghanistan is over and we’re at a point right now where we fear the war will be extended, so it’s kind of bittersweet,” she said.
Currently the vigil is working with several national groups on a campaign called “Zero Troops in Afghanistan,” to press for all troops to return home now.
Over the years, Rogovin said, she believes the vigil has made a difference by getting people to think and speak about wars that often do not get much press coverage and have not personally touched many lives.
“Only a small percentage of American families have a family member in the military, and the media does not cover these issues. They get pushed aside. We have called it to the attention of the public,” she said. “When we’re standing there on that corner every Wednesday, there are hundreds of people who drive by. Some wave, or call out the window in support, and what happens is the people in those cars and buses have conversations, and in many cases those conversations are continued at home.”
People who have participated in the vigil, some who never got involved in protests or demonstrations before, have gone on to participate in other antiwar efforts, joining Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out. Some have worked with the group Warrior Writers, a non-profit that helps veterans articulate their experiences or joined the Combat Paper Project, which makes paper from veterans’ uniforms, and then uses the paper for art and poetry.
One couple that has been a fixture at the weekly vigil is Mary and Henry Shoiket, 99 and 95 respectfully. They’ve been activists for decades and are at the corner each week no matter what the weather. This winter they could be seen standing in a foot of snow with Henry shouting his familiar chant into his bullhorn.
In a press release, Hoffman said the organization chose to honor the Teaneck vigil for its years of dedication to the antiwar campaign.
“The Teaneck Peace Vigil is not solely an antiwar vigil on a street corner,” she said. “It is a weekly reminder about the wars, which are largely not covered in the news. Over time, thousands of people have seen the vigil as they walked or went by in cars, buses, and trucks.”
The April 27 dinner will also feature Sharon Dolev, the founder and director of the Israeli Disarmament Movement, who is receiving the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker award. The Israeli Disarmament Movement supports a nuclear weapons ban, the establishment of a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East and backs the Arab Peace Initiative. Dolev has worked as the director of Greenpeace in Israel and as a disarmament campaigner. She will be speaking on the topic: “Cooling the Hot Spot: a Nuclear Weapons Free Middle East.”
Also being honored that evening is José Santiago, the former news director of WBAI, who will receive the Sylvia & Oscar Ackelsberg Peace Award for his longtime work to publicize the efforts of grass roots activists in New Jersey and New York.
Email: burrow@northjersey.com
The annual dinner will be held at the Regency House, 140 Route 23, North Pompton Plains. Reservations are required. Visit njpeaceaction.org or call 973 259 1126. Dinner tickets are $75.
– See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/vigil-earns-honor-for-antiwar-efforts-1.1001229#sthash.wrUHz4ib.R39K9guk.dpuf
MFSO joins womens day Rally in Los Angeles
MSFO Steering Committee chair Pat Alviso spoke at the rally.
Watch:
A Note from our New MFSO Office in Long Beach, CA
After months of planning, organizing and working with the previous MFSO staff, we are proud to announce that the national organization of Military Families Speak Out is up and running once again! We bring to this rebuild project a renewed energy and commitment to our message- “Support the Troops, Bring our Them Home Now and Take Care of Them When They Get Here”. We are here because we have loved ones in the military and refuse to be silent and do nothing while our families continue to be deployed to Afghanistan.
Where we are…..
The new MFSO office is located right behind the home of Pat Alvlso and Jeff Merrick in Long Beach, CA. and is set up with donated office equipment given to us by local members of MFSO and Veterans for Peace. Our address is 775 Havana Ave., Long Beach, CA 90804. You can reach the office at or email us at mfso@mfso.org. Pat, Jeff and Tina Lopez, (MFSO steering committee member Long Beach, CA) will be checking and responding to all emails as needed. You may also call us at 562-597-3980.
Who we are and what we’ve done so far…….
We have a total of 15 members from across the country that have agreed to be responsible to complete the many tasks that are required in order to keep MFSO running. This group has volunteered to meet twice a month by phone for now and then later on a monthly basis to make important decisions that will keep us operational and create a powerful voice until all combat troops come home from Afghanistan- at least until December 2014. Soon the names of these volunteers and their area of responsibility will be posted on our website.
The major reconstruction work of setting up and updating our website has begun and will continue to be handled by Dede Miller, (Goldstar Families Speak Out member, Bellflower,CA). We are grateful for the work Dede has put into making our website operational and once again relevant. Please visit our new website at mfso.org. Dede will continue to add more information, as needed, along with the latest information on campaigns, reports, calls to action and stories from you. Your submissions and comments will be appreciated.
We also invite you and your friends to join our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
As a result of Paula Rogovin’s leadership, (former board member, New Jersey), we have determined that our first campaign should be about stopping the new security agreement that is being discussed in Washington between the US and Afghanistan. If this new agreement is signed by both parties it could allow our troops to stay in this unjust war for another ten years! We invite you to put all the energy you can to support this campaign by getting other like minded organizations, friends, and your local representatives in congress to participate. Below you will find more information about the campaign and suggestions on what you can do to stop the treaty from happening.
We look forward to hearing from all of you and ask you to renew your commitment help bring our troops home now. We know that at least 75% of the American people agree with our position that our troops need to come home. We believe that no possible good can come from us staying in Afghanistan another day. We will need you to help us harness this energy, mobilize and not let the public forget that our troops are still out being deployed and need to come home now.
We encourage you to read the letter below and take action now.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?
Dear Military Family Members,
Can you believe it? The U.S. government is literally begging the Afghanistan government to allow us to keep our combat troops in Afghanistan until 2024! It will be our daughters, sons, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and other family members in the military (and Afghan civilians) who will pay the price. Once again the American people will be used to pay the billions of dollars to pay these bills.
This is an emergency and Military Families Speak Out and veterans must mobilize now and demand that all combat troops be out of Afghanistan in 2014! Please, please look below to see how you can help stop this war.
What MFSO members and friends can do
1. Contact the following people and insist that we bring all combat troops home in 2014.
President Barack Obama. 202-246-1111
Secretary of State John Kerry. 202-647-4000 or go to his website: US.state.gov. Then click on “e-mail a question” or “comment” and demand a full withdrawal of our troops .
Your members of the House and Senate in Congress. 202-224-3121
2. Set up a meeting at the local office of your members of Congress. If you are the only MFSO member or you have only a small group in your area, work with veterans and other peace activists to join you.
3. Below you will find a letter that you can mail, post on social media or email. This letter is taken in part from a letter we have also included from congress members Barbara Lee, Walter Jones and James McGovern and changed so that it fits within our mission statement. Attached we have included the original letter from the three congress members, which allows for a later date for withdrawal and wiggle room for the president to get congressional approval, but we wanted you to see that there is support from some members of congress to end this war. We encourage you to write your own letter, of course, and send it out. BE sure to mention if you have or had a loved one in the military.
4. Newspapers and other media- consider sending letters to newspaper editorial sections or as an ad.
5. Vigil. If there is still a local peace vigil in your community, ask if you can hand out flyers about this effort. Make signs and flyers. Do let MSFO know about vigils and send any flyers or copies of signs so we can help spread the word.
6. If you have other suggestions for actions please contact us at MFSO@MFSO.org
Letter from MFSO
Dear Mr. President:
The war in Afghanistan is in its 13th year, and the need to bring our troops home could not be any clearer. President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan suggested in a recent interview that he would be willing to see the permanent exit of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. President Karzai has also repeatedly stated that he sees no potential security benefit from an enduring U.S. security mission.
Lacking a supportive and viable political partner in Afghanistan, there simply is no military solution American troops can achieve, and extending U.S. troop presence will not serve vital U.S. security goals. Why lose additional lives for an openly hostile and corrupt Afghan government?
The U.S. simply no longer has compelling security interests in Afghanistan that justifies combat troops beyond December 2014. Furthermore, as coalition forces withdraw from Afghanistan, U.S.-funded reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars will soon be inaccessible for safe inspection, raising serious questions about our responsibility to conduct vigorous oversight of taxpayer supported efforts.
There is a growing bipartisan sentiment across the country for an expedited end of military activities in Afghanistan. After over twelve years of war, after the loss of lies of thousands of our loved ones, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, it is time to bring an end to the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and bring all of our troops home now.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Military Families Speak Out
Pat Alviso & Jeff Merrick
Military Families Speak Out
Orange County & South Bay Chapter
www.mfsooc.org
562-833-8035
Support Our Troops
Bring Them Home Now!
Take Care of Them After They Get Home
Continuing the Work: Military Families Working Group
As you may have heard, in a few months MFSO, the non-profit organization, will officially close down. The bank account will be closed, the Board of Directors will disband, and the not-for-profit status will be ended – freeing MFSO of complicated tax, insurance, and other financial and other problems which have bogged down the Board over the last few years.
Fortunately, there is a group of MFSO members who have the energy and who are working to develop a plan so that we can continue as an all-volunteer organization, not as a non-profit. This newly restructured organization will allow military families to effectively move forward with the mission statement MFSO has had since the build-up of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, “Support the troops, bring them home now, and take care of them when they get home.”
Under this plan, military families could continue to lobby members of congress locally and nationally, continue sharing our stories with the media, holding vigils, participating in protests against the war in Afghanistan, working to support families who are in crisis while their loved ones continue or consider joining the military, and working with other peace and justice groups locally and nationally.
At this point, we have a number of MFSO members who have unified with this goal in mind and plan to participate in a MilitaryFamilies working
If you want to be part of this MilitaryFamilies
Thanks so much.
Pat Alviso, Jeff Merrick, Rossana Cambron, California
Military Families Speak Out, Orange County & South Bay Chapter
www.mfsooc.org
562-597-3980