It’s the time of year that we make our annual appeal for funds.  Every dollar is thoughtfully managed and put to good use. Your generous support has made our vital work possible.

2021 has been a challenging year. With the support of our families, our steadfast allies and you, we are motivated to work harder in 2022 to bring all remaining US troops out of the Syria and Iraq.  After 20 years of the ‘forever war” in Afghanistan, we military families were beyond relieved that our troops finally began withdrawing last August 31^st. MFSO’s Welcome Home Campaign was not only yellow ribbons and banners, but rather a challenge to bring all of our troops home, and a stern reminder for the public that for many military families, the war is not over. (View video here) Our loved ones will continue to struggle with suicide and PTS; injuries that are physical, psychological, and moral, and we understand full well that military families are on the front lines for taking care of our troops when they return.

Within the MFSO organization strong bonds exist that hold us together because of our shared experience. Although our hearts ache every day our troops remain in harm’s way, MFSO provides us with a safe place to express our hurts with others who understand.  Over the years the support we have received from our friends has empowered us to stay in the struggle and do all we can to reduce the shameful daily average of 17 veteran suicides and advocate for improved services for veterans and military families. We recognize that to really stop endless wars we need to get to the root of the problem and work hard to repeal both AUMFs- that is the Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

You can help us continue to have our voices heard. MFSO partners with many other organizations such as Veterans for Peace, The Poor People’s Campaign, About Face, United US Deported Veterans, United for Peace and Justice and Win Without War to bring the voices of our loved ones to light.  But it’s not enough. Going forward takes commitment and money. We have no membership dues, only each other and you.

For over 19 years MFSO has provided a unique voice and steadfast presence, amplifying the voices of military families who choose to speak out against the endless wars – sometimes even risking their relationships with family.

Won’t you please consider making a one-time tax-deductible donation this year or support the work military families do every day by becoming a monthly sustaining contributor?  Your donations will help MFSO grow stronger and ensure our plans for next year will become a reality.  Donation

Also, please consider offering the gift of your time.  If you can assist with our social media, a monthly newsletter, or other small task, please contact us at mfsooc@earthlink.net /562-833-8035

Let’s work together to make 2022 the year that we repeal the AUMFs, so we bring all our troops come home and that the people in our country and the Middle East can begin the task of healing.

Military Families Speak Out
The MFSO Board
Arturo Cambron, Diane Picotte-Haberdank, Melissa Castaneda, Robert Vivar, Ellen Barfield, Don Kimball, Bill Schuerer, Pat Alviso, Jeff Merrick, Kharis Murphy

Like many other non-profits, our ability to raise operating funds has been impacted by COVID-19.  We had planned on participating in many events this year and have a surplus of t-shirts that we have not been able to sell at our usual tabling events.  Please consider helping us spead the word about MFSO and our mission by purchasing and wearing your MFSO T-Shirt!

Available in all adult sizes in either white or black.

To donate by check, please make your check out to MFSO and send to:

On July 18th, 2020, the 18th Annual Peacestock: A Gathering for Peace will take place virtually at 1pm via Zoom. Register here.
What is Peacestock?
Peacestock is a mixture of speakers, activists, and musicians. Peacestock features timely topics and seeks speakers who are well respected on those topics. Browse the archives of previous Peacestock festivals for reference, and watch video of our speakers.
Where can I register for the 2020 virtual event?
Register here: peacestockvfp.org/tickets
Who organizes Peacestock?
Peacestock is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 115, in Red Wing and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27, in Minneapolis, and has a peace-themed agenda.
Where can I connect to Peacestock on Social Media?
Facebook users: Please join our Peacestock Facebook page, found at https://facebook.com/peacestock
Twitter users: Please follow our Twitter account @peacestock, found at https://twitter.com/peacestock

Welcome to the VFP 2020 Online Convention!
We are excited to announce Veterans For Peace’s first Online Convention! We know that many of us will miss being able to greet each other in person but we also know that each and every one of us wants to make sure all of our members are safe and healthy. Convention will take place from August 2nd-9th, with the theme “Human Rights over Nuclear Might”. Since our founding, Veterans For Peace has had it in our goals “to end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons” and the week will mark the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion of all time at the Trinity Site, New Mexico, which occurred on July 16, 1945).

While we are so disappointed to not connect with everyone in person, we also see the amazing opportunity this presents for our organization. We see this as an opportunity to broaden our audience to many folks who have been unable to join us in person and to expand the possibilities of who may be able to participate and present for our workshops. Everyone in New Mexico has been amazingly generous and allowed us to rebook everything for 2021, so we will not miss out on the opportunity to gather in New Mexico next year!

We are busy making plans on an amazing array of workshops and plenaries and even creative ways to incorporate some social times. This year’s convention will highlight work being done to address nuclear weapons as well as nuclear colonialism and broader topics such as what decolonizing the peace movement looks like and highlight some of the amazing work being done within Veterans For Peace. We will be updating this website in the coming months with more information, which will include options on how to learn and navigate the convention technology. We will be doing our best to make sure that everyone who wants to participate will be able to have the technological support needed. Stay tuned for more details!
Signed,
2020 Online Convention Committee

Robert Vivar, MFSO board member and co-founder and co director United US Deported Veterans was interviewed on Via Voices last week. After living 40 years in the US, he was deported in 2014. His son is active duty Army and grandson recently enlisted in the US Marine Corps and so Robert works daily to help veterans before and after they’re deported. Take a listen to his recent interview on Via Voices and share our gratitude for the incredible work of our MFSO board member and humanitarian activist is doing. https://youtu.be/QcTh8jHxnqs

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After 17 years of military intervention resulting in the needless loss of lives and trillions of dollars spent on endless wars, the Trump Administration has requested options from the military for withdrawal plans, including a complete withdrawal. This means we could be seeing the end of the war in Afghanistan finally within our reach.  This, along with the order for the complete withdrawal of troops from Syria and the scaling back of support to the Saudi action in Yemen is a good sign that even this administration is recognizing the futility of continuing all of these wars.

MFSO has always been at the forefront of this struggle, and is well poised to push hard this coming year to be the voice that can make a difference in finally getting all of our troops home and back in the arms of their loved ones. And so we begin the New Year with a campaign to lobby members of Congress and tell the story of the human cost of war- the story that our members know personally.

The voices of our active duty military, veterans and their families must be heard.  We are the people, along with millions of civilians in these war-torn countries, who have paid the price, and continue to pay the price, of a senseless U.S. foreign policy.

As you know, bringing all of our troops home has always been the main goal of MFSO, and our members are in a unique position to demonstrate the reality of war. By speaking from experience, we bring the reality of war home – death, lifelong injuries, post-traumatic stress, moral injury, suicide, traumatic brain injury, and much more.

We firmly believe that our families have been instrumental in getting the country on our side, so that the majority of Americans now understand that these wars do not make us safer, but in fact, have created more enemies for us.

In our concerted effort to end the war in Afghanistan, we ask for your help to continue this arduous work. Pease consider making a one-time donation to MFSO. If you have not already joined the growing list of sustained donors, please consider doing so. We are an all volunteer organization, without dues, and no hired staff. By supporting Military Families Speak Out, your tax deductible donation goes directly into funding actions that promote stopping unjust wars.

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In 2018, your generous donations supported MFSO in:

Numerous national and internationally aired interviews from around the country
Poor Peoples Campaign actions- CA, MO, DC
Op-Ed editorials
MFSO literature distribution across the country
Meet up, a new member orientation, outreach, tabling and member support at Veterans for Peace Convention- Minnesota
Regular on-going vigils across the nation
Workshop presentations in MI and CA
Congressional lobbying for a new AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force)
Support for members participating in actions across the country
Key organizers for 100^th Anniversary of Armistice Day weekend in DC which included the Silent march at Arlington Memorial, the Peace Congress, feeding the homeless and Occupy the VA.
Heart 2 Heart Tour- CA, ORE, AZ, NM, and OK
Support for families of deported veterans and their families, including border visits and assistance to prevent deportations and support to pass legislation to end veteran deportation

As this year draws to an end, MFSO is ready to confront the biggest challenge yet- to end the war in Afghanistan. Won’t you please consider being a part of history and making a one-time donation or become a sustaining member today?

MFSO welcomes all comments from members and supporters. Please send us your thoughts throughout the year via our website, Facebook, email or just give us a call anytime.

Pat Alviso
National Coordinator
Military Families Speak Out

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As we approach the end of the Obama administration and prepare for the many inevitable challenges we will face under the new president’s administration, we wish to remind you that Military Families Speak Out is focused and prepared to do everything we can to stop the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen and call for the immediately withdrawal of our troops. We are studying and preparing our position statements on potential cabinet appointments because we understand how these choices can deeply affect what happens to our troops and their families.

After 15 years of military intervention, which has resulted in the needless loss of lives and trillions spent on endless wars, we find ourselves no closer to peace and so during this season of giving and hope, we are asking you, our friend and ally, to help us continue the important work of Military Families Speak Out.

Military Families Speak Out is in a unique position to demonstrate the futility of continuing our military presence in the Middle East. We must end our military presence in these countries and stop the bombing and destruction. We must demand our leaders use diplomacy and address the root causes of these wars.  There is no military solution to our problems in the Middle East and surrounding areas.  We need to stop sending our troops to wars that are unending and unwinnable.  We need to stop multiple deployments which hurt our troops and their families.  We need to focus on caring for our troops, our military families and all the civilians who have suffered from these many wars.

We invite you to help us by making a donation to MFSO this year. Since 2002, Military Families Speak Out has been on the front lines organizing and publicly speaking out.  Our commitment to be heard is unstoppable, but we need your help.

Over the years your generosity has helped us become strong and we are listened to by many in our neighborhoods and around the globe. Your support, especially this year, will help us broaden our membership to younger military families who are affected by recent deployments. It will help us keep watch over the new administration’s appointments and policies.  MFSO members work around the clock preparing members to speak to the media, and are there to help them and be by their side when they find the courage to speak out and share their stories of separation and loss. Our leadership is there to make sure their stories are spread on social and printed media.

This past year, your donations helped us to send members such as Tim Kahlor, ever-vigilant Army dad, and Marcia Westbrook, Gold Star mom, to national events so they could tell their compelling stories in New York   and Washington DC. This year we will be present at the Women’s March on Washington and any other events where we are needed. Our current campaign for letters of condolences to families, who have had a military member die by suicide stateside, will need a new push under the new administration.

A donation of any amount will help us continue the work we already do and also help us continue our coordinated actions and monthly strategy meetings with executive directors from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. Support is greatly needed to keep up with the regular demands we receive at our donated office in California, that come from military families around the country who ask and receive emotional support, referrals for care when their loved ones return from deployments and guidance on how to stay in touch with their loved ones while deployed.

Please consider a donation to Military Families Speak Out at this time. After 15 years of war, we stand ready to meet the challenges ahead with renewed vigor and hope that you will know that any donation is an investment in finally ending these wars. Every day these unjust wars continue is another day our loved ones and many innocent civilians will suffer. This is why your donation and participation is vital to us.

Please consider becoming a sustaining member, receive monthly newsletters and a gift of thanks from our governing board.

MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION HERE TODAY ormail your donation to MFSO, 1716 Clark Ave PMB 122, Long Beach, CA. 90815.

PLEASE ACCEPT OUR GRATITUDE IN ADVANCE FOR JOINING US IN OUR STRUGGLE TO END THESE UNJUST WARS AND BRING OUR LOVED ONES HOME TO REUNITE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND BEGIN THE HEALING PROCESS. 

Thank you and please let us hear from you throughout the year.  Please keep in touch with us via our websitewww.mfso.org  and Facebook page.

National Coordinator Pat Alviso and Steering Committee Members; Marlene Alvarado, Tina Lopez, Macgregor Eddy, Lorna Farnum, Barry Saks, Bill Scheurer, Mary Hladky, Paula Rogovin, Jeff Merrick, Marcia Westbrook, Rosssana Cambron, Casey Stinemetz and Corla Coles