Arturo Cambron

Arturo Cambron grew up in East L.A. and got his first taste of activism by participating in the High School walk-outs of the early 1970’s. At UCLA he joined the MECHA Student Organization and was heavily involved around college admission reform for students from marginalized communities. Arturo joined MFSO in 2006 after his son joined the army and was quickly deployed to Iraq. MFSO’s mission of Ending the war, Bringing the troops home and Taking care of them when they got here took on extra urgency when he witnessed firsthand the emotional, physical and mental effects three tours of duty had on his son. Today, besides being active on the Steering Committee for MFSO, Arturo is also heavily involved around comprehensive immigration reform and the passage of Medicare For All.

 

Billie Jean Winner-Davis

Billie J. Winner-Davis is a retired Social Worker who devoted over 26 years to Child Protective Services in Texas. She has multiple family members who have or are serving in the US Military: she has 1 son in law who is Army Retired, a stepson who is serving in the Air Force, a daughter in law serving as a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy, and a daughter who served a 6-year term in the Air Force.

Billie began public advocacy when her daughter Reality Leigh Winner was arrested and jailed for releasing a classified document outlining Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential election. Through her daughter’s case, Billie became acquainted with and worked closely with advocacy groups like Courage to Resist, Veteran’s for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out

 

Diane Picotte-Habedank

My journey down the anti-war road began in the late 1960’s against the Vietnam/SE Asian Conflict. Today I am on the MFSO Steering Committee and National Board. I am also a member of Women Against Military Madness aka WAMM, and an Associate Member of Veteran’s for Peace #115. I have an active duty son who enlisted a few months before 9/11. He has served 2 deployments to Afghanistan and 2 deployments to Iraq. Three of those deployments were as an Apache pilot. He has been stationed elsewhere globally as well. Currently, he is stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. I believe that our loved ones who serve militarily should be defending our Constitution and our land, and not be used for empire building.

 

Jeff Merrick – Treasurer

Jeff Merrick spent over 20 years in the Air Force. While in the Air Force, he worked on the first generation of drones back in the 1970s. He provided technical support to the military as a contractor to LA Air Force Base for 33 years. As an Military Families Speak Out board member and officer for Orange County Chapter of Veterans for Peace, his main focus is to work on ending the war in Afghanistan and supporting deported veterans. He has traveled from the East coast to Hawaii speaking to legislators about ending the war in Afghanistan.

 

Melissa Castaneda – Media & Website Coordinator

Melissa lives in Southern California and has been a member of MFSO since 2006. Both of her brothers are Marine Corp veterans. A community activist since high school, Melissa is our media coordinator and updates our website and Facebook page. She also has been instrumental in helping coordinate most MFSO campaigns, the media and membership. Her steadfast and commitment over the years has strengthened MFSO in countless ways.

 

Pat Alviso – National Coordinator

Pat Alviso, a mother of an active duty Marine, is the National Coordinator for Military Families Speak Out, a national organization with members across the country who have or have had loved ones in the military since 9-11. They support the troops, want them home now and take care of them when they get home.

On behalf of thousands of military families, she continues to speak widely about the true cost of war at events, classrooms and other venues across the country, and can be found at regularly held vigils, demonstrations, community events, and memorial displays to help bring all of our troops home from unjust wars in the Middle East.

Robert Vivar- International & Deported Veterans

Robert Vivar is the Coordinator in Mexico and Co-director of Unified US Deported Veterans Resource Center. He is also a core member of Friends of Friendship Park. His son is in the California National Guard and was deployed to Iraq twice. His grandson is an active duty Marine. of he joined MFSO in 20012. Robert is currently the voice for all deported veterans and their families and works to bring repatriate them. Although not a veteran himself, he works constantly to help find deported veterans obtain their paperwork so they can obtain housing and employment.

Rossana Cambron

Rossana and her husband, Arturo joined MFSO in 2005 and live in Los Angeles, CA. Their son is on active duty in the Army and has been deployed to Iraq three times. She has served on the board for several years, and has helped us manage our Facebook page. In addition to their long standing commitment to MFSO and military families, they are also involved in a project to assist an indigenous community to use their original seeds and not those from Monsanto. Over the years, Rossana has spoken out at many high schools, been interviewed on numerous occasions on national television and radio and is on call to families in crisis because she knows what it’s like to have a loved one in the military. She also has organized several MFSO campaigns and represents MFSO at the state level for the Poor People’s Campaign..

Shelda Maier

Shelda lives in New Jersey and is serving her second year on the board. Her son, Jake, was in ROTC for 4 years at the University of Colorado and received a leadership award from his unit when he was commissioned as an officer in the US Marine Corps in 2011. After training, and while he was stationed in Hawaii he became disillusioned with military service and applied for Conscientious Objector status. He was given an honorable discharge from the Marines in April 2015. Shelda facilitates our monthly board meetings and is an active leader on our Campaign steering committee.

 

Ellen Barfield

Ellen Barfield currently serves on the national boards of the War Resisters League, Military Families Speak Out, and the Center on Conscience and War, represents Veterans For Peace to the United Nations’ Department of Global Communication and heads VFP’s Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial chapter, and on climate issues works primarily with the anti-fracking/FERC restructuring group Beyond Extreme Energy.

She spent 4 years in the US Army, 1977-1981, and was stationed during that time in Kitzingen, Germany, and Pyong Taek, S Korea, as well as US bases. She wondered why so many US troops were in those nations so very long after the hot wars there, which curiosity led her to activism challenging the absurdly huge number of US bases worldwide, nuclear weapons, and militarism in general.

As she has for over 35 years, she supports struggles for justice challenging racism, homophobia, misogyny, and other oppressions. Ellen has participated in peace delegations to and solidarity work with Palestine, Iraq, Korea, and Nicaragua.