Arlington West 6yrs.: Nov 3rd 2003 - Nov. 3rd 2009

November 3rd will be the sixth anniversary of the first installation of Arlington West on the beach. Veterans For Peace Chapter 54, the Jim and Shirley Kennedy Chapter will set it up with friends on Sunday, November 1st and mark the sixth year that it has been installed on the first Sunday in November by citizens volunteering their time and talent to this community project to demonstrate the true cost of war.
It was set up weekly for five years but has been once monthly for the last year, being the first Sunday of every month.

Citizens who wish to help the Veterans For Peace and friends with this effort should come between 7am and 9am for set up or at 3pm for takedown. We set up Arlington West in fair weather only to protect the memorabilia left by families of the fallen. Arlington West Santa Barbara was the original but has inspired similar displays across the USA.

The first Sunday of November 2003, a group of local activists erected 340 wooden crosses on the beach immediately west of Stearns Wharf, marking the death of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq.

Outraged that the Bush administration had barred U.S. media from photographing returning coffins containing the war dead from Iraq, founder Stephen Sherrill, along with a small group of local activists, erected the first installation of what has become widely known as the Arlington West memorial. “I didn’t feel that the American people were mindful of the terrible price we were paying – and were about to pay – for the invasion and occupation of Iraq,” says Sherrill. “The statistics in the newspapers were just tiny little numbers, too easy to breeze over.” Since the first installation of about 340 crosses in November of 2003, the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq has grown beyond 3,500. Every Sunday morning, members of Veterans for Peace and volunteers from the community, place crosses in the sand by Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, CA, in remembrance of those whose lives have been sacrificed in Iraq. Hundreds of observers from across the nation and around the world visit Arlington West every week. To date, there have been approximately twenty duplications of the original Arlington West all across America, including their weekly “sister memorial” in Santa Monica, CA.

In the intervening years since the memorial started, Veterans for Peace members and volunteers have effectively transformed what began as an angry anti-war protest into a genuine memorial — somber, chilling, and irresistibly moving. The memorial has been deliberately de-politicized in an effort to make Arlington West a non-threatening experience for everyone, regardless of their political affiliation. Gone are the placards denouncing George W. Bush that were there in the beginning. In their place are flowers, flags, and the names of the dead attached to the crosses and posted on makeshift bulletin boards. The crosses are planted in straight, tight rows, covering over an acre of beach that every Sunday make a stunning visual statement. In the background, the sound of “Taps” can be heard playing nonstop from a nearby recorder. At sunset, the music ends and the crosses are taken down, packed up, and stored away until the coming week.

Adjacent to one of the most heavily traveled intersections in Santa Barbara, Stearns Wharf has always been a favorite place for tourists to stroll. But now, it has also become a place where friends and relatives of the deceased can pay their last respects. “Until you’ve held a weeping mother in your arms who has lost her child – or worse, her only child – in Iraq, it’s difficult to grasp the enormity of the pain and the sorrow and the grief that has resulted from this war that WE started,” says Sherrill. Everyone involved with Arlington West has a similar story to tell. Nearly a thousand of the crosses have been visited by friends, comrades, or loved ones. “We never realized it would get so gigantic,” says Pat Chamberlin-Calamar. “Every time I place flowers by a cross, I say a little prayer.”

10.29.09


The Commander In Chief of the Military pays Honor and Respect to the Fallen as they are returned to this Country together from the Deadliest Day in the Bloodiest Month for the Military in Afghanistan under this still relatively new Administration.

Washington's Wars

October 30, 2009

A Bill Moyers Essay

Building Peace:

Veterans work to end wars

On July 25, Harry Patch, the last British veteran of World War I, died, marking the passing of an entire generation of veterans of the so-called "war to end all wars." What was most remarkable about Patch’s experience is that he came to believe that what he and his fellow soldiers had done so proudly in their youth had been in vain. At a remembrance ceremony on November 11, 2007, Patch explained:

"Today is not for me. It is for the countless millions who did not come home with their lives intact. They are the heroes. It is also important we remember those who lost their lives on both sides."

Patch didn’t talk about the war for 80 years, but he came to believe the casualties were not justified.

"I met someone from the German side and we both shared the same opinion: we fought, we finished and we were friends."

"It wasn't worth it."

Joining together to stand up for peace--first to end the Vietnam conflict and later, all wars--was a direct result of the social action of Vietnam veterans. Since 1985, Veterans For Peace have been dedicated to end war as a political policy, including members of the Phoenix Chapter. Other peace groups, such as Arizona Institute for Peace Education and Research (AIPER), have programs to help veterans, especially disabled vets. This is necessary because the previous administration relied on war to confront international issues but failed to take full responsibility for the troops who fought those wars for the politicians..........Rest Here

One Result of Political Wars of Choice

VA center wasn’t aware of many veteran suicides

Report says methods used to identify victims ‘may be inadequate’

The number of Spokane-area veterans who killed themselves in a one-year period is far greater than the Spokane Veteran Affairs Medical Center knew at the time, a VA investigation has found.

The VA’s Office of Medical Investigations discovered that from July 2007 through the first week of July 2008, at least 22 veterans in the Spokane VA service area killed themselves, and 15 of them had contact with the medical center...........Rest Here

"Who Dies In War?"

Veterans For Peace Asks "Who Dies In War?"

May 22, 2009

Few really think about it, but many more innocent civilians die in war than soldiers. That is the message that Veterans For Peace would like people to think about on Memorial day.

Veterans For Peace National President Mike Ferner comments, "We have been taught that the purpose of Memorial Day is to remember fallen service members. Veterans For Peace is here to tell the nation that the number of innocent civilians who die in war far outnumbers the combatants. It would be immoral to only remember those who fought and died in war and not pay respect to those who are victims. In the final analysis, the best way to remember both is to abolish this scourge of humanity."

Veterans For Peace National Executive Director Michael T. McPhearson stated, "As veterans this day holds special meaning for us. Many of our members have seen their buddies die in battle and we all know that only luck or grace allows us to be here today to remember the dead. We also know our actions are responsible for the enormous lose of life of innocent people simply trying to live their lives, who for no fault of their own were caught in the middle of madness. We are haunted by their deaths and stand in respectful silence to remember them, those of us who did not live to be veterans and those veterans who are no longer with us. We demand our government and all the governments of the world end this human made plague called war. There is a better way."

Across the nation, veterans, military families and friends will gather this weekend through Monday to remember fallen loved ones, comrades, service members and all lives lost to war. Veterans For Peace will commemorate these women, children and men with vigils and solemn programs. Several chapters will display temporary cemeteries to represent the over 4,985 U.S. fallen and untold numbers of civilians killed in current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other chapters will lay wreaths and flowers; have speakers and readings; and march in parades.

See full news advisory here (PDF)

VFP LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA -

"WE ARE ANGRY" ABOUT AFGHANISTAN! {PDF}

VETERANS FOR PEACE
NATIONAL OFFICE: 216 S. Meramec Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63105
PHONE: (314) 725-6005 FAX: (314) 725-7103 Email
Working Together For Peace and Justice since 1985

NATIONAL BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Mike Ferner
President
Leah Bolger
Vice-President
Kenneth Mayers
Treasurer
Gary May
Secretary
Elliott Adams
William Collins
Anita Foster
Nate Goldshlag
Sharon Kufeldt
Patrick McCann
Michael Uhl
Hart Viges
Rev. Pierre Williams
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Michael T.
McPhearson

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
May 12, 2009

Dear President Obama,

We write to you again, this time to say we are saddened to see that you now clearly believe
in the tired, inhumane and unworkable assumption that violence will somehow work; that
might makes right. But that is not the only thing we need to tell you.
We are not just saddened. We are angry. We are outraged by these actions, this practice of
“death from above” you are ordering, causing the killing and wounding of hundreds of
innocent people, as exemplified by the recent horrific attacks in Afghanistan.
When will it be enough, Mr. President? What is the number of dead and injured at which
you will say “this can’t go on;” the number at which you will decide it’s time to turn away
from violence and find another way? This really is the question upon which everything else
will turn – how many bodies are too many? You know it is impossible to kill our way to a
resolution, if for no other reason than every death and injury creates even more people
willing to fight and die to remove us from their land.
We’ve been through this before, Mr. President, and I don’t mean that in a rhetorical way.
We have indeed been through this all before – unlike most of the people in our country or in
your administration. We have seen and heard and smelled and felt what “death from above”
actually means, not in a briefing report but right there in our hands and before our eyes.
We’ve seen the look in the eyes of the people we occupied. We felt their anger and their
humiliation. We remember these things well, Mr. President, because they will not go away
no matter how many years pass.
Veterans For Peace will continue to speak out against such crimes. We will do so along
with the growing numbers of people who are telling you that by going down this road you
are making a tragic mistake. We no longer face the old question of “guns or butter?” Now
the question is: will we completely destroy our economy with all that means, or will we step
back from the brink and do what our humanity demands of us before the slide into moral
and economic ruin is irreversible?
At some point, Mr. President, you will decide to turn away from violence, to end these
occupations. As we wrote before, we stand ready to assist you in any effort to find another way.
Until then you will find us in the streets.

Most Sincerely,
Mike Ferner
National President
Veterans For Peace


cc: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
Steny H. Hoyer, Majority Leader of the House
John Boehner, Republican Leader of the House
James E. Clyburn, House Majority Whip
Eric Cantor, Republican Whip
John B. Larson, Chairman of the Democratic Caucus
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., U.S. Vice President
Robert C. Byrd, Senate President Pro Tempore
Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the Senate
Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate
Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the Senate
Jon Kyl, Assistant Minority Leader of the Senate

VFP: “Congress Must Face Escalating Military Suicides"

Press Release

Veterans For Peace

February 12, 2009 CONTACT: Mike Ferner 419-729-7273

Michael T. McPhearson 314-303-8874

Veteran Organization: “Congress Must Face Escalating Military
Suicides. Bring the troops home now!” PDF

The United States military is scrambling to head off what has turned into an epidemic of suicides. As reported
on CNN, 24 service members killed themselves in January of this year, six times as many as in January of last
year. 2008 was the fourth consecutive year of increases in soldier suicides.

Veterans For Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson said this is not a surprise to him. “It is tragic. It is
the culmination of years of continuous deployments and general stress the Armed Services have been put
under because of an invasion and subsequent occupation that should have never happened.”

The Army Times reports that Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a February 13, 2009, one day halt to
recruitment activities also known as stand-down of the Army’s entire recruiting force and a review of almost
every aspect of the job in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation of four suicides in a Houston Recruiting
Battalion.

Mike Ferner, Veterans For Peace’s National President stated, "I don't want to see anybody in Washington shed
one tear for the families surviving these suicides as long as Congress continues to fund these wars and the
President continues to deploy more troops. You put people through combat; you get suicides and PTSD related
violence back home. That's the simple equation Congress and the President cannot ignore."

One vivid example of this equation comes from the Houston Chronicle, which reported in a May 18, 2008 that
an Army investigation attributed the 4 recruiter suicides to a combination of work environment, stress and
personal issues. The latest was the March 6, 2007 death of Sergeant Nils Aron Andersson who shot himself in
the temple less than 24 hours after his wedding to Cassy Walton. Cassy killed herself the next day.

McPhearson went on to add; “Nils Anderson’s death was nearly two years ago and the Army is just reacting to
the 4 deaths in one Battalion. They should have seen these 24 deaths in January coming. Veterans For Peace
is asking our members to visit with their Congressional Representatives and Senators next week to discuss
these suicides, that the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan contribute to the deaths and how our economy
must transition from a reliance on war spending to human needs spending. We look to Congress to take these
suicides seriously and stop spending our taxes on war. Bring all our troops home now.”

# # #

Founded in 1985, Veterans For Peace is a national organization of men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations
spanning the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current Iraq wars as well as other
conflicts cold or hot. It has chapters in nearly every state in the union and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Our
collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus,
other means of problem solving are necessary. Veterans For Peace is an official Non- Governmental Organization (NGO)
represented at the U.N.

Veterans For Peace

Distress: December 26th 1971 and December 26th 2008

Back on December 26th 2006 I put together a post, for my site and a few others, in remembrance of an anniversary of a day my fellow Vietnam Veterans made a statement to our country, a statement of a Country in Distress, Our Country!


A shoutout about not only our War of Choice but what our society was going through, Civil Rights Movement, care of the returning Vets, civil disobedience for the many failed policies, and more, the statement wasn't really taken seriously except by the minority, as is usually the case, the country itself just dug deeper into it's apathy and never came to terms with our War and Occupation and still hasn't!


December 26, 1971
Two dozen members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War "liberated" the Statue of Liberty with a sit-in to protest resumed U.S. aerial bombings in Vietnam. They flew an inverted U.S. flag from the crown as a signal of distress.


We've now had many years of not one but two Invasions and Occupations better known as Wars of Choice, though soldiers and those occupied are still dying in one it has become a stagnant theater on a hair trigger, the other rapidly ramping up in deaths and destruction, both are and have been recruiting actions for what we now call 'International Terrorism', Criminal Terrorism that will rear it's head, with no boundries, over and over for decades, as the number of those who will carry out these acts have greatly increased due to own terror forced on others!


Below is the '06 post with little change, to remember that shoutout of Distress on it's Anniversary, and as a call for Thought of what we now are facing. Still two occupations of others, this time those serving are doing so over and over and over.............., and to eight years of extremely failed policies and total incompetence as well as multiple corruptions and crimes, in and out of government, but also to the crimes against humanity this country has allowed and seems unwilling to face nor call accountability for!


We have the ability to change some of what is happening, even as the economy is collapsing and bringing down other economies, but we can't take back nor be forgivin for bthe deaths and destruction we've wrought on others, we can minimize the blowback, but blowback there will be, destructive and economic, for years to come!


VVAW Anniversary-Dec 26th 1971-Statue of Liberty, Liberation


Six Vietnam veterans founded the VVAW in New York City in 1967 when they marched in a peace demonstration. Organized for returning troops to voice their opposition to the war that was still taking place in Indochina, the VVAW continues to grow, with over 30,000 members, according to the VVAW web Site.


The VVAW {Vietnam Veterans Against the War} focuses mainly on achieving better benefits for all veterans.



Vietnam Veterans take the Statue of Liberty, December 26th 1971. Two dozen members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War "liberated" the Statue of Liberty with a sit-in to protest resumed U.S. aerial bombings in Vietnam.They flew an inverted U.S. flag from the crown as a signal of distress.
Peace History December 25-31 by Carl Bunin


THE STATUE OF LIBERTY: MONUMENT TO AN EXPANDING SET OF IDEALS

Tim MacCormick of New Jersey and fourteen other members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, on the afternoon of December 26, 1971, arrived on Liberty Island by the Circle Line boat along with other tourists. But, when the last return ship to Manhattan sailed that evening, the veterans were not aboard. Instead, just before closing time, they hid among the exhibit partitions, building materials, and storage closets which were lying about the monument's base while work was being finished on the American Museum of Immigration. When NPS personnel made their 7:30 evening check-up of the statue, they found that the veterans had seized control of the landmark and barricaded the three ground floor entrances. The men inside refused to speak to or admit any Park Service people, but on the door they posted a typewritten statement addressed to President Richard M. Nixon:

Each Vietnam veteran who has barricaded himself within this international symbol of liberty has for many years rationalized his attitude to war. . . .We can no longer tolerate the war in Southeast Asia. . . .Mr. Nixon, you set the date [for leaving Vietnam], we'll evacuate. {13}

On December 27, twenty-one National Park police flew to Liberty Island from Washington where they were joined by New York City police and Coast Guardsmen. These security forces stood by while the government attempted to reach a peaceful compromise with the occupiers. They were told that they would be permitted to picket and protest on the island if they would simply vacate the statue, allowing it to reopen to visitors. The veterans rejected the offer, flew the United States flag upside down from the statue's crown, and waited. Law enforcement officers also waited. During that day thousands of disappointed tourists were told at the Battery that they could not go out to the statue. Congresswoman Bella Abzug (Democrat-New York) sent a telephone message of support to the demonstrators.



Members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War leaving the Statue of Liberty, which they had occupied for two days. The demonstrators emerged in response to a court order, December 28, 1971.
(Source: Photograph Collection of the American Museum of Immigration, Liberty Island, U.S. Department of the Interior, NPS)


Meanwhile, United States Attorney Whitney North Seymour, Jr., went before District Court Judge Lawrence Pierce to request an injunction directing the veterans to open the doors, leave the statue except during regular visiting hours, and permit Park Service personnel and tourists to enter. On the morning of December 28 Judge Pierce issued a temporary restraining order, instructing the protestors to leave the statue "forthwith." Two hours later, after conferring with their lawyers, the veterans removed the barricades from the entrances and emerged with "clenched fists raised." They had cleaned up their debris and caused no significant damage to the property. The monument was reopened to the public, with the first ferry-load of visitors arriving at 2:15 that afternoon.
Tim MacCormick issued a statement to the press explaining why they had picked this particular target:

The reason we chose the Statue of Liberty is that since we were children, the statue has been analogous in our minds with freedom and an America we love.
Then we went to fight a war in the name of freedom. We saw that freedom is a selective expression allowed only to those who are white and maintain the status quo.
Until this symbol again takes on the meaning it was intended to have, we must continue our demonstrations. . . . {14}

The Story of a Vietnam Vet

In the 1970s, when the Department of Veterans’ Affairs cut off about 7.9 million troops’ benefits, the VVAW took over the Statue of Liberty, covering her eyes with protest banners.


“This was the second time that the VVAW had taken over the Statue of Liberty. This would be an 18-hour takeover before the park police finally came and removed us,” Davis recalls. “I was one of those people inside that statue. I was the national coordinator for the (VVAW) at the time.”


There’s a glimmer in Davis’ gray-blue eyes as he tells this story.


“The New York Post carrying a front-page story about how we ruined these poor tourists’ opportunities to see the Statue of Liberty, and we weren’t very sympathetic,” he says.


Davis says that one of the things he hears the most about the VVAW is that it is simply a negative, anti-war organization, but he says that its main goals have been to provide benefits and counseling in order to help veterans.


As Davis trudges through his memories, he recalls that upon coming back, what was harder than seeing his society altered was dealing with how much he had changed.


It’s impossible for anyone who has never been in combat to understand the emotional baggage that soldiers come back with. For those who remain at home, it seems that soldiers are simply away for a while; meanwhile, the soldiers themselves are going through some of the most horrifying and gruesome experiences of their lives, and they are never the same, even when they do come back.


But men like Davis and organizations like the VVAW continue to try making life more livable for returning soldiers.


“We’ve had to do it for ourselves, and once you learn to do it for yourself, you learn to do it for other people,” Davis says. “Modern war brings a lot of horrific images. You don’t ever get over that, you just learn to deal with it.”

Stop Crying: We won our War


Disillusioned with war and plagued by nightmares back in the U.S., Romo and Davis looked to the government for psychological counseling and found nothing.


Next, they turned to the only people they knew they could trust: other war veterans.


“One of the first things we discovered pretty quickly,” said Davis,“was that if we were going to survive, we needed each other to do it.”


But interactions between the Vietnam veterans and veterans’ groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion were strained, if not belligerent, Davis and Romo recalled.


“There was tremendous hostility from older veterans,” Davis said. “Many of those American Legion types and VFWs said that we were just a bunch of crybabies.”


The VVAW is Formed


But while Davis and Romo were in basic training, six Vietnam vets marched together in a 1967 New York City peace demonstration and founded Vietnam Veterans Against War (VVAW). The VVAW stood in stark contrast to the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.


According to Davis, the America Legion represented only a small, selective group of veterans.


Davis describes the Veterans of Foreign Wars as a more egalitarian veterans’ group with the same patriotic function as the American Legion; however, neither focused on benefits. When soldiers from Vietnam began arriving home physically and psychologically damaged, Davis and Romo felt that both groups looked the other way.


From Malaise to Action


On December 26, 1971, sixteen VVAW demonstrators seized the Statue of Liberty in New York City to call attention to what Vietnam vets termed “post-Vietnam stress disorder” as well as the lack of promised programs and benefits.


“In the 1970s, because we were getting nowhere on the issue of stress disorders associated with Vietnam, we declared war on the Veterans Affairs Administration,” Davis said. “Some of us adopted the slogan that we were like ‘no deposit, no return’ bottles … Once the government had emptied us out, they chucked us.”


To assist veterans with post-Vietnam stress, the VVAW gained national recognition in the 1970s for setting up public “rap” therapy groups to help vets deal with painful memories.


We Will not be Ignored


The VVAW took over the Statue of Liberty a second time in 1976, raising even more awareness of veterans’ issues. Since that time, post-Vietnam stress disorder has been formally diagnosed and renamed by the medical community as post-traumatic stress disorder.


Now a group of over 30,000 members, the VVAW works to expose poor and under-funded care in VA hospitals, draft legislation to improve educational job programs and argue for the amnesty of war resisters and vets with questionable dishonorable discharges. During the 1980s, the VVAW publicized the Veterans’ Administration’s attempt to conceal the harmful effects of chemical defoliants like Agent Orange used during Vietnam and the Gulf War.


Passing the Torch


Davis and Romo consider themselves very lucky compared with many of their fellow veterans. Both have held steady jobs for the last 20 years and lead what they describe as normal lives with loving families.
As national coordinators for the VVAW, Davis and Romo both speak regularly at veterans’ events and meeting as well as high schools to instill the wisdom they once so desperately lacked to veterans returning today from Iraq and Afghanistan.


“We’re trying to be like mentors to the new vets,” Romo said. “Basically, we’re doing what other vets didn’t do for us.”

One Vet's Vigil


Christmas reminds Paul Fichter of Miss Liberty takeover 35 years ago

By Tim Blangger Of The Morning Call
December 24, 2006

Referance: Vietnam Veterans Against the War

The Statue of Liberty is among the best known monuments in the world. ... to take-overs by Vietnam veterans and other activists in the 1970s and 1980s. ...PDF


Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Veterans For Peace

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Iraq and Afganistan Veterans of America

Veterans for America



Military Families Speak Out

Veterans For Peace

Bring Them Home NOW


Once a soldier takes the Oath that Oath stays with him or her for life, it's engrained as are the experiances

Oath of Enlistment
I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God.)

Oath of Office is a solemn oath taken by officers of the United States Uniformed Services on commissioning
I, [name], do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. (So help me God.)

Removed By Police Sunday............

Yesterday, Sunday 11-16-08, I posted this report about Veterans and Military Family Members occupying a scaffold at the National Archives Building in Washington DC



There is a quick update at the Veterans For Peace, "Veterans Occupy National Archives Again", website with a few Video's included below.

Over at AfterDowning Street, Dave only has this update:

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. Saturday from Tony Teolis: Security guards threatened to arrest everyone, but instead climbed the scaffolding, tore the banners down, and sent the activists on their way. It is getting to the point where you can do anything without getting arrested, and yet so few people do.

On the bold highlight, Yet, as to a certain group of Criminals!!

There are a few more Video's at the AfterDowning Street posting.

Not sure yet about the use of Saturday in that update by Tony and Sunday in the VFP quick report, but here's a few Video's:











"We either are or we are not a nation of law."

"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"

Message Being Sent By Veterans: Defending the Constitution

Veterans Occupy National Archives

photo from Tony Teolis

Washington – On Saturday, November 15, at 8:00 am, at the National Archives Building on Connecticut Ave., eight military veterans and a military mother climbed a 9-foot retaining fence and occupied a ninety-foot high scaffolding to raise two 450 square foot banners stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!" and "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.” The same message will also be displayed at demonstrations in Santa Monica and Long Beach, California on Saturday.

UPDATE 4 p.m. Saturday: Activists plan to remain through Monday morning at least, if not longer. They lost the really big "Arrest Bush and Cheney" banner to wind but have a smaller version and still have the "We Will Not Be Silent" Banner. The Archives security chief, Mr. Adams, spoke with Elliott Adams of Veterans for Peace and offered to not press charges if they left and threatened to have arrest warrants issued for them all in 2 or 3 weeks if they did not get down immediately. The chose to stay, and Elaine Brower of Military Families Speak Out got on the PA system to announce their intention to make sure that Bush and Cheney are arrested for murder. She told her son's story and began reading the names of the dead. Also, the similar action in Santa Monica is going well.

According to Tarak Kauff, a VFP member, "People say Bush and Cheney will be gone soon so what’s the point? The point is, there is no statute of limitations on war crimes, and if not held accountable, criminality will continue regardless of who is in office. We either are or we are not a nation of law."

These individuals took part:

• Elliott Adams VFP: 61, Sharon Springs, NY, VFP President and former Army
paratrooper, Viet Nam
• Ellen Barfield VFP: 52, Baltimore, MD, former Army Sgt.
• Kim Carlyle VFP: 61, Buncombe County, NC, former Army Spec 5
• Doug Zachary VFP: 58, Austin, TX, VFP staff, former USMC Lance Cpl.
• Tarak Kauff VFP: 67, Woodstock, NY, former PFC, Army Airborne
• Will Covert VFP: 63, San Diego, CA, VFP lifetime member, former E4 Navy
• Elaine Brower MFSO: 54, Staten Island, NY, Military Families Speak Out, National Steering Committee, mother of USMC Sgt. James Brower on third tour in Iraq
• Matthis Chiroux IVAW: 24, Army Sergeant, served in Afghanistan, refused deployment to Iraq

And these people provided support on the ground:

• Mike Ferner VFP: 57, Toledo, OH, former Navy corpsman
• Debbie Tolson VFP: 52, Potomac, MD, associate member of VFP
• Michelle White MFSO: 24, Clarksville, TN, Military Families Speak Out, wife of Iraq war vet currently serving in Afghanistan
• Michael Marceau VFP: 59, Rockville, MD, VP VFP Chapter 16, former Army, Viet Nam
• Bruce Berry VFP: 62, Minneapolis, MN, former SPC 4 Army, Viet Nam
• Fred Nagel VFP: 65, Rhinebeck, NY, former SPC 4 Army
• Jay Wenk VFP: 82, Woodstock, NY, former rifleman, 90th Infantry Div., WWII
• Tony Teolis VFP

Hanging The Banner




PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED AT AfterDowning Street.org

"that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"

Honoring the Fallen at Arlington West On Memorial Day 2008


Just north of the Santa Monica pier the Veterans For Peace erect a memorial to the fallen troops every Sunday. On Memorial Day weekend, it remains up overnight. Each white cross represents one American life lost in Iraq. Each red cross represents ten American lives lost in Iraq.

Vets on McCain & Life On The Ledge

The following video ad was produced by veteran inlookout and linked, in the replys, in an initial writeup posted at Vet Voice after the Debate.


John McCain Loves Cutting Veterans Health Benefits



This is what is in the video description:

After watching McCain in the first presidential debate pander about how much he cared about veterans, I found his statements so disingenuous I decided to put together this video highlighting the hypocrisy of his words.

Those early thoughts on the Debate were given by veteran Brian McGough on the front page of Vet Voice McCain Overstretches his Support of Veterans and Troops

In tonight's debate John McCain said "I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."

The following is a cut from an E-News Alert and placed in a post I put up early on September 6th which had this video ad:





And this list of Congressional Bills and information:

McCain Record Opposing Healthcare for Veterans

McCain Has Voted To Cut, Eliminate, or Gut Veterans Health Care Funding At Least 27 Times. [HR 4939, Vote #98, 4/26/06; SCR 83, Vote #70, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #67, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #63, 3/16/06; SCR 83, Vote #41, 3/14/06; HR 4297, Vote #15, 2/13/06; HR 4297, Vote #7, 2/2/06; S 2020, Vote #343, 11/17/05; HR 2863, Vote #251, 10/5/05; HR 2528, Vote #242, 9/22/05; HR 2361, Vote # 165, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 166, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 168, 6/29/05; HR 1268, Vote #90, 4/12/05; HR 1268, Vote #89, 4/12/05; SCR 95, Vote #40, 3/10/04; S 1689, Vote #379, 10/14/03; SCR 23, Vote #81, 3/25/03; S 2168, Vote #185, 7/7/98; S 936, Vote #168, 7/10/97; HR 3666, Vote #276, 9/5/96; HR 3666, Vote # 275, 9/5/96; HR 2099, Vote #466, 9/27/95; HR 4624, Vote #256, 8/4/94; HR 1335, Vote #97, 4/1/93; S 2884, Vote #226, 8/4/90; HR 2519, Vote #132, 7/17/91]

McCain Was One of 13 Senators To Vote Against Increase In Veterans’ Healthcare. In 2006, McCain was one of 13 senators to vote against an amendment to add $430 million for outpatient and inpatient health care and treatment for veterans. Amendment passed 84-13. [HR 4939, Vote #98, 4/26/06]

McCain Voted To Cut Funding For Veterans’ Healthcare. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to strike a provision in the 2007 Budget that will hold farm programs, veterans, Social Security, and Medicaid hostage to rising health care costs by creating automatic cuts once an arbitrary level of spending is reached in the Medicare program. The amendment failed 50-50. [SCR 83, Vote #70, 3/16/06]

McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans’ Funding By $10 Billion. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to eliminate a tripling of fees for veterans in the TRICARE health care program by raising the discretionary spending limit by approximately $10 billion. The provisions would have been fully offset by eliminating certain corporate tax breaks. The amendment failed 46-53. [SCR 83, Vote #67, 3/16/06]

McCain Voted Against Veteran’s Healthcare Program. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment to make veterans’ health benefits a mandatory program, spending $104 billion over five years. The funding would have been offset by closing corporate tax loopholes and rolling back the Bush tax cuts for millionaires. Amendment rejected 46-54. [SCR 83, Vote #63, 3/16/06]

McCain Voted Against A $1.5 Billion Increase In Healthcare For Veterans. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment that increased the discretionary spending limit by $1.5 billion to $874.5 billion to provide an increase in funding for veterans’ medical services. It would be offset by ending certain corporate tax breaks. Amendment rejected 46-54. [SCR 83, Vote #41, 3/14/06]

McCain Failed To Vote To Support Healthcare For Veterans In Lieu of Tax Breaks For Millionaires. In 2006, McCain failed to vote on a motion to instruct conferees to insist that the tax reconciliation conference report includes funding to support health needs of veterans and military personnel in lieu of an extension of capital gains or dividends tax breaks for individuals with incomes of more than $1 million. Motion failed 40-53. [HR 4297, Vote #15, 2/13/06]

McCain Voted Against $19 billion For Military And Veterans’ Hospitals. In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment that provided $19 billion for military and veterans’ hospitals, offset by limiting the dividend and capital-gains tax rates to individuals earning less than $1 million. Amendment failed 44-53. [HR 4297, Vote #7, 2/2/06]

McCain Voted Against Mental Healthcare For Veterans. In 2005, McCain Voted against an amendment that provided an additional $500 million per year for the next five years for mental health services for veterans. The funding would be offset by deferring tax cuts for those making $1 million per year. Amendment rejected 43-55. [S 2020, Vote #343, 11/17/05]

McCain Voted Against Considering Inflation In Veterans Funding Formula. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would establish a future funding formula for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation. Amendment failed 48-51. [HR 2863, Vote #251, 10/5/05]

McCain Voted Against A $10 Million Increase In Readjustment Counseling for Veterans. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would provide an additional $10 million for the Readjustment Counseling Service, offset with a $10 million reduction in the HealthVet account. The amendment failed 48-50. [HR 2528, Vote #242, 9/22/05]

McCain Failed To Vote For A $1.5 Billion Increase In Veterans’ Healthcare. In 2005, McCain failed to vote for an amendment that would add $1.5 billion of funding to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for medical services provided by the Veterans Health Administration. Amendment passed 96-0. [HR 2361, Vote # 165, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 166, 6/29/05; HR 2361, Vote # 168, 6/29/05]

McCain Voted Against $1.9 Billion In Emergency Funding For Veterans’ Hospitals. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that designated $1.9 billion in emergency funding for veterans’ hospitals. The $1.9 billion provided for the VA by the underlying amendment will help the VA to cover the costs of caring for these new veterans, and ensure that the VA is able to provide them with the care they deserve. The amendment failed 46-54. [HR 1268, Vote #90, 4/12/05]

McCain Voted Against A $2 Billion Increase In Veterans’ Funding. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase funding for the Veterans Affairs Department by $1.98 billion and designate it as emergency spending. It would stipulate that $840 million be used for veterans’ regional health networks; $610 million be used to address the needs of service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; and $525 million be used to provide mental health care and treatment. Amendment failed 46-54. [HR 1268, Vote #89, 4/12/05]

McCain Voted Against Creating A Reserve Fund For Veterans’ Health Care. In 2004, McCain voted against an amendment that would create a reserve fund to allow for an increase in veterans medical care by $1.8 billion, the amount determined by Veterans’ Affairs Committee to meet existing needs; and is fully offset by closing tax loopholes. Amendment rejected 46-51. [SCR 95, Vote #40, 3/10/04]

McCain Voted Against A $1.3 billion Increase In Veterans’ Health Benefits. In 2003, McCain voted to table an amendment that included a $1. Billion increase in funding for health benefits. The amendment would reduce the amount provided for Iraqi reconstruction by $5.03 billion, and redirect that funding for domestic programs, including $1.8 billion for veterans’ health benefits, $1 billion for school reconstruction, renovation and repair and class size reduction, and $1.5 billion for capital improvements for federal highways. It also would express the sense of the Senate that Congress should consider an additional $5.03 billion in funding for Iraqi reconstruction during the fiscal 2005 budget and appropriations process. The motion to table passed 59-35. [S 1689, Vote #379, 10/14/03]

McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans’ Health Care Program. In 2003, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase spending on the TRICARE program by $20.3 billion over 10 years to give members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families greater access to the health care program. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts. Amendment rejected 46-51. [SCR 23, Vote #81, 3/25/03]

McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans’ Health Administration By $1 Billion. In 1998, McCain voted against an amendment that would add $1 billion for Veterans’ Health Administration Medical Care. The funding would budget neutral and would come from the termination of the space station program. The amendment failed 33-66. [S 2168, Vote #185, 7/7/98]

McCain Voted Against $400 Million In Veterans’ Funding. In 1997, McCain voted to table an amendment that would permit $400 million in DOD funds to be transferred to Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide health benefits under laws administered by Secretary. Motion to table agreed to 58-41. [S 936, Vote #168, 7/10/97]

McCain Voted Against Covering Spina Bifida For The Children of Veterans. In 1996, McCain voted against the germaneness of an amendment that would extend veterans health care and related benefits to the children of Vietnam Veterans suffering from spina bifida, a spinal cord birth defect that causes neurological damage. The amendment was judged germane 62-35. [HR 3666, Vote #276, 9/5/96]

McCain Voted Against Preventing Cuts In Veterans’ Healthcare Funding. In 1996, McCain voted to table an amendment that would prohibit the Department of Veterans’ Affairs from reducing funds to any state for health care facilities in fiscal 1997 below the fiscal 1996 funding level. Motion to table passed. [HR 3666, Vote # 275, 9/5/96]

McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans’ Healthcare Funding By $511 Million. In 1995, McCain voted against an amendment which would increase the funding for veterans’ medical care by $511 million; and offsets the cost of this amendment by limiting any tax cut to families with incomes of less than $100,000. Amendment failed 51-49. [HR 2099, Vote #466, 9/27/95]

McCain Voted To Restrict Funding For Veterans’ Care Facilities. In 1994, McCain voted against tabling an amendment that the amendment would prohibit the construction of three inpatient facilities, located in Hawaii, California, and Tennessee. The projects in Hawaii and California will provide access to acute care for large numbers of veterans in the areas to be served, without which they would not have access to VA inpatient services. The project in Tennessee involves the correction of serious seismic deficiencies in the Memphis VA facility, which is located in a dangerous earthquake area. Motion to table passed 62-36. [HR 4624, Vote #256, 8/4/94]

McCain Voted To Cut $25 Million From Veterans’ Health Programs. In 1993, McCain not to table an amendment that transferred $25 million of veterans’ health funding to programs for the Veterans Department to occupation conversion and employment training programs for veterans. Motion to table passed 57-43. [HR 1335, Vote #97, 4/1/93]

McCain Voted Against Increasing Veterans’ Healthcare & Research Funding By $431 Million. In 1991, McCain voted against an amendment to increase veterans’ program funding by $378 million for medical care and $53 million for medical and prosthetic research. Amendment failed 35-64. [HR 2519, Vote #132, 7/17/91]

McCain Voted Against $200 Million For Veterans’ Healthcare. In 1990, McCain voted to table an amendment that transferred $200 million to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs medical account. The money would be transferred from the Strategic Defense Initiative. Motion to table passed 54-43. [S 2884, Vote #226, 8/4/90]

McCain Record Opposing Funding for Veterans’ Programs

McCain Voted To Gut, Eliminate, or Cut Funding for Veterans Programs At Least 18 Times. [SCR 21, Vote #114, 3/23/07][SCR 18, Vote #55, 3/16/05][HR 2673, Vote #3, 1/22/04][SCR 23, Vote #74, 3/21/03][S 2400, Vote #136, 6/23/04][HR 2861, Vote #449, 11/12/03][SCR 23, Vote #83, 3/25/03][HR 2620, Vote $334, 11/8/01][HR 2620, Vote #269, 8/2/01][HR 4635, Vote #272, 10/12/00][HR 2684, Vote #328, 10/15/99][SCR 57, Vote #115, 5/16/96][HR 2099, Vote #470, 9/27/95][HR 2099, Vote #465, 9/27/95][SCR 13, Vote #226, 5/25/95] [S 1, Vote #76, 2/22/95][S 869, Vote #259, 11/20/91][HR 4624, Vote #306, 9/27/94]

McCain Voted Against A $3.5 Billion Funding Increase For Veterans’ Healthcare. In 2007, McCain voted against the 2008 Budget Resolution that included at $3.5 billion increase in funding for veterans’ healthcare programs. The bill passed 52-47. [SCR 21, Vote #114, 3/23/07]

McCain Voted Against Increasing FY 2006 Veterans’ Health Care Funding By $2.8 Billion. In 2005, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase funding for veterans health care by $2.8 billion for fiscal 2006 and reduce the deficit by $2.8 billion. Amendment rejected 47-53. [SCR 18, Vote #55, 3/16/05]

McCain Voted Against $62 Billion In Funding For Veterans Affairs. In 2004, McCain voted against an appropriations bill that would provide $62 billion for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The bill passed 65-28. [HR 2673, Vote #3, 1/22/04]

Two Days After Iraq Invasion, McCain Voted Against A $1 Billion Increase In Veterans’ Programs. Two days after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, McCain voted against an amendment that would increase spending on veterans’ programs by approximately $1 billion and put the same amount toward deficit reduction. The amount would be offset by a decrease in tax cuts. The amendment failed 49-51. [SCR 23, Vote #74, 3/21/03]

McCain Voted Against Modernizing Retirement Packages For National Guardsmen And Army Reservists. In 2004, McCain voted against an amendment that would reduce from 60 to 55 the age at which certain members of the National Guard and Army Reserves could receive retirement benefits. Motion rejected 49-49. [S 2400, Vote #136, 6/23/04]

McCain Voted Against $122.7 Billion For Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 2003, McCain voted against an appropriations bill that included 122.7 billion in fiscal 2004 for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and other related agencies. The motion failed 44-49. [HR 2861, Vote #449, 11/12/03]

McCain Voted Against A $13 Billion Funding Increase For Veterans’ Programs. In 2003, McCain voted against an amendment that would provide an additional $13 billion for veterans’ programs. The substitute amendment would reduce all tax cuts in the resolution by $1.24 trillion, fund President Bush’s proposed $75 billion war supplemental bill, and increase homeland security spending by $80 billion, spending for a Medicare prescription drug benefit by $194 billion, spending on veterans’ programs by $13 billion and spending on transportation and infrastructure by $71 billion. The amendment failed 43-56. [SCR 23, Vote #83, 3/25/03]

McCain Voted Against $51 Billion In Veterans’ Funding. In 2001, McCain was one of seven senators to vote against the adoption of the conference report to provide 51.1 billion for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; $30.1 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; $7.9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency; $3.1 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and $14.8 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The conference report was approved 87-7. [HR 2620, Vote $334, 11/8/01]

McCain Voted Against $51 Billion For The Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 2001, McCain was one of five senators to vote against approval of a bill including $51.1 billion for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; $31.0 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development; $7.8 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency; $14.6 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and $3.2 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The bill passed 94-5. [HR 2620, Vote #269, 8/2/01]

McCain Failed To Vote For $47 Billion In Veterans’ Funding. In 2000, McCain failed to vote for a bill that would appropriate $47 billion to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as well as $23.6 billion for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers, and other independent agencies. The bill passed 85-8. [HR 4635, Vote #278, 10/19/00]

McCain Voted Against $47 Billion In Funding For Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 2000, McCain was one of eight senators to vote against an appropriating bill that provided $47 billion for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. It included $453 million for new rental assistance vouchers and language that incorporates a slightly amended version of the fiscal 2001 energy and water appropriations bill. The bill passed 87-8. [HR 4635, Vote #272, 10/12/00]

McCain Voted Against $44.3 Billion For Veterans’ Programs. In 1999, McCain was one of five senators to vote against an appropriations bill that provided $44.3 billion for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, $26.0 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, $7.6 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, $3.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and $13.7 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The bill passed 93-5. [HR 2684, Vote #328, 10/15/99]

McCain Voted Against A $13 Billion Increase In Funding For Veterans’ Programs. In 1996, McCain voted against an amendment to increase veterans’ spending by $13 billion in fiscal 1997-2002 to be offset by closing corporate tax preferences and reinstating expired taxes. Amendment Rejected 45-53. [SCR 57, Vote #115, 5/16/96]

McCain Voted To Underfund Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 1995, McCain voted for an appropriations bill that underfunded the Departments of Veterans’ Affairs & Housing and Urban Development by $8.9 Billion. The bill passed 55-45. [HR 2099, Vote #470, 9/27/95]

McCain Voted To Withhold Benefits From Mentally Disabled Veterans. In 1995, McCain voted against an amendment striking the provision that withholds benefits to mentally incompetent veteran who does not have spouse, children, or dependent parents, and has estate valued in excess of $25,000. Amendment failed 47-53. [HR 2099, Vote #465, 9/27/95]

McCain Voted Against Closing Tax Loopholes To Increase Veterans’ Funding By $74 Million. In 1995, McCain voted against an amendment eliminating tax breaks and closing tax loopholes in order to provide revenue to restore some of the proposed cuts in Veterans’ Affairs spending. Amendment failed 45-55. [SCR 13, Vote #226, 5/25/95]

McCain Voted Against Protecting Veterans’ Benefits From Budget Cuts. In 1995, McCain voted to table an amendment to exempt current veterans’ benefits from cuts required by the balanced-budget amendment. Motion to table passed 62-33. [S 1, Vote #76, 2/22/95]

McCain Voted Against Funding The Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In 1994, McCain was one of nine senators to vote against appropriating $90,118,186,061 in budget authority for the Veterans’ Affairs and the Housing and Urban Development departments. The bill passed 90-9. [HR 4624, Vote #306, 9/27/94]

McCain Voted Against Providing Automatic Cost of Living Adjustments To Veterans. In 1991, McCain voted against an amendment to provide automatic annual cost of living adjustments (COLA) for certain veterans’ benefits. Amendment failed 24-71. [S 869, Vote #259, 11/20/91]

McCain Has Failed To Support Expanded Benefits For GIs

McCain Has Refused to Endorse Webb’s GI Education Bill. According to the Politico, “Yet the former Navy pilot and Vietnam POW makes himself a target by refusing to endorse Webb’s new GI education bill and instead signing on to a Republican alternative that focuses more on career soldiers than on the great majority who leave after their first four years.” [Politico, 4/30/08]

Webb’s GI Bill The Top Legislative Priority For Veterans Groups. According to The Hill, “Webb’s bill is the top legislative priority for several veterans’ groups, including the nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Its projected cost to the federal treasury is about $4 billion per year.Webb has argued his bill is necessary because the current GI bill cannot pay for today’s cost of higher education. [The Hill, 4/22/08]

Current GI Benefit Woefully Inadequate to Meet Educational Needs of GI’s. “The most a veteran can receive now is approximately $9,600 per year for four years. Those who served combat tours with the National Guard or Reserves are eligible for even less — typically just $440 per month, or $5,280 a year. By contrast, the College Board reports that the average four-year public college costs more than $65,000, or about $16,250 a year, for an in-state student. A private university costs on average about $133,000 for four years.” [The Hill, 4/22/08]

McCain Missed Vote Passing Webb’s GI Bill. The Iowa Independent reported that Webb’s version of the GI Bill passed 75-22. Despite his “concerns that Webb’s bill would persuade service members to leave the military early and pursue higher education,” McCain “was AWOL on the day of the vote, reportedly raising money in California for his presidential bid.” [Iowa Independent, 6/20/08]

RHETORIC: McCain Favored Troop Retention Over Benefits For Veterans. In response to the CBO analysis of S. 22, Senators Graham and McCain released a joint statement in which McCain commented: “Congress must enact legislation that will increase education benefits, aid in recruitment and, importantly, encourage continued service in the military… As our armed forces fight a war on two fronts, we must do everything we can to maintain and encourage reenlistment…Unfortunately, S. 22 could greatly harm retention rates in our All Volunteer Force.” [McCain Press Release, via States News Service, 6/17/08]

McCain Against GI Bill Based On Fears Of Retention Loss. CNN reported: “McCain has defended his opposition to the bill that would expand education benefits for veterans, saying it would hurt the military that he hopes to lead… McCain, a former Navy officer and prisoner of war during Vietnam, says the bill would hurt military retention by 16 percent and be a disincentive for service members to become noncommissioned officers, which he called ‘the backbone of all the services.’" [CNN, 6/10/08]

REALITY: CBO Found That Benefits Would Increase Recruiting 16 Percent. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that “while the better benefits [of the GI Bill] might lure 16 percent of experienced soldiers out of the service…it would be so attractive to civilians that it would increase recruiting by 16 percent” completely offsetting the loss in retention. [U.S. News & World Report, 6/23/08]

The above was part of a *** Media Advisory for Saturday, September 6th @ 11AM EDT at Walter Reed Army Medical Center *** Press conferance by OIF and OEF Veterans and was brought by Americans United for Change

An UpDate on a recent Action calling for Accountability, 24 hours on a Ledge:


Life On The Ledge:


Veterans for Peace Surge on the National Archives






(swiped those words from VFP friend-Will Covert) A first person account from one of the Veteran National Archive Occupiers, AFTER a good night's sleep!


Given by:

Ellen Barfield served in the Army from 1977 to 1981, in West Germany, TX, South Korea, and KS. She lives in Baltimore, MD, and works as a full-time peace and justice activist on several national and local organizational boards including Veterans for Peace.

Who participated with Brother and Sister Veterans and Veterans For Peace members:

Others who participated in the "Ledge-In" were Elliott Adams, 61, NY, Veterans For Peace President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Kim Carlyle, 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5,; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, Veterans For Peace staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

Take a visit over and read Ellens' first hand description.


I have a post up over at my site, and was posted on a few other site boards, that has more on the 'surge' to the National Archive Building as well as some added information about Iraq. It also has this video of:


Ret. Col. Ann Wright



With her thoughts on the Archive 'surge'!!

Veterans Occupy National Archives Building and Much More

"Arresting Bush and Cheney for war crimes will honor our oath to the Constitution," vets say.





9-23-2008


11 AM Yesterday, A Snippet:

Adams said they have been receiving a lot of waves of approval from passersby. Will continue to update.

2:20 PM Yesterday, A Snippet:

Kauff reports that the City Police have been handling the situation very well. Would like them to come down, but are respecting their First Amendment Rights. One officer told them they could "stay up there all month if they wanted." The National Archives security are not as supportive as they see it as a security breach, but are not currently taking action.

5:30 PM Yesterday, A Snippet:

Eight hours into their occupation of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., Veterans For Peace members report they have called all 40 members of the House Committee on the Judiciary, urging them to actively support impeachment hearings.

9:15 PM Last Night, A Snippet:

Regarding exchanges with authorities Elliott reports, "We’ve had a few more proposals of the ‘great deal’ we could get if we’d just get off the damn ledge. We respectfully declined."

Plans for the night? "We’re on the ledge trying to settle down. We’ve got lights on the banner. We’ve setup five two-hour watches so we’ll have somebody on watch all night, we brought up sleeping pads and space blankets." Elliott reported a steady stroll of curious onlookers and folks on the ground handing out flyers.

He continued, "The Archive guards have mounted a watch on us to make sure we don’t do…whatever...but, the other police forces have shown up periodically. It was pretty funny, for a long time they were trying to figure out who had jurisdiction.

Ret. Col. Ann Wright



More updates will probably be posted at this site page, coming in to today.


You Can Digg The Above Here


We are having the first of the Presidential Debates this week, on friday night, it will take place at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, known colloquially as Ole Miss. NPR has a very good writeup as a leadin: Site Of Presidential Debate Has Come Far From Past for this historic event in more ways than one.


What does this have to do with the purpose of this post and my Brother/Sister Veterans now occupying a ledge outside of the National Archives Building?


Well this first, even with all the news riveting on the financial collapse, will focus on Foreign Policy and National Security of this country. A foreign policy followed these last eight years that has greatly damaged our countries standing and leadership, as a democracy of peace, freedom, tolerance and diplomacy, even amoung those who consider themselves our allies. A foreign policy that has placed this country and it citizens in grave danger as to national security for decades to come, not only us but any who align with us!


There will probably be a number of questions on the policies followed in this so called War on Terror especially as to the two theaters it is being fought in. Some of those questions I'm sure will cover the false propaganda being fed on how the policy of Counter Insurgency 'the surge' in Iraq has worked so well, It Hasn't! The goals of the 'surge' have not been met, just ask the people of Iraq:


Introducing Iraqi Refugee Stories:


Voices Missing From Media Describe Life in Exile


Watch "Hiba's Story," one in a powerful new series of video accounts by Iraqis who have had to flee their home.

Beyond the violence and instability of Iraq is the largely untold story of Iraqi displacement and exile and its enormous human consequences. A new website, Iraqi Refugee Stories, is now giving voice to the growing crisis and providing concerned individuals viable avenues to take action.

"The silent story of Iraq has been that of the millions who've been displaced within their country or who have fled to neighboring countries and are now living in limbo. In countries like Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, Iraqi refugees can't work legally and are often hiding at home for fear of deportation because they're unable to renew their visas," said Jennifer Utz, a video journalist, founder and creator of Iraqi Refugee Stories. "The media coverage of the issue has largely focused on the plight of military interpreters, while countless other vulnerable individuals have virtually gone unnoticed, such as single mothers, members of minority religions, the elderly and those in need of serious medical assistance."

In this video clip, a young woman named Hiba, whose family fled Iraq in 2003 only to be denied entrance to Jordan, describes the four years they spent living in a tent in Ruwayshed, a refugee camp on the border, saying that she often thinks about her classmates and wonders whether they lived or died.

To learn more, visit Iraqi Refugee Stories.

Or how about one of the main reasons the violence has dropped, even though Iraqi's and Soldiers are still being killed and maimed:


After Siege, Wall Sadr City’s New Oppression - 09.22.2008

Iraq, Baghdad/Sadr City – After the failure of many security plans proposed by the Iraqi government and US military strategists, a recent plan, hand-in-hand with the so-called “Surge,” was designed. It was a desperate attempt by the US and Iraqi military forces to control the Sunni-Shia militia. At the suggestion of military leaders, the Iraqi and US governments decided to build walls to separate neighborhoods and to control militias and insurgents from entering or exiting any neighborhood without passing a checkpoint. The first wall was built in Adhamiya, in April 2007. Despite protests and opposition, United States military and Iraqi National Guard forces began to erect a wall surrounding the neighborhood of Adhamiya. The people living in the neighborhood engaged in several demonstrations against building the wall, and even Prime Minister Maliki, a Shi’a critical of the neighborhood, publicly protested the plan. Despite his intervention and public discontent, the wall was built and finished by late April 2007.

These walls tend to be approximately 3 meters in height and made from concrete. In some areas the top of the wall is covered with concertina wire to prevent intruders from climbing over the wall. There are patrols set to guard the wall and they are present around the wall daily, and at all hours, to protract the wall from being attacked or bombed by insurgents.

Another wall built at end of April 2007, but this time in Ameriya, this wall is approximately 10 kilometers in length and again 3 meters high. In September 2007 yet another wall was built in the Saidiya neighborhood. The wall surrounding that district was 23 kilometers, and by the end of 2007 there were over 50 different walls built around different neighborhoods across Baghdad.

In May 2008 a wall was built in Sadr City after battles between the US military and the Mahdi Army. There are approximately two million citizens living inside the area now known as Sadr City, probably the largest single group impacted by one of Baghdad’s walls. Previously they could come and go via nine major entrances. Many shops were force to close because of the wall, the shop owners found they could not complete there work anymore due to the wall sitting just in front of their shops.

Would you want to live like this, Would you develop growing Hatred for being forced to live like this in your destroyed country, Would you search for retribution for the loved ones, friends, and killed and maimed, and your country destroyed, in an occupation by an outside military force, What Would You Do??


And what happens in Wars of Occupation and Wars of Choice, the Soldiers know:


Winter Soldier: OIF and OEF Soldiers the Book


Back in March of this year History repeated itself. A history many of us Vietnam Veterans felt would never be repeated for we swore we wouldn't allow the country we served to ever allow itself to be led into another debacle of human destruction, a War Of Choice, an Occupation Of Innocent Others!! The country, back than, even seemed to grasp the huge mistake we had made in the policies set forth by those we elect to lead, they themselves said "We will learn from the mistakes made!", we didn't, and others don't neither!


Book Exposes Iraq Occupation Through US Soldiers' Eyes

Aside from the Iraqi people, nobody knows what the U.S. military is doing in Iraq better than the soldiers themselves. A new book gives readers vivid and detailed accounts of the devastation the U.S. occupation has brought to Iraq, in the soldiers' own words.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations, published by Haymarket Books Tuesday, is a gut-wrenching, historic chronicle of what the U.S. military has done to Iraq, as well as its own soldiers.

Authored by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and journalist Aaron Glantz, the book is a reader for hearings that took place in Silver Spring, Maryland between Mar. 13-16, 2008 at the National Labour College.

"I remember one woman walking by," said Jason Washburn, a corporal in the U.S. Marines who served three tours in Iraq. "She was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading toward us, so we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher, and when the dust settled, we realized that the bag was full of groceries. She had been trying to bring us food and we blew her to pieces."

Glantz admits that it would be difficult for the average U.S. citizen to read the book, and believes it is important to keep in mind while doing so what it took for the veterans to give this historic testimony.

"They could have been heroes, but what they are doing here is even more heroic -- which is telling the truth," Glantz told IPS. "They didn't have to come forward. They chose to come forward."

Visit Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan where you find links to the following:


* Watch testimony video
* Listen to audio archives at warcomeshome.org (a project of KPFA)
* High-quality video of Winter Soldier is available - click here for more information.
* Winter Soldier media coverage and press information
* Winter Soldier Liveblog
* Winter Soldier on the Hill (May 15th) on CSPAN
* Winter Soldier on the Hill (May 15th) audio from KPFA
* Winter Soldier on the Hill PBS NewsHour coverage
* More info on Winter Soldier on the Hill


The PBS NewsHour covers Winter Soldier on the Hill, where IVAW members testified before Congress on the Rules of Engagement.



UpDate on Archive Occupation


Veterans For Peace END ARCHIVES OCCUPATION ON HIGH NOTE


"We may be back again soon," Vets add.

Washington -- Five military veterans, all members of Veterans For Peace, are breaking camp from their perch on the National Archives building this morning, taking with them their 22x8-ft. banner demanding “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!” that has overlooked their 24-hour action on a narrow ledge 35 feet above Constitution Ave.

Tarak Kauff, 67, former Army Airborne, who provided ground support throughout, said in a phone interview, "We're always told to 'write your Congressman,' and we have. Only this time we brought a letter they couldn't miss. We've made our point writ large that Bush and Cheney are war criminals and must be arrested and prosecuted. Impeach them if we can, but we're not holding our breath for Congress to act. The kingpins of this criminal administration will be brought to justice, along with many of their lieutenants."

Elliott Adams, VFP president, by phone from his spot on the ledge overlooking the entrance to the Archives Building, said "This turned out excellent. We're very happy with the response we've gotten to arrest Bush and Cheney for war crimes. We considered staying longer this time but we are not prepared for longer than this...although we may be back again, soon."

VFP members participating in the Archives action are: Elliott Adams: 61, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Ellen Barfield: 52, MD, former U.S. Army Sgt., full-time peace and justice advocate; Kim Carlyle: 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, VFP staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

FIVE VFP MEMBERS OCCUPY NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

On Tuesday morning, September 23, 7:30am, at the front of the National Archives Building on Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., five military veterans will risk arrest as they climb a 9-foot retaining fence and occupy a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22x8 foot banner stating, "DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!"



Those participating are Veterans For Peace Board President Elliott Adams, Board Member Ellen Barfield, staff member Doug Zachary, Kim Carlyle, Diane Wilson, and Tarak Kauff.

"LEAVE NO SOLDIER"

TWO JOURNEYS, TWO GENERATIONS, BRINGING EACH OTHER HOME

"Leave No Soldier"

A feature length documentary directed, produced and co-written by Donna Bassin,
an official selection of the 2008 Rhode Island International Film Festival.


"LEAVE NO SOLDIER,” Tells the story of two impassioned journeys by two communities of American War Veterans who have carried a Military Oath from the Battlefield
to the home front. The two groups are divided by their politics, but united in their devotion to dead comrades and their compassionate commitment
to "Leave No Fallen Soldier Behind".

Below you will find mostly what is printed in the Documentaries Press Release, which if interested can be Downloaded Here in PDF with photo's and more information.

I was asked if I could pass the information on to others, so any interested can keep their eyes open for this important Documentary. And those, in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and possibly as far away as New York and New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania that either knew or didn't know about the film festival, and might want to attend, can plan to see a host of films covering many subjects, as film does.

Will add, if visiting the Documentaries site, you will find some links. As yet there isn't a Trailor for the Documentary, have inquired as to if one will be available later, haven't heard back yet.


2006: The third year of the Iraq War. Rolling Thunder Inc and Veterans For Peace each undertake a highly emotional journey of remembrance, protest and reparation. In very different ways, each group has set out to redirect their grief and rage into a redemptive advocacy for soldiers at war overseas, and for wounded warriors at home. Occupying opposite sides of the political spectrum, both groups feel betrayed by their government, and vow that never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.


Rolling Thunder Inc organizes a motorcycle procession {which happens each Memorial day-JS} through the streets of Washington D.C. to the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. 500,000 Harley Davidsons echo the sounds of helicopters and B-52 bombers in a war torn sky. While supporting the U.S. commitment to the war, Rolling Thunder makes a powerful statement of protest against the governments inattention to our returning warriors.


A few months later, Veterans For Peace and the newly formed Iraq Veterans Against The War march 125 miles along the devastated Gulf Coast, supporting the politics of Social Transformation and repairing houses in solidarity with survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Like these survivors Veterans For Peace feel abandoned by a government indifferent to their plight. Unlike Rolling Thunder, Veterans For Peace is committed to a change in the U.S. policy on Iraq.


Set against the action of these two interwoven journeys, we follow two generations of American War Veterans -- Men and Women, Soldiers and Nurses -- as they make their passage from grief and rage to outspoken activism.

Directors Statement

As midwife to Leave No Soldier I have come to know a great deal both about
the struggle of many of our returning soldiers, and their extraordinary
courage in dealing with the painful aftermath of war. For this reason,
I chose not to make another film about war’s trauma, but instead to focus
on how some of our war veterans have come together in an effort to mourn.
Their mourning has not been a private affair; they have taken on acts
of social responsibility, and in doing so, they have taken back control
over their lives.
In part, the film is social commentary. It depicts a military culture that
encouraged detachment and numbing as a way to cope with both killing
and watching others killed. This is as true now as it was during the
Vietnam War years. When soldiers came home from Vietnam, many of us were
guilty of dismissing the needs of our returning warriors, of telling them
to “just get over it,” as Vietnam Veteran, Edie McCoy observed. We are less
guilty of this kind of dismissiveness today, but many of our veterans from
Iraq and Afghanistan still feel isolated and marginalized. They turn to each
other for recognition and understanding, maintaining the belief that “if you
haven’t been in war you can’t know what it is like”.
Now we are embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many Vietnam veterans are
re-experiencing painful memories of their war time experiences and returning home.
The press has picked up on a psychiatric diagnosis to describe this:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But is it actually a disorder?
Stan Goff, retired Master Sergeant, suggests that our vets’ PTSD is actually
a natural reaction to the deep distress of war experience. But too often our
society blames veterans for being unable to “get over it,” and they become
isolated and ashamed as a result. Is it surprising that so many turn to
self-destructive solutions of “forgetting” like drug and alcohol abuse?

In Leave No Soldier, Vietnam veterans emerge from the shadows and pledge
not to abandon today‘s generation of returning soldiers. The communities
of Rolling Thunder, Inc., Veterans for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against
the War (among others) are reaching out to mentor the returning wounded
warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan, and thus are maintaining their commitment
to “leave no fallen soldier behind”. The veterans in the film insist that
our losses must be honored rather than forgotten. The wounds of war while
painful also hold great wisdom. Their wisdom suggests that rebellious grief
and memory redirected to witness the present can be a catalyst for change.
As a psychologist, I am convinced that we must develop the capacity to acknowledge
our losses, and manage them through acts of atonement and repair. By developing
a humane political consciousness, we have the capacity to transcend our need
for revenge and retaliation. Leave no Soldier follows this arduous journey
to counter the destructive impulses that are evoked by war, pain and fear
and to recover life, identity, and meaning.
Tim O’Brien, Vietnam veteran and author, has described the heavy loads that
combat soldiers carry on the battlefield: weapons, mine detectors, tents,
radios, bibles, fear and grief and most poignantly each other. This image
of one soldier carrying their brother or sister out of harms way lodged
itself within me as a powerful narrative of care. These deep bonds of responsibility
and the lived experience of brotherhood and sisterhood among those who have
fought together are the foundations of any healing community.
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.
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.
I want to close with my appreciation to all those extraordinary veterans
and loved ones of those killed in action who gave deeply and freely of their
time and thoughts. Jan Barry, teenage Vietnam soldier turned world citizen,
deserves a special thank you and although he doesn’t directly appear in
Leave No Soldier, his counsel and poetry are very much a part of this film.

Cast

Master Sergeant Stan Goff served his country faithfully
for over 25 years and in 8 conflict areas. He enlisted
in the US Army at the age of 18 and did his first tour in
Vietnam the same year. Afterwards he went career, and
as part of the Special Forces units, Delta Force and the
Army Rangers, served in the conflict areas of Guatemala,
Grenada, El Salvador, Peru, Columbia, Haiti and Somalia.
Since his retirement from the Armed forces in 1996, Stan
has written three books on the subject of militarism and
currently serves as an adviser and mentor of Iraq Veterans
Against the War. He is also a contributor to the
Huffington Post.


1st Lieutenant Mary “Edie” McCoy Meeks
served in the Army Nurse Corps.
from 1968-1970 and served for one
year in Vietnam, splitting time
between the 3rd Field Hospital in
Saigon and the 71st Evac Hospital
in Pleiku. She is a member of
Rolling Thunder, Inc. and Veterans
for Peace and often spends her time
visiting with the sick at Veterans’
Hospitals. She now works as a clinical
spine specialist in the Hudson
Valley of New York.


Sergeant Kelly Dougherty served in the Army National
Guard from 1996-2004. She spent 10 months serving
in Southern Iraq near Nazaria as a member of the 220th
Military Police Company. Upon completion of her service,
Kelly co-founded Iraq Veterans Against the War. She now
resides in Philadelphia where she acts as IVAW’s
Executive Director.
Georgie

Georgie Carter-Krell has recently been re-elected to a second term as
National President of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. Her son John
Wayne Carter, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in Vietnam.
She rides with Rolling Thunder, Inc. over Memorial day weekend. She is
working to get the Miami Veterans Hospital to be renamed in his honor.


Sergeant Artie Muller served three tours of duty in Vietnam
starting in 1967. In 1987 he founded Rolling Thunder,Inc.
a veterans’ advocacy organization committed to bringing
home all American POWs and MIAs from foreign conflicts.
Currently he is the National Executive Director of Rolling
Thunder,Inc. and resides in New Jersey.


Specialist Garett Reppenhagen served four
years in the United States Army, culminating
in a year served working as a sniper in Iraq.
He returned home in 2005 and immediately
joined Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Garett now lives in Colorado with his
daughter where he is completing degrees
in teaching and history.


Specialist Michael Blake served a year in Iraq from 2003-2004.
He applied for, and was granted, status as a Conscientious
Objector and received his dis-charge from the military.
He resides in Syracuse, NY where he splits his time between
pursuing a degree in political science from SUNY-Cortland and
serving on the Board of Directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War.


Specialist Bill Mitchell served 4 years
in the U.S. Army from 1971-1974.
His son, Staff Sergeant Michael Mitchell,
was killed in Iraq. Bill resides
in San Luis Obispo, California,
and is the co-founder of Gold Star
Families for Peace.


1st Lieutenant Diane Carlson-Evans served 6 years in the Army Nurse Corps
between 1968-1974, with the first year being served in Vietnam.
Diane is the founder and chair of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project.
She worked for many years to have the Vietnam Women’s Memorial created
and placed near the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. She is also
a member of Rolling Thunder,Inc. and Veterans for Peace.


Specialist Abbie Pickett served 5 years in the Army
National Guard, and 11 months in Iraq as a member
of the Wisconsin National Guard 229th Combat Support
Equipment Company. Abbie is a member of Iraq Veterans
Against the War. She resides in Madison, Wisconsin
where she has organized a veterans’ support group.
Abbie tours the country speaking out against
the harassment of women in the military.


Corporal David Cline {RIP Brother David} served one tour of duty
with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam
in 1967. After being wounded 3 times and
receiving 3 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star,
David was discharged. He spent the next
40 years as a full time peace activist,
serving twice as the President of Veterans
for Peace


Specialist Garett Reppenhagen served four
years in the United States Army, culminating
in a year served working as a sniper in Iraq.
He returned home in 2005 and immediately
joined Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Garrett now lives in Colorado with his
daughter where he is completing degrees
in teaching and history.

RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

August 5-10, 2008