Questions for my government-Grace Bell Hardison Unitarian Universalist Minister and member of About Face: Veterans Against the War

Questions for my government

  

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Dear Alfred, When I served as a Nuclear Biological Chemical Specialist in the U.S. National Guard, I made a pledge to protect my country like my parents and grandparents before me. But in 2006, I refused deployment after the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As we remembered on Memorial Day, patriotism can mean serving and dying for your country. It can also mean telling hard truths about our government. When I refused deployment, I had hard questions. How could we wage a fruitless war when so many veterans return home without the full benefits they were promised? When PTSD and poor access to healthcare have caused their suicide rates to rise? How can we give away billion-dollar military contracts when servicemembers’ families must live on food st… Twelve years later, I’m still asking these questions. But this week I shouted them at the steps of the US Capitol as the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival held its third week of nonviolent direct action all across the country. Watch and share footage of veterans speaking out. My mother and father met in the U.S. Air Force. They joined because they believed America’s principle of freedom for all was worth upholding despite its flaws. But their full-time employment didn’t keep me from growing up on food stamps. It was 1984. We lived in a trailer park near Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina because the military would not provide us housing. In 2018, our country is trillions of dollars in debt from waging the longest wars in our history—wars that benefit weapons manufacturers while deepening poverty in the U.S. and abroad. Military families here still need food stamps, while 10 million people in Afghanistan and Pakistan are homeless due to war. It’s time we demand an exit strategy. This week, we’re calling for an end to rampant militarism, the corrupt war economy and the proliferation of gun violence. You can help by sharing these veterans’ calls to action on Facebook and Twitter. This is what patriotism looks like. Thank you, Grace Bell Hardison Unitarian Universalist Minister and member of About Face: Veterans Against the War

Dear Alfred, When I served as a Nuclear Biological Chemical Specialist in the U.S. National Guard, I made a pledge to protect my country like my parents and grandparents before me. But in 2006, I refused deployment after the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As we remembered on Memorial Day, patriotism can mean serving and dying for your country. It can also mean telling hard truths about our government. When I refused deployment, I had hard questions. How could we wage a fruitless war when so many veterans return home without the full benefits they were promised? When PTSD and poor access to healthcare have caused their suicide rates to rise? How can we give away billion-dollar military contracts when servicemembers’ families must live on food st… Twelve years later, I’m still asking these questions. But this week I shouted them at the steps of the US Capitol as the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival held its third week of nonviolent direct action all across the country. Watch and share footage of veterans speaking out. My mother and father met in the U.S. Air Force. They joined because they believed America’s principle of freedom for all was worth upholding despite its flaws. But their full-time employment didn’t keep me from growing up on food stamps. It was 1984. We lived in a trailer park near Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina because the military would not provide us housing. In 2018, our country is trillions of dollars in debt from waging the longest wars in our history—wars that benefit weapons manufacturers while deepening poverty in the U.S. and abroad. Military families here still need food stamps, while 10 million people in Afghanistan and Pakistan are homeless due to war. It’s time we demand an exit strategy. This week, we’re calling for an end to rampant militarism, the corrupt war economy and the proliferation of gun violence. You can help by sharing these veterans’ calls to action on Facebook and Twitter. This is what patriotism looks like. Thank you, Grace Bell Hardison Unitarian Universalist Minister and member of About Face: Veterans Against the War