VFP eNews: Memorial Day, Swords to Plowshares Belltower, Help Needed!
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National Mobilization of Veterans Memorial Day Weekend
Stop Endless War • Build for Peace!
May 29 and 30, 2017 Washington DC In response to President Trump’s outrageous budget proposal, including a $54 billion increase for the Pentagon, VFP and other veterans groups will not be silent. Planning for this was started in response to VFP’s galvanizing statement about Trump’s Military Budget and our desire and responsibility as veterans, citizens and human beings to express our strong resistance to his policies and our commitment to find a better way to peace.
RSVP Now for the event!
For more information contact Tarak Kauff, VFP National Board Member, takauff@gmail.com, 845 679-6189 or 845 706-0187 For more information on the Letters to the Wall project contact Doug Rawlings, rawlings@maine.edu, 207 500-0193 Back to Top
Veterans For Peace 2017 Resolutions
Every summer members of VFP are given the opportunity to shape organization policy by submitting resolutions that are reviewed and voted on by the membership. Resolutions approved in previous years can be viewed at our Master Index.
For the yearly resolution process, this starts approximately 90 days before the start of the annual VFP Convention when resolutions start to be accepted and close 30 days prior to the start of the pre-Convention Board of Directors meeting. For 2017 the first day resolutions could be submitted was May 1st and the deadline for submission is July 9th. Check out this helpful note of tips from Bob Krzewinski – VFP Resolutions Committee Chair
Can You Help Get the Word Out?
Can you help us get the word out? We have a TV advertisement, which we will run in the Washington, DC area on MSNBC. Can you help us let as many people know as possible that veterans are gathering against war, against militarism and against the system that is destroying our society, our future and our planet?
"If you can give $5, $20 or more we can let millions of people know we will be there, in DC, the heart of the Empire, so they can join us and so they, thousands of them, may join us outside the Lincoln Memorial, march to the White House and fight for Peace and against war; for Life and against death; for Love and against hate; for those things we need and we cherish in our society; and against the greed and the destruction that we have too much already in our society." -Matt Hoh, Veteran, Member of Veterans For Peace.
Swords to Plowshares Belltower in DC May 25-31
Another great reason to come to the Lincoln Memorial in DC the last week of May (besides the big rally at Lincoln and 'Veterans on the March' to White House on May 30, and delivery of 'Letters to Wall' to Vietnam Memorial and reading of 'Beyond Vietnam' speech at MLK Memorial on Memorial Day) is to experience volunteering at the Swords to Plowshares Belltower! Belltower Volunteer Info and Sign-Up.
Veterans For Peace will once again fill a void in the National Memorial space by offering thousand of people an opportunity to bear witness on this touring memorial to ALL the costs of war on ALL sides. Not only do we lack a memorial to all the American combat dead in Iraq and Afghanistan and other post Vietnam wars, but we lack a monument to the many suicide deaths, and families torn by the many traumas of exposure to war. Most grievously, most monuments fail to acknowledge the death and suffering of civilians and combatants on the 'other side' of American wars. Anyone who visits the Belltower is invited to add an inscription to one of the wind-blown aluminum-can plaques, share their story, and ring the bell. Thousands of people from around the country and the world appreciate the more redemptive and inclusive opportunity for mourning that the Belltower presents. We have interested many people in Veterans For Peace's efforts to heal and prevent future trauma who probably would not react as positively if they were not invited to bear witness to their own losses and grief. WE NEED YOU! The location and interaction is marvelous. Keeping night vigil in our large tent saves a night's hotel expense. Set-up and take-down is fun physical work. Daytime shifts are guaranteed to involve deeply meaningful interactions. Contact Roger Ehrlich if you might be available and/or have questions. (progerehrlich@gmail.com, (919) 696-5995) Chelsea Manning Will Be Free
Chelsea Manning will be released from prison this coming Wednesday, May 17. Veterans For Peace is celebrating her freedom. We are so grateful to Chelsea for her courage in releasing U.S. Army documents that allowed the public to know the truth about the U.S. wars and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. She did not deserve the torture, solitary confinement, abuse and imprisonment these last 7 years, which was a longer sentence than any U.S. whistleblower has had to endure. The 35-year prison sentence given to Chelsea by a politically motivated Army court martial was an obscenity. Fortunately, a broad-based support movement of peace, civil liberties and LGBT rights groups was able to convince President Obama to commute her sentence.
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In This Issue:
VFP Annual Convention in Chicago!
The VFP Annual Convention is titled "Education Not Militarization" and will be held in Chicago, Aug 9-13 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
Tabling/ Registration begin on Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Workshops will be held on Thu/Fri (Aug 10-11th)
Friday: VFP Concert at VIC Theatre
Saturday: Business meeting/banquet Sunday: Jackson Browne concert
New information about reserving your room, tabling, submitting a resolution and purchasing an ad!
National office contact is Shelly Rockett
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The Golden Rule Newsletter is Out!
We're excited about the upcoming voyage and hope to see you soon!
You can download the newsletter, including the current sailing schedule, and/or view it below!
Please forward widely, thank you!
Our first event of the season is in Fort Bragg at Silver's on the Wharf, Tuesday June 13 at 6 pm. More details here Also, Dont Forget to apply if you are interested in sailing with us! Fill out the form as soon as possible - we set sail from Humboldt Bay in northern California June 10 and arrive in San Diego August 22. While in San Diego all winter, we could use crew, too! Newsletter Request! Your Story Wanted!
We are putting together a special feature for our upcoming VFP Summer 2017 newsletter (scheduled to be out by late June), and we want you to be part of it!
Here's what you have to do: write a short (no more than 100 words) bio sketch of "who you were" before joining VFP. This might include what co-editor Becky Luening refers to as an "aha moment." That's the hard part. Here's the easy part -- include a photograph of yourself from that time period.
SEND YOUR BIO AND YOUR PICTURE TO editor@veteransforpeace.org. BY JUNE 5th.
We will run a two page spread in the newsletter, a kind of rogues' gallery, as a reminder that VFP members aren't exactly rookies in this long struggle for peace.
Here's Doug Rawling's contribution an example!
After getting out of the army in 1970, I wandered up to Boston and eventually joined the Socialist Workers Party. I then went out to Seattle to study English literature, and back to Boston to get my masters in teaching. I eventually ended up in Maine. In the mid 1980's, I attended a presentation given by Judy and Jerry Genesio about their work in Nicaragua with the Witnesses for Peace program. At the end of the talk, Jerry asked if there were any veterans in the audience who would like to form a peace group. Aha! The genesis of VFP begins.
VFP Chapter 177 Hosts Memorial Day Service
Memorial Day Eve Service of Remembrance, Lamentation and Hope
5:30 p.m. EST Sunday, May 28, 2017 Join in Person of via Face Book Live Stream
A Memorial Day Eve Service of Remembrance, Lamentation and Hope will take place on Sunday May 28th, beginning at 5:30 p.m. This 4th annual community healing ceremony, which welcomes civilians, vets and active military personnel alike.
James Yee, former U.S Army Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, a Muslim, and author of the book. For God and County: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire, will speak. The service will include storytelling, music and rituals of remembrance and healing.
Veterans leading the service include Rev. Dr. Chris Antal, (Unitarian Universalist, Afghanistan); Everett Cox, (Vietnam); Chaplain (COL) Ken Sampson, U.S. Army retired, (Reformed Church, Iraq, Afghanistan); and Lawrence Winters, (Vietnam). UNAC Conference 2017
Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad
Building a Movement Against War, Injustice & Repression! June 16-18, 2017 Greater Richmond Convention Center 403 North 3rd Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Join activists from the many domestic and international struggles as we build unity against the Trump Regime and the underlying system responsible for imperialist wars, poverty, racism, sexism, the oppression of LGBTQ people, attacks on Muslims and undocumented immigrants, environmental destruction and all forms of injustice.
Save the Dates: Upcoming EventsMay 25-31 - Swords to Plowshares Belltower in D.C.May 28 - VFP Chapter 177 Hosts Memorial Day Service in New Windsor, New York (and via Livestream) May 29 - Memorial Day Peace Rally-Madison, WI
May 29-30 - Memorial Day National Mobilization
June 13 - Paths to Building Peace with N. Korea in Washington D.C.
Aug 9-13 - VFP Annual Convention-"Education Not Militarization", Chicago, IL. There will be a concert the evening of the 13th, so plan to stay the evening of the 13th! More details to follow soon!
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Veterans For Peace, 1404 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Veterans For Peace appreciates your tax-exempt donations.
We also encourage you to join our ranks.
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