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Speaking & Events
Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones in the military.
http://www.mfso.org
| February 22, 2007 |
Operation Occupation
President Bush has declared that he's sending at least 21,500 more troops into Iraq, and there's nothing that Congress can do to stop him. Actually, there is something Congress can do, but it will require immense public pressure and a prolonged presence on Capitol Hill over the next few months. The House of Representatives recently adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing the proposed troop escalation in Iraq. Now that they've gotten some practice, it's time for the real thing: legitimate legislation to end an illegal, immoral war.
Congress can cut off the funding for the war, which is what finally ended the Vietnam War. But many members of Congress say that they won't cut off funding for the war because they "don't want to abandon the troops." As the wife of an Iraq War Veteran, and three-year member of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), I say that Congress has abandoned our troops for nearly four years.
3,200 plus members of MFSO agree, as do the nearly 1,100 military personnel - mostly active duty - who have signed the Appeal for Redress, along with the hundreds of Iraq War Veterans who have served in Iraq and are drawing from their first-hand experiences to protest this war. Rory Dunn is one of them. He lost part of his forehead, and an eye, when he was hit by an IED. The doctors didn't expect him to survive, but he did. His family has had to fight for his post-combat care and medical treatment every step of the way, in what they call the "battle after the battle." You can read more about it here:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5012220p-4574442c.html
Military families began arriving on Capitol Hill on February 5th, when President Bush submitted the supplemental appropriations request to continue the occupation of Iraq. This contradicts the intelligence of most military commanders, the findings and recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, the opinions of 70% of the soldiers on the ground (Zogby Poll, February 2006), and the demands of the overwhelming majority of the people of American and of Iraq.
From February through April, there are a number of anti-war activities scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., including a campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to end Iraq War funding, which was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org). In addition to the March 17-19 Peace Demonstration to mark four years of Iraq War, there are a number of upcoming hearings scheduled by the Senate and House Majority and Minority leaders, as well as the leaders and members of the following committees: Appropriations, Armed Services, Defense, Military Quality of Life & Veterans Affairs, International Relations, and more.
It is critical that military family members, active duty personnel, Gold Star families and Iraq war veterans are able to attend - and possibly testify at - these events, but housing costs are prohibitive.
Stacy Bannerman has been on the front lines of the anti-war movement since before it began. She will act as the project director, and has committed to being in Washington, D.C. for the duration of the campaign. She is a past Advisory Board member of MFSO, and author of When the War Came Home (Continuum Publishing, 2006). While in D.C., she will be participating in all of the activities, writing reports, blogs, and articles, conducting interviews and press conferences, speaking at events, and working to ensure that the voices of those most directly affected by the war - soldiers, families, and veterans - are heard.
Ms. Bannerman's proposal for the establishment of a Military Citizens Advisory Panel (MCAP) has been requested and approved by the office of the Speaker of the House, and is currently under review by the House Armed Services Committee. She has submitted a request for a hearing with the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and has conducted interviews with AlterNet.org, PBS's To The Contrary, and the Military Times. Her blogs can be found at www.afterdowningstreet.org, and articles are forthcoming in The Progressive magazine and Foreign Policy in Focus.
When military families and veterans speak out, opinion leaders, elected officials and citizens take their objection to the war seriously. It is their loved ones who have been, are, or will be in the war theater. It is their loved ones who are suffering injury and death, returning scarred from their experiences. Congress will listen to them, but they need to your help with housing.
Ms. Bannerman has secured a furnished apartment to sub-let through the end of April, possibly longer. The space is near Capitol Hill, with access to the Metro and other services. This will provide a stable base of operations and housing for her and other military families, personnel and veterans while they are engaging in coordinated efforts to get Congress to support the troops, cut off the funds and end the war.
Your support for this project is critical, so please consider making a tax-deductible contribution at:
http://www.ihcenter.org/groups/operationoccupation.html
Please Note: Funds are NOT going to Voices for Creative Nonviolence.
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| August 10, 2006 |
| Veterans for Peace Annual convention August 10, 2006, Seattle, Washington
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| June 22 - August 4, 2006 |
| http://www.operationhousecall.org
Operation House Call is a campaign created by Stacy Bannerman, which consists of a daily vigil of military families in Washington DC. Each day from June 22 - August 4th that Congress is in session, Stacy will be joined by members of Military Families Speak Out will stand across from the Capitol, at the corner of New Jersey and Independence Avenues, with combat boots representing US troops and shoes representing Iraqis who have died since June 15, 2006 - the day Congress voted to "stay the course" in Iraq and the day the 2,500th troop death occurred. MFSO members will also visit the offices of Senators and Members of Congress.
When Congress goes on recess on August 4th, military families will continue to pressure their Senators and Representatives in their home states and districts.
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| June 22 |
| For Immediate Release: June 19th, 2006
With the Iraq War Putting the Nation's Health in Peril,
Military Families Make a House Call
Military Families Speak Out Begins "Operation House Call" with June 22, 2006 Press Conference
WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, June 22 at 10 a.m., Military Families Speak Out will hold a press conference outside the Cannon House Office Building to launch Operation House Call, a summer- long campaign to highlight the damage caused by the Iraq War. Beginning on June 22, military families with loved ones who are serving in Iraq, those whose loved ones died as a result of the Iraq War, and those with loved ones awaiting deployment or re-deployment will come to Washington, D.C. to call attention to the growing toll of the Iraq war and tell Congress: "End the occupation, bring our troops home now and take care of them when they get here."
Beginning on June 22 and continuing until August 7 when Congress recesses for the summer, members of Military Families Speak Out will be holding daily vigils, speaking events, visits with Congress and related activities at Congressional Office Buildings. An on-going display will feature pairs of combat boots representing U.S. troop deaths, and shoes representing the deaths of Iraqi children, women and men. The count will begin from June 15, the day of the 2,500th troop death, when the Iraq War was debated in both the Senate and the House and the majority voted to "stay the course." New boots and shoes will be added to the display to correspond with continuing deaths in Iraq, highlighting lives lost due to Congressional inaction.
WHAT: Military Families Hold Press Conference launching summer-long Operation House Call campaign; visuals (pictures of family members in the military, signs and banners).
WHO: Members of Military Families Speak Out, including:
- Susan Adams of Reston, VA whose son served two tours of duty in Iraq and is scheduled to re-deploy in January, 2007.
- Stacy Bannerman of Kent, WA whose husband serves in the Washington Army National Guard, SFC Mortar Platoon, and served a year's tour of duty in Iraq. He may re-deploy in the future.
- Elizabeth Frederick of Washington, DC whose partner of 4 1/2 years is a former Marine who was deployed to Iraq from 2004-2005 with the New York Army National Guard as a combat infantryman. His National Guard unit had not been deployed overseas since the Korean War.
- Elaine Johnson of Cope, SC whose son, Spc. Darius Jennings, age 22, was killed in action in Iraq on November 2, 2003, when his Chinook helicopter was shot down, taking his life and the lives of fifteen other soldiers.
- Mona Parsons of Mt. Vernon, OH whose son is a Sgt in the Army and is currently serving his first deployment to Iraq.
- Al Zappala of Philadelphia, PA whose son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in action in Iraq on April 26, 2004. He was the first Pennsylvania National Guard soldier to die in combat since World War II. He was killed in an explosion while assigned to protect the Iraq Survey Group who were searching for Weapons of Mass Destruction long after it was known that there were no WMD's in Iraq.
WHEN: Thursday, June 22 at 10 A.M.
WHERE: 1st Street and Independence Avenue, SE in front of the Cannon House Office Building
Military Families Speak Out was founded by two military families in November, 2002; its membership now includes over 3,000 military families speaking out to end the war in Iraq. It is the largest organization of military families opposing a war in the history of the United States. For more information see www.mfso.org
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| May 17-20, 2006 |
| Spiritual Activism Conference May 17-20, 2006 Washington, D.C.
All Souls Church, Unitarian, Washington, D.C.
http://www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference/dc-conference.html
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| April 29, 2006 |
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
NEW YORK CITY
MARCH FOR PEACE,
JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
End the war in Iraq -
Bring all our troops home now!
• No more never-ending oil wars!
• Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal spying, government corruption and the subversion of our democracy.
• Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast. Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy while ignoring our basic needs.
• Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the accelerating destruction of our environment. |
| April 21-23, 2006 |
| Woodstock is Portland's Annual Festival of the Book.
This year's Wordstock will be April 21-23, 2006. The book fair portion will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Oregon Convention Center on the 22nd and 23rd. Again, we will be offering readings from some of the finest authors in the country, a two-day book fair with hundreds of exhibitors and authors, workshops, writing contests, a full slate of children's activities and more! Please check back often for updated details.
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| March 14-19, 2006 |
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Veterans' and Survivors' March from Mobile to New Orleans
March 14-19, 2006
March 19, 2006, is the 3rd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, and hurricane survivors' organizations are organizing a five-day march along Gulf Coast Highway 90 to demand the immediate return of our troops from Iraq, and to call for U.S. tax dollars to be spent on human priorities and rebuilding of the devastated Gulf Coast, instead of the illegal occupation of Iraq.Every bomb dropped in Iraq Explodes from Mobile to New Orleans
Justice in Iraq and the Gulf Coast-bring the troops and survivors home NOW!
http://www.vetgulfmarch.org
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| March 2, 2006 |
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Foreign Policy In Focus is pleased to invite you to a book talk:
When the War Came Home
by MFSO member Stacy Bannerman
Thursday March 2
12:00pm - 1:00pm
at IPS, 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600
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| March 1, 2006 |
| Group to tell Congress to stop war funding, bring troops home now.
On Wednesday, March 1st, Stacy Bannerman, the wife of a National Guard soldier who returned from Iraq, will testify in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs. She will be joined at the hearing by Tia Steele, the stepmother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq, Garett Reppenhagen, an Iraq war veteran, and Elizabeth Frederick, whose partner recently returned from Iraq, who have submitted written testimony.
This testimony by Military Families and an Iraq war veteran comes just weeks before the 3rd anniversary of the Iraq war. As the violence in Iraq continues and escalates, Military Families Speak Out and Iraq Veterans Against the War will ask members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee, "How many more deaths and physical and psychological wounds must our loved ones and the people of Iraq suffer before you act decisively to end a war that you should never have allowed to start?"
Stacy Bannerman, a member of the Advisory Board of Military Families Speak Out, explains the purpose of her testimony: "My testimony will remind the Subcommittee that it was Congress that gave the Bush administration a 'blank check' to fund this war based on lies. The best way for Congress to support our troops and their families is to stop funding for the war immediately. Not one more dime, not one more life."
Garett Reppenhagen, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, paints a chilling picture in his written testimony of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that returning veterans are suffering and sometimes dying from. Tia Steele, a member of Gold Star Families Speak Out, details in her written testimony the insult added to heartbreaking injury that Gold Star Families have had to endure when they have not received truthful information about the circumstances that took the lives of loved ones in Iraq. Elizabeth Frederick, a member of Military Families Speak Out, highlights in her testimony the lack of supplies, equipment and leadership experienced by service men and women in the Iraq war zone and the impact this has on our troops and their families.
Following the House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, the delegation will meet with House Armed Services Committee staff, Senator John Kerry, and Congressman Jim McGovern.
For further information on Military Families Speak Out, go to: http://www.mfso.org
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