Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 09:17:07 -0800 From: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist <vvawai@oz.net> Subject: Veterans Days 2000 - To hell with your national honor! Veterans Day 2000 To hell with your national honor, we won't be used again! As veterans of the U.S. military, we know that there is no honor in the kinds of actions the U.S. has carried out against people around the world. How can we be proud of this country and its military when hundreds of people in Iraq, mostly infants and children, are dying daily because of the ongoing sanctions? How can we be proud of this country and its military when thousands of innocent civilians where killed by the bombings of civilian facilities during the Gulf war? How can we be proud of this country and its military for the deaths of thousands at the hands of SOA graduates? We can't and we won't! Our experiences have taught us that real honor and pride comes from standing with the people of the world against the injustices and aggression brought by countries like the U.S. On this veterans day, we urge all veterans to join with us in the call to end the sanctions against the people of Iraq. Join us in taking a stand that brings real honor and pride. Below is the statement and the list of veterans who have signed it. We are also looking for people willing to translate this into other languages to broaden its reach to veterans, and people, of other countries. Our contact information is at the bottom. ----------------- A Call From Veterans -- End the U.S./UN Sanctions -- Stop the U.S. War Against the People of Iraq! As veterans of U.S. military interventions, wars and occupations, we have something to say about war. What we have learned, we have learned the hard way, as instruments of war. Our shared experiences cause us to hold strong opinions about war - from avowed pacifism, to "only for self-defense," to nationalism, even to the need for revolutionary change. It also unites us under the common pledge of "Never Again!" Like most of the people in this country, we started out believing in what our government said and did. We believed that we were fighting for "freedom" and "democracy" and that the Saddam Husseins of the world were the only bad guys. But for us, these illusions were shattered by the murder of innocent people by our hands--people who happened to be in the way of the economic or political interests of the U.S. We found out first hand that it is not the Saddam Husseins of the world that pose the biggest threat to the people of the world, it is the U.S. as it "levels the playing field" and protects it own interests. With aggressions like the war against Vietnam, the support for the contras in Nicaragua, the invasions of Grenada and Panama, the U.S. has clearly demonstrated the lengths it will go to in maintaining control of what it calls "the American Century." (Since the end of World War 2, the U.S. has carried out over 200 overt military and 6000 covert interventions.) As a result of these U.S. actions millions around the world have died. Countries, families, and cultures have all but been obliterated. Currently, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the people of Iraq are killing 5000 children a month. When asked on "60 Minutes" in May of 1996 about the deaths of half a million children, more than died in Hiroshima, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright responded, "We think the price is worth it." Worth what? Mouthing weak condemnations about "weapons of mass destruction," the U.S. subverted the UN inspection teams to spy on President Hussein and plot their military attacks. The U.S. says that Saddam Hussein should be punished for crimes against his own people and the Kurds. But let's not forget that the major genocide against the Kurds in Iraq was commited during the period of friendly relations with the U.S. at the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq War. As soon as Hussein had plans of his own for the region, then to the U.S. he became evil incarnate and had to be stopped at all costs, even if those costs included the deaths of innocent children. Albright's response is acceptable to the people of this country because we have been lied to and deceived for so long we are blinded to the realities of the true consequences of the actions of our country. It also allows the government to threaten and attack people of conscience who are trying to oppose these actions and wake the citizens of this country up to reality. Voices in the Wilderness has been threatened with tens of thousands of dollars in fines and long prison sentences for taking medicine and toys to Iraq. Under this administration, compassion for dying children is apparently a criminal activity. We owe these courageous activists our support. As Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Edward Herman, and Edward Said recently stated, in their national statement, "The time has come for a call to action to people of conscience. We are past the point where silence is passive consent--when a crime reaches these proportions, silence is complicity." We will work with others to strategize, organize and take whatever actions necessary toward this end: We denounce sanctions against the people of Iraq as immoral and illegitimate. We call for an immediate end to the ongoing sanctions war against the people of Iraq. We vow our support for all those threatened or prosecuted for violating the sanctions and opposing intervention. We will oppose all US interventions, overt or covert, in the sovereign affairs of other nations. Veteran Signatories -- Current as of 11/02/00. Please let us know if any of the information is incorrect. Thank you. Signatories: * = organizational affiliation for identification purposes only - A - A. Mzilikazi Al-Qadri AY8364-Vietnam, 3rd Rangers 1967-71, VVAW AI, Vietnam Vets Legal Eagles David A. Anderson --USAF 1976, Committees of Correspondence Michael Armstry --USAF 1971-80 Mitchell A Ansell --U.S. Army 9/54 -8/56 (active) Charles L. Atkins --Korean War Artillery Off., Purple Heart, Silver Star, Veterans For Peace - B - Charles R. Bauerlein --U.S. Navy WWII, Veterans for Peace Ellen E. Barfield --U.S. Army 1977-81, Veterans for Peace & Voices in the Wilderness Thomas Baxter --U.S. Army 1967-69, Veterans for Peace Philip Berrigan --13th Inf. 8th Inf Division, Jonah House William J. Bires --Korean War Veteran 1952 Bill Bischel --Non-Vet Tacoma Catholic Worker and B.O.P. David Blalock --Vietnam Veteran, U.S. Army 1967-71, STWB & VVAW AI Ray M. Boehm --25th Infantry Div.-Intelligence, Vietnam 1968-69, My Lai Peace Park Project George G. Boone --U.S. Air Force, McDill Vigil Group Bob Bossie, SCJ --USAF 1955-59, 8th Day Center for Justice/Priests of the Sacred Heart Roy Bourgeois --U.S. Navy 1963-67, Vietnam, founder and co-director of SOA Watch Thompson Bradley --U.S. Army, Veterans For Peace Robert T. Brown --U.S. Navy WWII, DAV Richard M. Burkhart --Vietnam Vet 9th Army, NWVFP Hosea Butler --U.S. Army 1950-52, 1960-72 - C - Scotty Cade --facilitator of VVAW AI Hawaii Chapter Patrick Carkin --U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst 1989-1990, info@proactivist.com, ProActivist.com & Maine--VFP Lawrence Carver --U.S. Army Air Force 1942-45, Vets For Peace Fredy Champagne --U.S. Army Vietnam '65-'66, A Co/2nd Br/2nd Rgt/1st Inf Div.,--Vets for Peace, Chapter 022, Garberville, CA Thomas Chisholm, M.D. --Col. M.C. U.S. Army (Ret.), Veterans For Peace, Chapter 27 Frank Corcoran --U.S. Marines, Vietnam combat veteran, Veterans For Peace, Project Hearts and Minds James Creaven --U.S. Army 1969-71, Vietnam, Veterans For Peace Ed Crimmins --U.S. Navy Thad Crouch --U.S. Army 1987-89, Veterans For Peace Gerald Curtis --U.S. Army 1953-55, U.S. Air Force 1955-74, Vietnam 1968-69, 1971-72, American Friends--Service Committee - D - Sean Daly --Vietnam 1968-70 Marv Davidov --U.S. Army 1953-55, M.I.S.T Norman L. Davis --A2/c, 17 Bomb Wing (L) Korea, 803rd Squadron Tucson DMAFB, Hazmat Review Mike Dedrick --Washington Veterans for Peace Dick Dettrey --"Rear" Echelon Mother Fucker (REMF), Vietnam Veteran 1965-66 Peter R. DeVear --U.S. Navy, Quaker Carl Dix --U.S. Army - Ft. Lewis 6 (WA) 1970; Leavenworth Military Penitentiary 1970-72;--Revolutionary Communist Party, USA* carldix@hotmail.com Patrick L. Downey --U.S. Air Force 1952-56, Veterans For Peace Chapter 27 Douglas Drew --Veterans For Peace Tom F. Driver --A.U.S. 1943-46, Veterans For Peace, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Witness For Peace - E - Peter Edmunds --U.S. Navy 1961-63, Veterans For Peace Lawrence Egbert --U.S. Army 1946-47, U.S. Navy 1954-61, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Veterans For--Peace Gary Erb --Sergeant, E-4, USAF 1972-76 Bruce A. Erickson --USMC 1971-75, Veterans for Peace - F - Doyle C. Fine II --U.S. Navy/Shellback Hayden Fisher --VVAW AI-LA, U.S. Navy 1968-72, Rank YN3, Vietnam June 1970-April 1971 Fernand Fernando --Vietnam Era Veteran - G - John F. Galliher --USAF 1955-58 Randell L. Gamble --U.S. Navy Ret. Louis Godena --U.S. Air Force 1969-72, Communist Party USA Edward William Goosmann --HM3 - USNR-R (8404), Fleet Hospital 500, 4th F.S.S.G., 4th ANLICO, Fox Company 2/25--Marines, 4th MARDIV, Veterans For Peace, F.O.R., CISPES, CASA John W. Grant --U.S. Army 1965-69, Veterans For Peace Robert Gregory --1989 Ft. Lewis, Washington "Soldier of the Year," Panama Invasion Veteran Peter Gunn --Editor of FighT bAck--The Revolutionary Voice of GIs in Europe - H - Jackson T. Hammer --Yankee Station Vietnam Veteran 1971-75 John W. Harmon --U.S. Army Reserve 1982-86 (Armour Division), Veterans For Peace David Harris --USAF 1965-67, Witness For Peace Edwin Hart --USMC WWII, Veterans For Peace Robert Heberle --Veterans For Peace Wally Hedrick --HQ CO, 223 Rgt. 40th Inf Div., 1950-52 Korea Thomas J. Hooley --U.S. Navy (Lt) 1950-58, Veterans For Peace MN - J - Eli Jaffe --U.S. Army WWII, Pres. Eleanor Roosevelt Chapter, Veterans For Peace David Johnson --U.S. Marines George Johnson --U.S. Navy 1962-66, Vietnam 1965, Veterans For Peace Howard Johnson --U.S. Army 1958, 1961-62, Sp-5E-5ha22d Log Command Signal Section, NLG, Veterans For--Peace Joseph W. Johnson --U.S. Navy 1965-68, Vets For Peace Chapter 27 - K - Philip Kahal --U.S. Navy (Ret.), Pastors For Peace James M. Kearney --U.S. Army 1962-65, WA Vets for Peace Raymond Kell --U.S. Army 1945-46, Veterans For Peace, Chapter 74 Detroit Sanford Kelson --U.S. Army 1963-66, Sgt E-5, Veterans For Peace Jim Keyser --U.S.M.C., Vietnam 1966-67, 1st Bn. 12th Marines, KMUD Radio Theodore A. Kieser --Army Veteran 1967-68 CuChi, NWVFP Henry Knecht --U.S. Army/AirCorps WWII, 1943-46 Theresa P. Koenig (Jarvinen) --U.S. Army Nurse Corps WWII, Veterans For Peace #27, #80 & National Robert L. Koenig --U.S. Navy WWII, Veterans For Peace #80 & #27 M.N. Marty Kunz --U.S. Navy 1970-76, VVAW AI Yvonne Kunz --U.S. Army 1997-2000 - L - Raymond Laport --U.S. Army - WWII, Veterans For Peace David Lawler --U.S. Army, E4 MACU TM 28 Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, Veterans For Peace, Minneapolis William W. Leonard --U.S. Navy 1952-56, Maine Veterans for Peace Fred Louis --U.S. Army, Vietnam 1967-69, Veterans For Peace - M - Linda J. McClenahan, OP --U.S. Army - WAC, Natl Conf of Vietnam Veteran Ministers, NamVetNun@juno.com O'Kelly McCluskey --WWII USN, Korea USAF Thomas S. McMahon --U.S. Army 1962-74 Jason R. Miller --Conscientious Objector, Conscience Canada Donald E. Mills --U.S. Army, Vietnam Veteran John H. Moffett --WWII - Korea - U.S. Army Reserve 1955-67, Veterans For Peace David R. Morgan --A/C1 Royal Air Force, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms Terry Moses --Vietnam 1966-67, VVAW AI Cincinatti Outpost - N - R. D. Nashold --Korea 1953, 5th Reg. Combat Team Lewis R. Nelson --U.S. Army 1Lt., 1967-68 Veterans For Peace, F.O.R. William (Bill) Ney --U.S. Army 1954-56, Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center Harold R. Nielsen --WWII Merchant Marine, Veterans For Peace Stan Nishimura --U.S. Army 1964-67 Germany, VVAW AI New Haven, CT - P - Manuel D. Parsons --Spec 4, Combat Engineer, 577 Construction Bat., 1967-68, Tue Hua Central Highlands Jeff Paterson --1st Gulf War GI Resister, U.S. Marines, VVAW AI Arnold O.D. Peterson, Ph.D. --1943-46, Veterans For Peace - WFA Marshall Peterson --W.W.II veteran Utah Phillips --U.S. Army - Korean War, I.W.W. - A.F.L. - C.A.W. Edward L. Potts --U.S. Navy 1951-57 Edward Powell --USMCR, Pastors For Peace* Wilson Powell --AFC, USAF 1950-54, Veterans For Peace - R - Ronald Reichel --1927-52 USMC 1960-63 Patrick E. Reisinger --U.S. Army, Spec 5, Vietnam, Veterans For Peace Susan Rettig --USAF 1976-80, Veterans For Peace Barry Riesch --U.S. Army, Vietnam 1969-70, 199th Lt. Infantry, 82nd Airborne, VFP Virginia Robbins --Vietnam-era veteran, 1971-76, SOA Watch, Global Exchange, International Action Center, Peta Randy Roland --U.S. Army 1967-70, Presidio 27 John F. Rossback --U.S. Army 1971-73 Hank Roth --a/k/a TheGolem Listmaster: PNEWS-L Michael Russell --Veterans For Peace, Lake City, FL Richard Jerry Russell --USMC, Veterans For Peace - S - Steven E. Saelzler --U.S. Army Inf. 4th Division, Vietnam 1969-70, Veterans For Peace Bruce Sanderson --WWII, Army - N. Africa, Sicily, Okinawa 1940-46, Combat Engrs, Signal Corps, Veterans for--Peace, N. Mich Chapter #50 Ruth C. Sanderson --WWII, Hospital Dietitian, U.S. Army Medical Unit, Little Traverse League for Peace &--Freedom (WILPF Branch #100) T. Peter Schoonmaker Jr. --U.S. Navy 1977-84, USS DD Eisenhour - Iran '80, Lebanon '83-'84, VVAW AI Peter B. Shaw --Korean War Veteran, USMC 1951-54, Veterans For Peace Chapter 47* Paul Sheehan --Panama veteran, 1988-92, USAF, GI resistor, VVAW AI George Silver --Vietnam, 75th Rangers 1968-71 Marvin Simmons --Portland,Oregon, NWVFP (Northwest Vets For Peace) James Skinner --Vietnam Vet - 1st Cav Steve M. Slaby --U.S. Army Airforce 1944-45, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University Ronald E. Staff --USMC 1966-69, Vietnam 1968-69, Veterans For Peace, Chapter 27 James N. Steinhagen --U.S. Marines - 1st Marine Division, Veterans For Peace, President National B.O.D. Kenneth S. St. Thomas --1965-67 (active) 66-67 Vietnam, NW Vets for Peace Darnell S. Summers --Vietnam Veteran, U.S. Army 1966-70, STWB & VVAW AI - T - W. W. Taylor --USMC, Hue (1967-68) Palmer C. Temple --USAR, 1967-72 Alice J. Thompson --U.S. Navy - WWII, Veterans For Peace - V - Victor F. Vinkey --USAR SIG C, Vietnam, Veterans For Peace - W - Michael R. Walli --U.S. Army 1967-71, Campaign to Eradicate Nazism Bill Warrick --Gainesville VFP Kenneth A. Weeks --USMC 1960-64, Veterans For Peace, Inc. Arnie Welber --U.S. Army 1969-70, Veterans For Peace Chapter 032* Sonny Williams --Vietnam 1967-68, Germany 1969-70, VVAW AI Cincinnati John P. Wirtz --U.S. Army 1943-46, Veterans For Peace, Pax Christi, Maine Wayne Wittman --U.S. Navy 1948-51, Veterans For Peace Paul Wright --U.S. Army 1983-87, Prison Legal News* - Z - Doug Zachary --USMC 1968-70, ExDir Austin Peace & Justice Coalition* Howard Zinn --8th Air Force, Bombardier, WWII Greg Zolad --U.S. Army 1967-69, Veterans For Peace ----------------- Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist http://www.oz.net/~vvawai vvawai@oz.net PO Box 21604 Seattle, WA 98111-3604 ph/fax: 206.374.2215
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