ment has been truly amazing to observe. Again, we acknowledge and
thank the Zinn Fund for their assistance with our important work for
peace in Long Beach.
Chapter 69 - San Francisco, CA
Denny Riley
The VFP National Convention is
happening in Berkeley, California,
August 11 to 15, Thursday to Monday, on the UC Berkeley Clark Kerr
campus. The President‘s Reception
kicks it off Thursday evening in the
Gingko Courtyard, with music, food
and drink, and a chance to connect
with friends you haven‘t seen in a
year. The wealth of Convention
speakers includes Ann Jones, Andrew Bacevich, Helen Caldicott, Antonia Juhasz, Roy Scranton, and
Oliver Stone. Saturday night‘s banquet is in the beautiful Pauley Ballroom overlooking the Berkeley campus, where all plates and utensils
are compostable. Yoga and meditation and an AA meeting are scheduled early every morning, and movies will be shown late at night with
plenaries and workshops in between. And of course there is Berkeley – wild, cerebral, romantic, quirky
Berkeley, and all the Bay Area beyond. Miss this convention and you‘ll
be missing something to be talked
about for years. P.S. The days are
warm but the nights can be chilly so
bring that article of clothing you never thought you‘d wear in the summer in California. And another
P.S. no smoking anything anywhere on the campus.
Chapter 71 - Sonoma Cnty, CA
Bill Simon
Our Chapter participates each
spring in the annual Sonoma State
University Social Justice Week educational event. This year we provided individual presentations on the
following topics: the Veteran Suicide
Epidemic, Hidden Costs of War, Lies
at the Root of All Wars, Truth-InRecruiting, and the relationship between Substance Abuse and PTSD
in Trauma Recovery. A lively group
14
VFP Newsletter Summer
discussion, including audience and
presenters, was facilitated after the
presentations.
We took this opportunity to set
up our 22 Veteran Suicides Every
Day display, which includes a
large banner and 22 wooden X‘s.
We set up our display indoors,
which was a first. In addition, we
assembled a modified display and
tabled at a SSU lecture ballroom
where New York Times bestselling
author, David Talbot, The Devil‟s
Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA,
and the Rise of America‟s Secret
Government spoke.
And finally, we have been working with Chapter 69 in support of
their considerable efforts to host a
fantastic VFP National Convention
in Berkeley this August.
Chapter 80 - Duluth, MN
Phil Anderson
Chapter 80 has had a very busy
spring. We co-sponsored a speaker in the Peace & Justice lecture series at the College of
St. Scholastica and tabled at
five of these lectures. In April
we purchased a table at a fund
raising Kurdish dinner to build a
library in Kobani, Syria.
Every year on April 15 we organize a rally to highlight excessive
military spending and call for putting people first. We host a "bean"
survey with the public being asked
to vote on how they would spend
the $1 Trillion by pouring beans
into tubes representing the discretionary budget. Through our membership in Duluth Public Access
TV we are now able to share video
of our activities on YouTube
(search "Tax Day priorities 2015")
After being un-invited from the
unofficial Duluth Memorial Day parade 3 years ago, we have organized an annual Memorial Day Observance that ―Honors the Fallen,
Not the Wars.‖ We honor the sacrifice of all the victims of war -- our
troops, the ―enemy‖ and the civilian ―collateral‖ damage. We also
honor those who have sacrificed for
peace and justice. We also continue to march with our float in local parades though out the summer, including the 4th of July in
Superior, Wisconsin.
Chapter 87 - Sacramento, CA
John Reiger
Once again we helped plan, and
participate in, the local Cesar
Chavez Day March and Rally. Cesar
Chavez was a Navy veteran, a fact
not usually mentioned, but one of
the reasons we like to be part of this
event. He was a fighter for social
justice which is probably the main
reason we feel our presence is in
line with one of VFP‘s missions. We
are always welcome as we support
other local peace and justice events.
We have also been involved in the
effort to defeat a bill in the California
legislature (AB 2844) that would penalize firms that support the BDS
movement.
Our regularly scheduled Anti-War
Vigils continue every Wednesday
and we serve monthly at the local
homeless shelter. The monthly antidrone protests at Beale AFB near
Sacramento and the yearly one at
Creech AFB in Nevada are also on
our activity list. We continue to coordinate (with KnowDrones.com) the
showing of anti-drone TV commercials on CNN, MSNBC and networks on local TV near military bases around the country. The spots
were last shown in Las Vegas.
Chapter 90 - Broome Cnty, NY
Larry Evans
On the Friday before Mother's
Day, the Cha