was sent to Melbourne, Australia. Three other pieces of art painted by new member Charity Joy were sent to the International Peace Garden in Canada.
In May, Craig Wayh and I volunteered to staff a Vet ' s Journey Home retreat in Marathon, Wisconsin. This organization has been helping vets with PTS since 1989; it ' s worth looking into. It was a challenging and emotionally exhausting weekend, but worth the time and travel.
Chapter 115- Red Wing, MN
Chapter 115 announces Peacestock 2016, at Hobgoblin Barn, Red Wing, Minnesota, Saturday, July 9, 9:00 am- dinner. The theme is ― Terrorism: Definitions, Causes & Effects ‖, featuring: Dr. Todd Green, Associate Prof. of European & Religious History at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Author of The Fear of Islam: An introduction to Islamophobia in the West. Dr. Green‘ s address will be: Islamophobia: What Are We really Afraid of? He appears regularly on CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera, Rueters. Michael German, fellow with Brennan Center for Justice‘ s Liberty and National Security Program and former special agent / whistle blower for the FBI and ACLU. Author of two books terrorism, Mr. German‘ s address will be: The Failure of Our Counter- Intelligence Discourse. Music by Wild Colonial Bhoys.
Also:
� Awarded winning student and two honorable mentions for Kellogg-Briand essay contest ― How Can We Become a More Peaceful People?‖, for $ 500 and two $ 100 scholarships;
� Assisting less than honorably discharged Vietnam vets to get VA benefits;
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Emma Onawa
Inviting peace speaker / activist Paul Chappell to address local youth; Power Point to public on World Beyond War
Chapter 129- Pueblo, CO Regina Purcell
The Howard Zinn Chapter 129 of Pueblo, Colorado, hosted a booth at the annual Eastside Cinco de Mayo parade in mid-May. The booth was seen by hundreds of people as volunteers informed them about Veterans For Peace and its mission. The parade ended in a newly revised park and included music, fancy cars, and political issues. Being an election year, Chapter 129 wants to encourage everyone to vote and has made its presence known.
On Memorial Day, the chapter hosted a ceremony at the local Vietnam Memorial. Dozens of people attended as speakers spoke about what the Cost of War means to them. As always VFP set up an information booth to recruit new members, and pass on literature to guests.
Ch 129 Memorial Day event
Chapter 136- Central Florida Phil Restino
It was the fiery ― Responsibility and Duty ‖ speech given by VFP‘ s Mike Ferner in Washington, DC on 16 June 2005 that led to the creation of our Central Florida chapter of VFP in August 2005. See http:// tinyurl. com / duty-to-impeach
Our members took to heart Mike‘ s message and VFP‘ s Statement of Purpose, and we all worked hard to try to bring an end to the U. S. wars of aggression still being carried out on our watch.
Sadly, some 11 years later we‘ re now officially disbanding our chapter due to a continued loss of veteran members.
I‘ m proud of the efforts of our current and former members in representing VFP, and even more so of their commitment and consistent adherence to VFP‘ s Statement of Purpose and the focus and principled standards VFP practiced as an organization. I understand and respect our members who left VFP in recent years due to the change in focus and double-standards in calls for accountability they felt was being demonstrated by VFP as a whole, and we hope this reason for our decline won‘ t be lost on VFP.
We‘ re thankful for the many VFP friendships made along the way and we wish you all the very best going forward.
Chapter 157- NC Triangle John Heuer
Chapter 157 is proud to be among the five VFP chapters participating in the Veterans Challenge Islamophobia initiative, and we welcome chapter member Logan Issac as project coordinator. We‘ re also delighted to be one of the chapters taking part in VFP‘ s latest music video, ― Extremists for Peace,‖ by Pat Scanlon.
Our chapter members have been busy! On May 16, three of us( Keith Cook, Dale Herman, and Vicki Ryder) were among 11 protestors arrested at the NC Legislature for staging a Moral Monday sit-in against House Bill 2. Another of our members, Howie Machtinger, has been spearheading the Full Disclosure Vietnam project, and our chapter serves as its fiduciary sponsor.
On May 21, Sam‘ s Ride For Peace, led by 91-year old member Sam Winstead, arrived in DC after an 8-day ride from Raleigh, NC. The ride ended at the Swords to Plowshares Belltower, erected on the National Mall by member Roger Ehrlich. Together, Sam‘ s Ride and the Belltower have reached thousands
VFP Newsletter Spring 2016 17