Veterans for Peace not welcome at Veterans Day parade
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
Veterans for Peace not welcome at Veterans Day parade
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8071
PORTLAND, Maine --Maine's biggest Veterans Day parade won't feature the group Maine Veterans for Peace if organizers get their way.
Portland's American Legion Post 17 informed the group that it's not invited because of concerns that its presence would cause other groups to drop out following a flap over the American Legion's "Adopt a Flag" program.
City spokesman Peter Dewitt said it's the American Legion's call because the parade permit is in the group's name. The post's executive committee plans to meet soon and the Portland City Council is scheduled to take up the issue at its Oct. 16 meeting.
Veterans for Peace has participated in the parade for the past 15 years, but relations became strained last month.
Legionnaires set up a program in which people could be memorialized with an American flag and a plaque for $100. Veterans for Peace sent in a check in the name of an Iraqi boy who was killed. The check was returned.
A spokesman for Portland's Harold T. Andrews Post 17 confirmed the letter. "I think they're really being irrational and silly. They don't own Veterans' Day," said Doug Rawlings, who leads the peace group.
Just like last year, Maine Veterans for Peace planned to march behind a long banner accompanied by a tally of civilian and military war deaths from the past 100 years.
This year, members planned to pull a float they built decorated with 600 crosses, one for each American military death in Iraq. It was built shortly after the war in Iraq began. Three years later, the death toll stands at nearly 2,800.
The group has never been a favorite of parade organizers, Rawlings said. "They always relegated us to the back of the parade," he said.
Rawlings and the group plan to take that information to Portland on the holiday, whether or not they are in the parade.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=8071
PORTLAND, Maine --Maine's biggest Veterans Day parade won't feature the group Maine Veterans for Peace if organizers get their way.
Portland's American Legion Post 17 informed the group that it's not invited because of concerns that its presence would cause other groups to drop out following a flap over the American Legion's "Adopt a Flag" program.
City spokesman Peter Dewitt said it's the American Legion's call because the parade permit is in the group's name. The post's executive committee plans to meet soon and the Portland City Council is scheduled to take up the issue at its Oct. 16 meeting.
Veterans for Peace has participated in the parade for the past 15 years, but relations became strained last month.
Legionnaires set up a program in which people could be memorialized with an American flag and a plaque for $100. Veterans for Peace sent in a check in the name of an Iraqi boy who was killed. The check was returned.
A spokesman for Portland's Harold T. Andrews Post 17 confirmed the letter. "I think they're really being irrational and silly. They don't own Veterans' Day," said Doug Rawlings, who leads the peace group.
Just like last year, Maine Veterans for Peace planned to march behind a long banner accompanied by a tally of civilian and military war deaths from the past 100 years.
This year, members planned to pull a float they built decorated with 600 crosses, one for each American military death in Iraq. It was built shortly after the war in Iraq began. Three years later, the death toll stands at nearly 2,800.
The group has never been a favorite of parade organizers, Rawlings said. "They always relegated us to the back of the parade," he said.
Rawlings and the group plan to take that information to Portland on the holiday, whether or not they are in the parade.
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Comments
A whisper and a chill
adv2005
"Why do I bother?"
The 11th Commandment.
"Whatever"
PETITION TO STOP THE BAN OF SMOKING IN BARS IN THE UNITED STATES....Anyone?
There are very few veterans who are not anti-war. It's the mainstream media machine that is consistently pro-war.
but i wont hold my breath
:eek:
I won't hold it against you!
Broken clocks and all that ...
But seriously. Excluding these men is wrong.
Got any stats or source for that statement? Because that counters sentiments expressed by nearly every veteran I've ever met and spoken to. Sounds like a wish rather than a fact to me.
www.myspace.com/jensvad
So I can be right one more time again today then? Hmm, I'll have to think carefully about what I say. :cool:
Not a bad rule in general.
One I've been known to break from time to time...
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Default.htm
http://www.ivaw.org/support
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9267
S t a t e m e n t o f P u r p o s e - http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
BRING THEM HOME NOW! is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on."Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GIs themselves to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures; and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.
The truth is coming out. The American public was deceived by the Bush administration about the motivation for and intent of the invasion of Iraq. It is equally apparent that the administration is stubbornly and incompetently adhering to a destructive course. Many Americans do not want our troops there. Many military families do not want our troops there. Many troops themselves do not want to be there. The overwhelming majority of Iraqis do not want US troops there.
Our troops are embroiled in a regional quagmire largely of our own government's making. These military actions are not perceived as liberations, but as occupations, and our troops are now subject to daily attacks. Meanwhile, without a clear mission, they are living in conditions of relentless austerity and hardship. At home, their families are forced to endure extended separations and ongoing uncertainty. As military veterans and families, we understand that hardship is sometimes part of the job. But there has to be an honest and compelling reason to impose these hardships and risks on our troops, our families, and our communities. The reasons given for the occupation of Iraq do not rise to this standard.Without just cause for war, we say bring the troops home now!Not one more troop killed in action. Not one more troop wounded in action. Not one more troop psychologically damaged by the act of terrifying, humiliating, injuring or killing innocent people. Not one more troop spending one more day inhaling depleted uranium. Not one more troop separated from spouse and children. This is the only way to truly support these troops, and the families who are just as much part of the military as they are.
Bush says "Bring 'em on." We say "BRING THEM HOME NOW!"
How can you say this? Of course NOBODY wants war, but as a vet, I'm NOT antiwar.
And it corroborates the sentiments expressed by nearly every veteran I've ever met and spoken to..... Different circles....
and all that proves that VERY FEW vets are pro-war? I missed that part I guess.
www.myspace.com/jensvad
It seems pretty simple to me.
Hail, Hail!!!
The leadership of the peace movement in the 60's were mainly veterans. And the main thrust of the opposition to the current war is coming from those that have been and served there. But then, you'll continue to argue your viewpoint regardless. I just think that it's somewhat disrespectful to those who have laid their lives on the line for you to dismiss the message they are trying to get across. Just as a lot of vets in the 60's were called traitors by people like you for criticising the government that sent them there, so history repeats itself 40 years later.
Many of the verterans I have talked to... Gulf War Veterans and Bush's Iraq War... are pissed off at the state we are in. There is no clear plan of action other than 'Stay The Course'... which is vaguely defined and train Iraqi troops and then we can come home. They hear the same things we do... almost 300,000 Iraqis trainned, but how many Americans sent home? 140,000 in 2003 and 140,000 in 2006. How many fucking Iraqis do we need to train in order to send ONE of our guys home?
And about that trainning... the logistics support and medical for these Iraqis... how many of them are trainned? ZERO. This means we will still be handling those tasks. We are screwing our own military guys with this bullshit 'Stay The Course' shit.
Many of them agree with me... no one wants an unstable Iraq. We should take this thing seriously and put forth all of the resources to get the fucking job done. This half-baked, half-assed Bush/Rumsfeld Wiley Coyote ACME plan in Iraq isn't doing the job. Let's fire these assholes and get someone that will do the fucking thing right or get the fuck out of that shithole.
Hail, Hail!!!