Veterans for Peace speak out on Memorial Day

Here is a notice from Veterans for Peace for Memorial Day.  A number of VFP members have written messages for this occasion and they can be seen at this link.  Here is one from VFP member, Geoff Millard:

"I hate being thanked on Memorial Day (on Veterans Day too for that matter) because it is a day to remember the dead and I think at the same time we should be fighting like hell for the living. I'll bask in being a veteran the day no more of us are committing suicide, none are homeless, and we stop creating new generations of veterans."

-- Geoff Millard is a lifetime member of VFP Chapter 16 in Washington DC.

Members of Veterans For Peace in over a dozen cities will participate in a wide range of activities to observe Memorial Day. Veterans For Peace is a group of military veterans, family members and friends who are joined in association by our pledge to serve the cause of world peace and abolish war. We bring a different message to Memorial Day than the themes usually promoted by popular media, the government and traditional veterans’ organizations.

We do not seek to glorify either warriors or war. Rather, Veterans For Peace seeks to educate the public about the folly of war and the human, economic, civil rights and liberties and environmental cost of war. VFP members march in parades, lay wreaths, give talks and speeches, recite poetry and vigil to honor U.S. service members who died in and as a result of war, as well as all the civilian victims of war.

“Our message for Memorial Day is to remember all who have died in war and to understand that no one wins,” stated Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace. “We understand that those who fight the wars gain the least from them and those who send us to war gain the most from war. There are many people who either profit from war or are misled by war mongers and profiteers. These are the people who seek to block our message to question war and to work for peace.”