Wintersoldier 2005 - Boston, Faneuil Hall 1/30

[paineinthearse]

If you are not aware of its significance, Faneuil Hall is where John Adams entered as a British citizen and left an American citizen.



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Come Hear First Hand Reports From Iraq War Veterans And Military Families.

Iraq War Veterans & Military Families Testify
Sunday January 30, 2005 from 3-5 pm
Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA

Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and family members of US military servicemen and women – members of Military Families Speak Out - will testify at Faneuil Hall to bring the “ground truth” about the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq and report on its impacts on soldiers, their families and their communities. Their testimony will shed new light on an occupation that has caused the deaths of over 1,300 US soldiers and over 100 thousand Iraqis. Featured speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War will include:

MICHAEL HOFFMAN was a Lance Corporal in Marine Corps artillery battery during the March 2003 invasion. “Every time a car got near my Humvee, everyone inside braced themselves. When your enemy is unclear, everyone becomes your enemy.”

KELLY DOUGHERTY was a Sergeant with the 220th Military Police Company. “Part of what struck me was the poverty and desperation of the Iraqi people as long as the US continues to occupy Iraq, the Iraqis will continue to fight against us.”

Also testifying for Iraq Veterans Against the War will be:

Alex Ryabov was born in the Ukraine and emigrated to the United States while he was still a child. He was part of the same Marine Corps artillery unit as Michael Hoffman. Alex is 22 years old.
Ivan Medina served as a chaplain’s assistant in the US Army in Iraq. Ivan’s twin brother, Army Specialist Irving Medina, was killed in action in Iraq on November 13, 2003 at the age of 22.

Testifying for Military Families Speak Out will be:

The Lucey’s, the family of Corporal Jeffrey, a Marine Reservist who committed suicide after returning from Iraq – unable to live with what he had seen and done while in Iraq;

The Sapp family whose father/husband, a high school teacher and member of the Massachusetts National Guard, was recently deployed to Iraq;

Diana Quinones, whose son served in the Marines in Iraq and whose nephew was recently redeployed.

Sponsored by: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, MA Labor for Justice with Peace and the Iraq War Veterans Tour (a coalition of dozens of campus, youth, community and labor organizations)


For More Information Contact Military Families Speak Out at 617-522-9323 or [e-mail]

[TacticalPeek]

1. Returning veterans paint grim picture of war's toll

Returning veterans paint grim picture of war's toll

January 27, 2005

BY CHERYL L. REED Staff Reporter

Soldiers recently returned from Iraq gave an unfiltered and unflattering assessment of the war's human toll as they detailed their war experiences to a crowd of Oakton Community College students and faculty Wednesday in Des Plaines.

One officer lost more than 38 pounds in the Iraqi desert when his unit ran low on food and water. Another was sent to the front lines without body armor. They witnessed soldiers blown to bits and mourned the loss of others who killed themselves when they returned home -- often excluded from the government's official body count.

...

"There's a tremendous human cost of this war, and America isn't prepared for it," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former Army infantry platoon leader from New York and founder of Operation Truth, a national soldier organization that is touring college campuses to present an alternative view of the war.

Rieckhoff criticized the military for not releasing the entire number of those killed or injured in Iraq, a figure he said is far greater than the 1,416 listed as killed and 10,622 listed as wounded by the Defense Department.

more
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-iraqvets27.html

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Something's a-foot.

:evilgrin: