Military Families and Veterans Speak Out Against the War

By Sara Fuhro

There is strong consensus in every branch of the peace movement to link the economic and human cost of war. I belong to Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of families who oppose the wars in which our loved ones are participants. Many Americans have grown accustomed to the endless wars which have extended over the last nine years, yet are deeply concerned about the economy. As military families we see our children, spouses, siblings, nieces and nephews deployed repeatedly, and watch them return to communities devastated by budget cuts. We are deeply aware of the connection between military spending and a failed economy. We are a strong voice, wherever we live to make the connection between endless wars of occupation and the destruction of our social fabric. The focus for our organization has become Bring Our Troops and Military Dollars Home Now!

MFSO has a postcard and petition drive which we will deliver in March at a lobby weekend in Washington. People can join us in this effort by going to our website: www.MFSO.org and sign our petition: Bring our Troops and Military Dollars Home Now!

Veterans also take a lead in this effort. Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War have created the powerful slogan, How is the Military Economy Working for You?

Iraq Veterans against the War have also brought attention to the redeployment of injured soldiers, and have joined with Military Families Speak Out to bring awareness to this continuing disaster. With returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at a 23% unemployment level and many veterans homeless within a year of their return from deployment, military families and veterans have a very clear picture of the cost of the our military budget priority.

Military families often desperately need the services now being cut in every state. Children are under stress because one or both parents is missing in deployment. Parents return with serious physical and psychic injuries to families who need the stable environment of schools and clinics. But schools and clinics are cut at the very moment when the home environment is under great stress.

It is no secret to military families and veterans that addiction is part of what soldiers bring back from long stays in combat and occupation duties. Yet rehab centers, addiction counseling, and detox facilities are cut and eliminated in order to keep wars and military contracts well financed.

Another area where MFSO and other peace groups have worked together is the recent attempt to crack down on peace activists. The invasion of homes and offices of those involved in peaceful protest has been noted and letters of solidarity sent to law enforcement agencies. It would be very ironic if the constitution, which our loved ones are sworn to protect is disregarded while they are deployed in faraway wars.

Here’s the good news: this is one war where veterans and military families will not keep silent. For those of us who have opposed these wars and the terrible consequences of war upon our communities and our civil liberties, we will keep these issues front and center. United for Justice and Peace, 25% Solution and other groups have been training people to talk about the military budget. In my community our local peace organization Metrowest Peace Action runs seminars on the subject of military spending and budget deficits. This year we will begin the process of asking our town or city governments to join in the call to Bring our Troops and Military Dollars Home! We already have some examples of this in actions taken by the city council in Portland Maine, and public letters from Mayors in Boston and Northampton. We are also fortunate to have a Congressman from Massachusetts, Barney Frank who has proposed a 25% cut to military combined with a call to reallocate these funds to civilian needs.

Sarah Fuhro is a Board member of Military Families Speak Out.  Her son has been deployed (for more than a year each time) to Iraq and Afghanistan with a medical unit of the Army reserves.  She lives in Natick and is an astrologer and flower essence practitioner.