[Peace-discuss] Letter in DI from anti-war student vets

[Karen Medina]

Thanks, David, for pointing this out.

Perhaps someone can read this on AWARE on the Air next week.

Veterans need more than just lip service
This Veterans Day, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) asks you to
reconsider the meaning of supporting the troops. As a nation, we are
dishonoring our veterans by ignoring the real costs of war, and we
contend that we can support our troops by ending the wars and bringing
our brothers and sisters home. Veterans Day has historically been an
occasion for patriotic ceremonies giving lip service to veterans, but
we cannot let these ceremonies obscure the fact that the war in Iraq
is not over. The occupation of Afghanistan is not over. And for many
veterans of these wars, the suffering is far from over.

As veterans, we know that the violence documented in the Wikileaks
Iraq War Logs traumatizes the people living under occupation.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also have been marked by staggering
rates of military trauma and suicide among the troops tasked with
carrying out these orders. In 2009, 239 Army soldiers killed
themselves and 1,713 soldiers survived suicide attempts; 146 soldiers
died from high-risk activities, including 74 drug overdoses (these
numbers only reflect Army statistics, and do not include suicide rates
in the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force). A third of returning troops
report mental health problems, and 18.5 percent of all returning
service members are battling either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or
depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation.

IVAW’s Operation Recovery campaign, launched on Oct. 7, seeks to end
the cruel and inhumane practice of redeploying troops suffering from
PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, Traumatic Brain Injury, and other mental
and physical wounds — a practice that underlies the continued
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. To bring this reality home to the
U.S. public, Central Illinois IVAW will be hosting a panel discussion
about military suicides in early December (more details will be coming
soon).

Today we asking for more than a moment of silence. We are demanding justice.

Sincerely,

Iraq Veterans Against the War - Central Illinois Chapter:

Scott Kimball, junior in LAS, Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Dylan O’Hearn, freshman in DGS, Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom

Jacob Crawford, class of 2009, Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom

On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 1:27 PM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://www.dailyillini.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/2010/11/09/veterans-need-more-than-just-lip-service
>
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-- 
karen medina
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
"In this universe, we are given two gifts: the ability to love, and
the ability to ask questions." (Mary Oliver, American poet)