vicman Posted February 25 Report Posted February 25 FYI- guess they are all leftist pigs. ******************************Call to Conscience from Veterans to Active Duty Troops and Reservists Started December 6, 2002, signatures up to date as of January 9, 2003 We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in opposition to the United Statesà all out war on Iraq. We span many wars and eras, have many political views and we all agree that this war is wrong. Many of us believed serving in the military was our duty, and our job was to defend this country. Our experiences in the military caused us to question much of what we were taught. Now we see our REAL duty is to encourage you as members of the U.S. armed forces to find out what you are being sent to fight and die for and what the consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We call upon you, the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience and do the right thing. In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of thousands, including civilians. We remember the road to Basraóthe Highway of Deathówhere we were ordered to kill fleeing Iraqis. We bulldozed trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left the battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today. One in four Gulf War veterans is disabled. During the Vietnam War we were ordered to destroy Vietnam from the air and on the ground. At My Lai we massacred over 500 women, children and old men. This was not an aberration, itÃs how we fought the war. We used Agent Orange on the enemy and then experienced first hand its effects. We know what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder looks, feels and tastes like because the ghosts of over two million men, women and children still haunt our dreams. More of us took our own lives after returning home than died in battle. If you choose to participate in the invasion of Iraq you will be part of an occupying army. Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of a people that hate you to your core? You should think about what your "mission" really is. You are being sent to invade and occupy a people who, like you and me, are only trying to live their lives and raise their kids. They pose no threat to the United States even though they have a brutal dictator as their leader. Who is the U.S. to tell the Iraqi people how to run their country when many in the U.S. donÃt even believe their own President was legally elected? Saddam is being vilified for gassing his own people and trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. However, when Saddam committed his worst crimes the U.S. was supporting him. This support included providing the means to produce chemical and biological weapons. Contrast this with the horrendous results of the U.S. led economic sanctions. More than a million Iraqis, mainly children and infants, have died because of these sanctions. After having destroyed the entire infrastructure of their country including hospitals, electricity generators, and water treatment plants, the U.S. then, with the sanctions, stopped the import of goods, medicines, parts, and chemicals necessary to restore even the most basic necessities of life. There is no honor in murder. This war is murder by another name. When, in an unjust war, an errant bomb dropped kills a mother and her child it is not "collateral damage," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a child dies of dysentery because a bomb damaged a sewage treatment plant, it is not "destroying enemy infrastructure," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a father dies of a heart attack because a bomb disrupted the phone lines so he could not call an ambulance, it is not "neutralizing command and control facilities," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a thousand poor farmer conscripts die in a trench defending a town they have lived in their whole lives, it is not victory, it is murder. There will be veterans leading protests against this war on Iraq and your participation in it. During the Vietnam War thousands in Vietnam and in the U.S. refused to follow orders. Many resisted and rebelled. Many became conscientious objectors and others went to prison rather than bear arms against the so-called enemy. During the last Gulf War many GIs resisted in various ways and for many different reasons. Many of us came out of these wars and joined with the anti-war movement. If the people of the world are ever to be free, there must come a time when being a citizen of the world takes precedence over being the soldier of a nation. Now is that time. When orders come to ship out, your response will profoundly impact the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and here at home. Your response will help set the course of our future. You will have choices all along the way. Your commanders want you to obey. We urge you to think. We urge you to make your choices based on your conscience. If you choose to resist, we will support you and stand with you because we have come to understand that our REAL duty is to the people of the world and to our common future. RESOURCES: If you have questions or doubts about your role in the military (for any reason) or in this war, help is available. Contact one of the organizations listed below. They can discuss your situation and concerns, give you information on your legal rights, and help you sort out your possible choices. (For information only, listed organizations are not responsible for this veterans' statement.) For questions, or for discharge or other GI rights information, visit: www.girights.org or call: GI Rights Hotline: (800) FYI-95GI Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) (510) 465-1617 or (888) 231-2226, www.objector.org, info@objector.org VETERAN SIGNERS name, branch, years Kelly A. Allison, Navy, 1975-1979 Ed Armas, Army, 1962-1965 Peter B. AShaw, Marine Corps, 1951-1954 Paul L. Atwood, Marine Corps, 1965-1966 Niall Aslen, Royal Air Force, 1962-1986 Aram Attarian II, Air Force, 1965-1966 Henry Ayre, Coast Guard, 1942-1945 Tarik Aziz, Army, 1970-1975 Collin Baber, Air Force, 1994-1998 Eric Bagai, Marine Corps, 1958-1961 David E Baker, Army, 1988-1991 George Batton, Marine Corps Philip L. Bereano, USPHS, 1966-1970 Anton Black, Navy, 1977-1984 Dave Blalock, Army 1968-1971 Michael Blankschen, Army, 1972-1973 David Bledsoe, Air Force, 1987-1997 Louis Block, Army, 1966-1972 Blase Bonpane, Marine Corps Reserve, 1948-1950 Charlie Bonner, Marine Corps, 1963-1972 Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, Air Force, 1955-1959 Todd Boyle, Navy, 1970-1972 Horace R. Boykin, Marine Corps William P. Brandt, Army Don Broadwell, Marine Corps, 1960-1966 Roger W Brown, Marine Corps, 1957-1960 Greg Busby, Air Force, 1980-2000 Scott R. Cade, Army, 1968-1971 Rick Campos, Air Force, 1969-1971 William J. Cavanaugh, Army, 1951-1953; Army Reserve, 1953-1982 Neville Chamberlain, Army, 20 years Fredy Champagne, Army, 1965-1966 Guy Chichester,USN 1952-1956 Gary A. Chipman, Army, 1970-1972 Elwood A. Chirrick, Navy, 1970-1972 Debra J. Clark, Army, 1976-1984 Rockney Compton, Army, 1967-1974 David Connolly, Army, 1967-1971 James Coty, Army, 1959-1962 Dave Coull, Scotland, British Royal Air Force,1959-1964 Davey Coull, Scotland SNP, 1939-1945 James M. Craven, Army, 1963-1966 Charlotte Critcher, Army, 1964-1971 Milton Cunningham, Navy 1943-1945 Candice Davis, Navy, 1974-1978 Carl Dix, Army, 1968-1972 Barry Donnan, British Army, 1987-1993 Pat Driscoll, Navy, 1972-1975 Kenneth Dugan, Navy, 1984-1988 John P. Echavarria, Air Force, 1965-1969 David Eldredge, Navy, 1953-1955 Jake Elkins, Marine Corps, 1965-1969 Marcus Eriksen, Marine Corps, 1985-1991 Orlando Espino, Marine Corps Ed Everts, Air Force, 1941-1946 T. Patrick Foley, Navy, 1997-2000 David J. Fonda, Army, 1968-1971 Dr. Ray Foster, Army, 1972-1975 Lou Fox, Army, 1965 Dean Friend, Marine Corps, 1981-1985 India Mahdi Gamboa, Air Force, 1985-1987 Jim Gibson, Army, 1968-1970 Ernest Goitein, Army, 1943-1945 Jay R. Goodman, Army, 1969-1970 Todd Greenwood, Marine Corps, 1993-2001 Robert Charles Hamilton III, Navy, 1986-1990 John Hanscom, Air Force, 1968-1990 James F. Harrington, Air Force, 1966-1967 David Harris, Air Force, 1965-1967 Rev. Richard K. Heacock, Jr., Navy, 1944-1946 Glenn Helkenn, Army, 7 yrs Dud Hendrick, Air Force, 1963-1967 Rodger Herbst, Army, 1969-1971 Andres Hernandez, Navy Reserve, 1979-1985 Steven A. Hessler, Air Force, 1973-1975 John Hockman, Army, 1963-1965 Walter Hrozenchik, Navy, 1951-1955 Allen L. Jasson, Australian Army, 1972-1974 Michael L. Job, Army, 1968-1970 Eric Edward Johansson, Army, 1989-1992 Eric Joyal, Army, 1989-1996 James Michael Kearney, Army, 1963-1965 Keith Keller, Air Force, 1966-1972 George M. Kesselring, Air Force, 1942-1963 Talat Khan, Air Force, 1986-1992 Ronald Knarr, Marines Corps, 1950-1952 Ron Kovic, Marine Corps, 1964-1968 Raymond Krauss, Marine Corps, 1969-1972 Robert Krezewinski, Navy, 1973-1977 Marty Kunz, Navy, 1970-1976 Krystal Kyer, Navy, 1993-1997 Michael Lawton, Navy, 1962-1965 John L. Levy, Naval Reserve, 1942-1946 Neal Liden, Navy, 1965-1969 Rela Mazali, Israel Defense Force, 1966-1968 Mark McCleary, Navy, 1996-2002 Bruce McFarland, Navy, 1982-1986 Ruth McKenney Teresa Media, Navy, 1972-1977 Ronnie D. Miller, Army, 3 yrs Jack Minassian, Army, 1943-1945 Rob Moitoza, Navy, 1965-1971 Michael Moore, Army, 1975-1979 Paul S. Moorhead, Navy, 1943-1946 Dale L. Morgan, Air Force, 1956-1960 David Rees Morgan, British Royal Air Force, 1948-1950 Catherine Morris, Marine Corps, 1981-85 & Army National Guard, 1989-96 Bryan Morrison, Air Force, 1994-1998 Paul Pat Morse, Air Force, 1965-1968 John L. Murray, Army, 1971-1973 Stan Nishimura, Army, 1964-1967 John L. Opperman, Navy, 1951-1970 John J. Pagoda, Air Force, 1965-1968 and 1985-1998 Todd A. Papasadero, Army, 1983-1989 John Pappademos, Naval Reserves, 1943-1946 Jeff Paterson, Marine Corps, 1986-1990 Wilson M. Powell, Air Force, 1950-1954 Erwin Rommel, Army, 22 yrs Randy Rowland, Army, 1967-1970 Rodney A Rylander, Air Force, 1962-1967 Steven E. Saelzler, Army, 1969-1971 Lee Santa, Army, 1965-1968 William F. Santelmann, Jr., Marine Corps, Air Force Reserves, 1954-1957 Dan Scaarlett, Army, 1943-1945 Richard Hermann Schmidt, Navy, 1957-1960 Louis Anthony Schmittroth, Jr., Army, 1943-1956 Nikko Schoch, Army, 1968-1970 Betty R. Scott, Navy, 1943-1945 Vern Simula, Army, 1954-1956 Charles T. Smith, Army, 1969-1971 John Steinbach, Coast Guard, 1965-1969 Robert Stephens, Marine Corps, 1966-1970 Darnell S. Summers, Army, 1966-1970 Thomas Swift, Army, 1953-1955 Harold Taggart, Air Force, 1959-1964 Toby Tahja-Syrett, Army, 1992-1996 Bruce William Taylor, Navy, 10 years Tom Trigg, Army, 1967-1975 Joe Urgo, Air Force, 1967-1968 Gerald Waite, Army, 1967-1982 Paul J. Walker, Air Force, 1974-1978 William H. Warrick III MD, Army Security Agency, 1968-1971 Eric Wasileski, Navy, 1993-1999 Joel Wendland, Army, 1991-1993 Tim White, Air Force, 1966-1970 David Wiggins MD, Army, Gulf War John P. Wirtz, Army, 1943-1946 Mike Wong, Army, 1969-1975 Leonard Zablow, Army, 1945-1946 Luis Zamora, Army, 1948-1971 Howard Zinn, Air Force, 1943-1945 __________________________________ __________________________________ To Sign this Important Call Send Signature to or Contact Us @Veterans Call to Conscience (or VCC) 4742ó42nd Ave SW #142, Seattle, WA, 98116-4553 www.calltoconscience.net Veterans Call to Conscience (or VCC) 4742 42nd Ave SW #142, Seattle, WA, 98116-4553 Stmttotroops@excite.com www.calltoconscience.net Quote
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