Veterans for Peace Caravan to the Gulf Coast

VETERANS FOR PEACE
www.veteransforpeace.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2007

CONTACTS: Cherie Eichholz - Co-organizer, 314-397-5356
Sandy Kelson - Co-organizer, 814-382-4887
Cathy Browning - Local Organizer, 912-995-6523

Veterans For Peace Caravan to the Gulf Coast
** Georgia and Florida **

HINESVILLE, Georgia:
March 21, 2007

Ft. Stewart Army Base
229 Gen. Screven Way (outside Main Gate)
Noon - 3 p.m. Vigil and Outreach

Kevin Benderman, a former soldier with the 3rd Infantry Division, and his wife, Monica will join the vigil. Benderman is back in Hinesville after spending 13 months in prison at Fort Lewis, Wash. for refusing to deploy to Iraq with his unit in 2005.
See: www.BendermanDefense.org, www.BendermanTimeline.com,
"Soldier Who Refused Combat Fighting Discharge," by Sean Harder, Savannah Morning News, October 3, 2006.

SAVANNAH, Georgia:
March 21, 2007

Showing of "The Ground Truth"
The Senient Bean
13 E. Park Street (Forysth Square)
912-232-4447
7 p.m. Discussion following film.

Co-sponsored by Fear No Arts and Savannah Code Pink.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida:
March 22, 2007

Mayport Naval Base
Mayport Road
West side of sidewalk at Main Gate
Noon - 3 p.m. Vigil and Outreach

All veterans are welcomed to participate. The general public is welcomed and encouraged to attend.

On March 17th, veterans, military families, Active Duty members of the Armed Forces and peace activists will join representatives from Veterans For Peace (VFP), Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, signers of the Appeal For Redress, and possibly several war resisters as they converge on Fayetteville, North Carolina to commemorate the beginning of the 5th year of the occupation of and war on Iraq.

On Tuesday, March 20, 2007, Veterans For Peace will launch a veterans' convoy, bound for the Gulf Coast, to raise awareness of the government's persistent commitment to an illegal, immoral war fought at the expense of Gulf Coast survivors, other critical needs across the nation and a ballooning out of control financial deficit.

VFP says the convoy will move out from Fayetteville, stopping at towns near military bases to dispense information to active duty soldiers about the Iraq War and their rights to appeal to their congressperson to end the war (Appeal for Redress www.appealforredress.org). Organizers and local volunteers are planning programs in each town where local military will be invited to join in actions and discussions regarding the power of their voices and the support of the majority of Americans to end the war.

Organizer Cherie Echholz states, “President Bush did not mention Katrina in his State of the Union Address. We have not forgotten. We will remind our nation of the staggering costs of the war both financially and in human casualties. VFP will stand with the people of the Gulf where the huge task of recovery and rebuilding remains far from being finished.”

VFP will lead a week-long convoy from Fayetteville, North Carolina, home of the Army's Fort Bragg, stopping in the military towns of Columbia, SC - Fort Jackson, Hinesville/Savannah, GA - Fort Stewart, Jacksonville, FL - Mayport, Columbus, GA - Fort Benning, and Montgomery, AL - Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base to Pascagoula, Mississippi (see attachment) to bring a message of Support Our Troops, De-fund the War, Bring Them Home Now and Take Care of Them When They Get Here.

Members of the Caravan will then engage in a week of home construction in solidarity with survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

"De-fund the War --- Rebuild the Gulf Coast"

BRINGING SHELTER FROM THE STORM........

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Rebuilding_the_gulf_coast.vp.html


Veterans For Peace (VFP) is a national organization founded in 1985. It is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, MO and comprised of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members. The organization includes men and women veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, other conflicts and peacetime veterans. Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary.

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