OMNI
ARMISTICE DAY/ WORLD UNITY DAY NEWSLETTER (Reclaiming “Veterans Day”)
NOVEMBER 11, 2018, 100th Anniversary.
WE, THE PEOPLE BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR THE PLANET. Compiled by Dick Bennett
Contents Armistice Day Newsletter #12, November 11, 2018, 100THANNIVERSARY
PART I Grassroots, Arkansas, Fayetteville
11-11-17 Military Industrial Mainstream Media: NADG
Grassroots and Arkansas 2012 and 2017
NADG Fayetteville 10-28-18 to 11-9-18
University of Arkansas2017-2018
Memorial Tree
National WWI Memorial in DC
UA’s Motto the Search for Truth
Old Main Bells
Veterans Day Ceremony
PART II: MILITARISM AND EMPIRE V. RECLAIM ARMISTICE DAY
Imperialism: Selection of OMNI Newsletters on US Militarism and
Imperialism, 2006-2016
Imperialism, 2006-2016
War Crimes in Yemen or Peace with Iran or Both
Hoh, My Service in Iraq
Oliver, Reclaim Armistice Day
Mysko, From Armistice Day to Veterans Day
Veterans for Peace Special Edition of Peace in Our Times: Reclaim
Armistice Day
Armistice Day
PIOT’S Reclaim Armistice Day: Essays and Poems
Reclaim Armistice Day in Little Rock: ACPJArkansas Coalition for
Peace and Justice
Peace and Justice
Armistice Day 100: What We Can DO
US Anti-War Organizations 2018 and Armistice Day
Ann Wright’s Call to Resist Militarism
OMNI Newsletters on US Militarism Continued
OMNI Armistice Day Newsletter 2017 Table of Contents
If this newsletter appears long, remember what it consciously opposes, the twitter mentality of national sciolism beginning with the President of the United States.
Here’s an epitome of what this newsletter is partly about. In one number of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-GazetteNADG (11-10-18):
One Letter to the Editor praised his father’s military career.
Another praised the Arkansas State Veterans Home in NLR (eight cottages for 12 veterans).
And a third celebrated “on Veterans Day” the “ultimate sacrifice” of the non-combat, non-war, accidental deaths of airmen in the Pacific area. These “all deservedly honorable men…merit our honor and respect—and not only, not just, on Veterans Day.”
Finally, rendering emphatically clear the absurd direction of this expansive inclusiveness, for its “Veteran’s Day Holiday Waste Collection Schedule,” the City of Fayetteville announced: “VETERANS DAY: HONORING ALL WHO SERVED.”
TEXTS
PART I. and Part II.US MILITARISM: FROM WWI ARMISTICE AND KELLOG/BRIAND TREATY, TO VETERANS DAY, TO MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL-MAINSTREAM MEDIA COMPLEX, TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS, AND ENDLESS WAR
PART I.11-11-2017 MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL—MAINSTREAM MEDIA COMPLEX: NADG AT ITS JINGOISTIC WORST
If you are unsure what is meant when someone writes about the military-industrial-MAINSTREAM MEDIA Complex, read the opening pages of my Armistice Day 2017 Newsletter recounting the week-long buildup for “Veterans Day” 2017 in the NADG http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/11/omni-armistice-day-newsletter-11-nov-11.html (and read previous newsletters for a huge archive of evidence of this newspaper’s nationalism and war-mongering), or read the following account of the patriotic effusions in the NADG of 11-11-17 (arriving too late for publication in my 2017 newsletter),promoting “Veterans Day,” properly known as Armistice Day.
*Editorial, “Veterans Day, The 11th day of the 11th month….” Blows the patriotic horn to announce all that follows in today’s paper. In contrast to but reinforcing VD is Memorial Day “when we recognize those who’ve died defending this country. Today is an opportunity to say thank you in person to those who’ve served.” But served which wars? All US wars deserved support, joining up? Few people believe that. And service? See my newsletters on all of the real service our citizens provide: OMNI “SERVICE” NEWSLETTER #4: What Service were you in? February 8, 2016. (http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/02/service-how-did-you-serve.html).
*A major p. 1A/7A article: “A Soldier Remembered: Vietnam Took Him at 20 Years.” Four photos: p. 1 color photo of the soldier, another of his mother and her scrapbook about him, inside b&w photo of display at Greenland HS and one of his mother’s scrapbook. Analysis would take a page, for example the title: “Vietnam took him”? No, the leaders of this country killed him in an unnecessary, illegal, unjust, racist, stupid slaughter.
*Cartoon of the Statue of Liberty saluting with the caption “Thank You Veterans.” (Read the poem by Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus,” to discover how inappropriate is this militarized Lady Liberty.)
*Cartoon of “Veteran’s Day Sale! Mattresses 50% Off” in store window, with 2 consumers entering, the male asking “Queen Size, Hon?” Underneath the sign is a bearded man on the sidewalk with a cup and this sign: “Homeless Vet. Please Help.”
*Eleven letters (cute touch) to the editor of the Voices Page praising the military, especially military families and military individuals (no shortage with at least 22 million veterans from ceaseless wars and propaganda for wars, as in this newspaper today—the US now bombing 7 countries). The exclusive devotion of LTE to praising the military is partly the result of a week-long series of invitations from the newspaper. A twelfth letter on the editorial page criticizes an earlier column of Nov. 7 “Those Who Stood” for distorting the discussion of the millions of veterans.
*Full-page ad from the newspaper for “VETERANS DAY,” including a fierce eagle’s face and troops marching through barbed wire (evoking WWI?), and the message: “Thank you to all who serve or who have served and the families who support them.” The NADG asserts its patriotism, and attracts, it hopes, paying advertisers.
*Another full-page ad with silhouette of a saluting soldier and the caption “November 11, Veterans Day honoring All Who Served,” followed by 13 commercial ads most of which include patriotic messages, such as and especially, following the paper’s editorial, “Thank you for your service,” or “Honoring Our Heroes Everyday,” Thank You for the Sacrifices You Have Made for Our Country,” “God Bless America,” etc.
*Article: “Westside Classes Honor Veterans” (1B). An elementary school in Rogers gets to know vets and then “paying tribute to them.” Much has been planned ahead by the school’s administration in ongoing indoctrination: “Students’ project to be preserved by Library of Congress.” Two color photos accompany the report one of two vets bearing medals and the other of kids singing “a patriotic song.” A b&w photo shows the music teacher leading a patriotic song. Etc.
*Article: “Veterans Office Seeks Volunteers” (1B). Twelve have volunteered but more needed. Etc. Accompanying the article is an announcement “Web Watch” about the Veterans Service Offices in the state and how to contact them. Earlier complaints might have justified, as the wars were initiated without planning for the millions of veterans, but now veterans assistance is everywhere; see previous newsletters (e.g. veterans offices at colleges).
*The editors, apparently feeling or fearing their appeal for honoring allvets rather overlooked reality, included an article on one vet we should not honor: “Marine Gets 10 years for Abusing Recruits.” “A Marine Corps drill instructor was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for choking, punching or otherwise tormenting recruits, especially three Muslims, one of whom ultimately killed himself by leaping down a staircase.”
**But that’s not all. On Nov. 12:
“Parades, Events Honor Veterans” p. 3A about a half-page with photo on one ceremony around the country.
Four more LTE on veterans in the Voices page: 3 praising their veteran fathers, 1 praises a soldier friend of her son and her son, and is thankful for all “the veterans from past conflicts.” The acceptance of war regardless of their necessity, legality, or justice is palpable in these letters by family members, and military families are a major motive for volunteers. Accompanying these letters is a b&w drawing of a soldier firing a machine gun(?) with airplanes in the sky.
“National Park Honors Vets” by waiving fees in all national parks on Nov. 12 (or waived on the 11th? not clear).
And regular local news:
“Legion 341.” Upcoming events of Bella Vista Post 341.
“Fleet Reserve” monthly meeting of FR Assoc. and Aux.
That is, the newspaper returns to routine reporting of the military as part of the military-industrial-mainstream media complex.
*But that’s not all, Nov. 13:
Three more LTE from children of WWII vets praising their fathers.
And on 1B 2 color photos “For the Troops” showing 9th- and 10th-grade boys from the Ozark Chapter of Young Men’s Service League creating care packages for US soldiers in Afghanistan, fired up by a talk from a vet who was stationed there. This is not specifically about VD 2017, but it prepares for VD 2018, and, as several news reports declared during the past week, for every day. See my “Grassroots Militarism” newsletters and related newsletters.
GRASSROOTS AND ARKANSAS MILITARISM
NEWSLETTER #2 ON GRASSROOTS MILITARISM AND ARKANSAS for a CULTURE OF PEACE.
Compiled by Dick Bennett. October 10, 2012
GRASSROOTS MILITARISM, ARKANSAS, NEWSLETTER #3, February 18, 2017
(#4 under construction)
STATE OF ARKANSAS
Emma Pettit, “Bells to Toll Across State in Honor of WWI’s End.” NADG (6-15-18). This report does not mention Veterans’ Day. However, Governor Hutchinson appointed a Centennial Commemoration Committee, and it is encouraging people to ring bells at 11 a.m. “to remember those who served in the war and celebrate its ending
NOVEMBER 11, 2018 IN NADG FAYETTEVILLE
10-28-18 Michael David Polston. “Armistice in Arkansas. Soldiers’ Letters and Memories Recall the end of the Great War, Abroad and at Home.” The article also recounts the celebrations when the Armistice was declared (including Ft. Smith, Judsonia). Polston concludes: Armistice, “a tradition that recognized the ‘war to end all wars’ continues under a different name.” (I think not; those are opposite traditions.”
10-29-18 Mike Jones. “WWI Remembrance Planned for Nov. 11 at National Cemetery.” “’We want to honor those who have kept this country free.’” (An iterated claim never supported by evidence. The freedom of the USA and its citizens were never threatened.) The article by Jones is saturated with hypocritical patriotism. “Gray wants people to think about the men who served.” (Preparing for the next war. Armistice Day was to celebrated not the troops but the end of a war and all wars.
11-3-18 Photo of “A man…silhouetted against the 217-foot-tall Liberty Memorial Tower at the National World War I Museum…illuminated by poppies in Kansas City, Mo.”
11-7-18 Advertisement in color sponsored by NADG, Nelson-Berna Funeral Home, etc.celebrating the Armistice Anniversary on Veterans Day at the Fayetteville National Veterans Cemetery with breakfast at the American Legion. “Our doughboys saved the world and were awakened to artillery fire. Can we not at least awake to an alarm clock to honor them?”
Announcement in NADG 11-9-18: Honor Our Veterans. Is there someone you think of each Veterans Day? If you haven’t had a letter published…” write us about them.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
ROTC (a basic feature of land-grant universities, from which I graduated as an officer –D)
UAF JOINS ARKANSAS IN MEMORIALIZING WWI
Nov. 14, 2017
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas will make a place in the Campus Arboretum near Old Main and Gearhart Hall for a World War I Memorial Tree. The two-year old willow oak will be planted at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 17 on the lawn east of Gearhart Hall. The ROTC Color Guard and a member of the Arkansas Forestry Commission will participate in the ceremony. Everyone is invited to attend.
The Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee, in collaboration with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, is planting a WWI memorial tree in each of Arkansas’s 75 counties before the centennial observance of the war concludes at the end of 2018.
Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, is a member of the committee. The U of A has been chosen as the recipient of the memorial tree for Washington County.
"Through the organizational effort of the Arkansas World War 1 Commemoration Commission, and the generosity of the Arkansas Forestry Association, we're able to plant this tree in the Old Main Arboretum in honor of those Arkansas citizens, and in particular those citizens of Washington County and the University, who gave their service to the nation in the First World War - in many cases, giving their lives to the cause of world peace,” MacKeith said.
“This is additionally meaningful to the Fay Jones School, as our 2013 alumnus Joe Weishaar is currently designing the national World War I memorial in Washington DC, and as the plaque honoring those University students who gave their lives in service can be found in our building, Vol Walker Hall."
A total of 71,862 Arkansans served during World War I and 2,183 died while in service.
[Comment: The definition of commemorate is: to honor or celebrate the memory of a person or event. The motto of the University of Arkansas is: Veritate Duce Progredi, To Advance with Truth as our Leader. This is not a tree worthy of our university’s search for truth. For the necessity, the legitimacy, and the morality of US combat in WWI are in dispute. And the war, rather than bringing “world peace,” led to WWII and 50 to 80 million killed, If our deluded leaders today, yearning to believe the war beneficial to humanity, must commemorate the “service” of our dead in the brutal, bloody folly of WWI, let them rather remember in sorrow and remorse. Let us not turn into a hero a former student who has designed a memorial for that war. Or plant a tree in our university’s Arboretum. For out of all that patriotic propaganda for war preceding the Argonne, Belleau Wood, and other battles, and the 2,183 Arkansans who died, today we witness our country bombing eight countries illegally. –Dick]
Celebrating “Veterans Day” 2018
The 100th anniversary of the end of fighting in World War I is being celebrated as part of this year’s Veterans Week events. ["Taps" is a bugle call played at dusk, during flag ceremonies, and at military funerals by the United States Armed Forces.]
Chuck Adkins, senior vice commander for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Department of Arkansas, will speak about the importance of Veterans Day at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, in the Reynolds Center Auditorium.
PART II. US MILITARISM AND EMPIRE
Partial List of OMNI Newsletters on US Empire, Militarism, Violence, and Aggression, 2006 to 2016
VIOLENCE USA NEWSLETTER #10, December 20, 2015: http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2015/12/us-violence-newsletter-10-dec-20-2015.html
US WESTWARD IMPERIALISM, PACIFIC OCEAN, EAST ASIA, TPP NEWSLETTER #18, December 19, 2015: http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2015/12/us-westward-imperialism-pacific-e-asia.html
US GLOBAL MILITARY BASES NEWSLETTER #2, NOVEMBER 25, 2015\
OMNI “NO KILL” NEWSLETTER #1 JANUARY 13, 2012.
IRAN NEWSLETTER # 26, July 28, 2015.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS NEWSLETTER #11, July 1, 2015.
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Remembrance, AUGUST 9, 2015
CONTINUED AT END
Instead of this:
U.S. Facilitates Saudi War Crimes in Yemen
VFP Advisory Member Marjorie Cohn writes on the ongoing crisis in Yemen.
"As recently as October 13, a Saudi-led airstrike killed at least 19 people and injured 30 when it hit a convoy of buses carrying civilians escaping an attack on Hodeidah. The coalition has mounted more than 50 airstrikes on civilian vehicles in 2018 alone.
Targeting civilians is a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
By furnishing a bomb with knowledge it would likely be used to commit a war crime, US leaders could be tried for aiding and abetting a war crime under customary international law. They supplied the bomb used in the August 2018 bus attack, knowing a similar one was used in the 2016 funeral bombing."
Let us dvocate this:
Peace with Iran Delegation, January 10-18
Thursday, January 10 - Friday, January 18, 2019
Concerned that the US administration is making a case for war with Iran, a coalition of peace groups, organized bywww.codepink.org, is putting together an historic Peace Delegation to Iran. We hope our delegation can have a significant impact in helping move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a place of mutual respect and peace with one another.
PART II RECLAIM ARMISTICE DAY
2017
Arnold ‘Skip’ Oliver. “Reclaim Armistice Day and Honor the Real Heroes.” PIOT (Fall 2017) 11. “How…did Armistice Day become Veterans Day? . . . To be blunt about it, in 1954 Armistice Day was hijacked by a militaristic U.S. Congress and renamed Veterans Day. . . .The message of peace seeking has been all but erased. Worst of all, Veterans Day has devolved into a hyper-nationalistic quasi-religious celebration of war and the putatively valiant warriors who wage it.”![https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]()
MORE https://www.veteransforpeace.org/files/3114/1566/8563/reclaim_armistice_day_and_honor_the_heroes.pdf
MORE https://www.veteransforpeace.org/files/3114/1566/8563/reclaim_armistice_day_and_honor_the_heroes.pdf |
Return Armistice to Veterans' Day
Sights and sounds from Baltimore's 2015 Veterans Day parade
November. Veterans Day. I’m a veteran who can feel its approach in her bones. The smell of autumn in the air, the leaves turning — once again I’m overwhelmed by complicated feelings, so hard to explain. This year it’s been especially trying because I’m also bearing up under the weight of the PBS series on the war in Vietnam. Meanwhile the public arena is a minefield of viciousness over how we properly demonstrate our patriotism. It makes my hands shake to see it — how we can't even get through a football game without tearing each other apart.
Last week, right after the calendar turned to November, I walked to the memorials on the grounds of the Baltimore County Courthouse — the gleaming black Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and beyond it the newer, earthen-colored memorial dedicated to veterans who served in Operations Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. I go there often. I write in my notebook there and sometimes take photos — in the morning and at dusk, on gray days and snowy days, in the dappled light of a gorgeous Memorial Day.
As I turned the corner on the courthouse lawn and approached the memorials, I was upset by something new on the path: Close to my feet, standing small but erect above the fallen leaves, a line of crisp American flags. I was upset, but I took a photo anyway, getting down on one knee to achieve the best angle. There were people walking by — it was lunch hour, a pretty day. All of a sudden I wanted to accost those innocent, unsuspecting people. “Armistice Day!” I wanted to yell at them. “Flags! Couldn’t we just for once put the patriotism away?”
Few people care that the 11th day of the 11th month wasn’t always called Veterans Day, that it used to be Armistice Day. Few people see the irony.
Once upon a time — 99 years ago in fact — a devastating world war came to an end. To celebrate the peace, our nation set aside one sacred day each year, a day to join all nations in recalling the moment when at last the arms were laid down. Eleven bells would toll solemnly at the 11th hour, and nobody would march in patriotic parades displaying military might. But time went by, and then after a second devastating world war, our nation gave up on Armistice Day. The 11th day of November became Veterans Day instead. It was as though we no longer believed in that blessed moment of peace when all the arms would be laid down. We dedicated ourselves to honoring those brave men and women who still carry the arms for us, the ones we keep sending off to wars we don’t fully understand and haven’t the courage or the political will to end. MORE: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-1110-veterans-day-armistice-20171108-story.html
Celebrating Nov. 11 (11-11-11) as Armistice Day instead of Veterans Day is the true way to Support the Troops! If we are ever to have peace and justice in the future, we must name and celebrate the past truthfully—like Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Day instead of Columbus Day.
Armistice Day Special Edition of Peace In Our Times
VFP recently sent out a special edition paper on the theme of Reclaim Armistice Day to VFP chapters and we have a few bundles still available but they are going quickly!
The content of this special edition paper is timeless. Veterans For Peace is dedicated to Reclaim Armistice Day and will continue to educate the public on the need to recognize the original meaning of the day for years to come. To order email Shelly (shelly@veteransforpeace.org) or Tarak (takauff@gmail.com)but do it quickly because we only have 17 bundles left! p.s. You can also download the paper here!
Celebrate Armistice Day on Sunday November 11, 2018! Armistice Day is only 5 days away, and once again, Veterans For Peace is taking the lead to#ReclaimArmisticeDay. This year, as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day we call for November 11 to be observed as “a day dedicated to the cause of world peace," as it was celebrated at the ending of World War I when the world came together to recognize the need for lasting peace. Instead of celebrating militarism, we call for a celebration of peace and all of humanity. We demand an end to all forms of hate, patriarchy and white supremacy and we call for unity, fair treatment under the law and equality for all. We call for a t  earing down of walls between borders and people. We call for an end to all hostilities at home and around the globe.Let's #ReclaimArmsticeDay as a day for peace. [LOOKING AHEAD TO EVERY DAY LEADING TO NOV. 11, 2019 Here are some ways you can take action! · Fill out this form to let us know what you’re planning on November 11th. · View our list of Armistice Day events to find and attend an action near you. · VFP Chapters - use this sample press release to promote your Armistice Day event. · Help us spread the word about VFP's Celebration of Armistice Day! o Make sure to follow the VFP social media accounts and tag VFP in yourFacebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts! o Use the hashtags #ReclaimArmisticeDay and #VeteransForPeace o Send your photos and videos to samantha@veteransforpeace.org, or add your photos to our Armistice Day 2018 Photos Folder. · Spend Armistice Day Weekend in Washington, D.C.! o Join VFP and many other peace groups in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the cancellation of the Trump Military parade and join together for a weekend of events including a solemn veteran-led silent march on Armistice Day. · View our Armistice Day webpage for more information and ideas. LAST CHANCE to request Armistice Day tabling materials. We can send out one more batch of Armistice Day tabling materials TODAY. Click here to request yours now. |
RECLAIM ARMISTICE DAY
Veterans for Peace Special Report, Reclaim Armistice Day 1918-2018
Thirteen Essays, Three Poems
First Two Essays
David Swanson, “A Peace to End All Wars”
Nov. 11 was designated not to celebrate war and warriors, not the occupiers or Afghanistan or Iraq, not to thank anybody for their “service” of killing, but was a holiday to celebrate a great armistice to end the wreckage, the slaughter, the stupidity of war.
Tarak Kauff, “Reclaim Armistice Day”
Many of our citizens and our war veterans cannot distinguish between an Armistice Day and a “Veterans Day,” or it is a deliberate choice by our government to celebrate war instead of peace. “What we veterans really need is for society to reclaim the spirit of Armistice Day and unite in the common desire of the human spirit for peace.” And 11 more essays.
Three Poems
Wilfred Owen, “Dulce Et Decorum Est”
Siegfried Sassoon, “To the Warmongers,” “Does It Matter?”
ACTION
We as individuals have plenty we can do to celebrate peace over war. Become aware that on May 13, 1938, November 11 (11-11-11) became a national holiday dedicated to world peace, and in 1954 the Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day, from peace to patriotism, war, and warriors. Show photos of the consequences of the butchery. Read poems reflecting on the millions of individuals who perished. Object to the erasure of Armistice Day at your bank your school, place of employment, everywhere you see the mindless affirmation of war by Veterans Day, and via your newspaper LTE or guest column. Arrange for a protest with a guest speaker. Subscribe to VFP’s newspaper, Peace In Our Times (PIOT), or order bundles: peaceinourtimes.org. Don’t passively accept this takeover by war-makers or any other of all the countless aggressions by which our nation has been militarized.
Armistice Day 100 is 11 Days Away
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Reclaim Armistice Day in ARKANSAS
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US Anti-War Organizations 2018
THE FOLLOWING MESSAGES FROM PEACE ORGANIZATIONS ARRIVED AFTER I HAD POSTED MY 2017 ARMISTICE DAY NEWSLETTER. THEY ARE AS OR MORE RELEVANT IN 2018.
Iraq Veterans Against the War IVAW (ABOUT FACE)
Veterans for Peace VFP
Win Without War WWW
World Beyond War WBW (see preceding newsletters)
Vets Day For Us Means Ending War
11-10-17 (IVAW’s new name is ABOUT FACE) | 3:23 PM (55 minutes ago) | | |||
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Resources Additional Resources Dear Dick, I'm writing to you from Tucson, AZ, where our veterans' delegation is joining School of the Americas (SOA) Watch in their decades-long movement to end U.S. militarism in Latin America and to call attention to the growing militarization of the U.S./Mexico border. I can't imagine a more powerful way to spend my Veterans Day weekend, when most of the country will be celebrating war through parades and events that honor US veterans but pay little mind to the immeasurable damage (from massacres to forced migration) that our military has caused. Maggie Martin Co-Director Iraq Veterans Against the War | |||||
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P.O. Box 3565, New York, NY 10008
VFP eNews:Armistice Day! Opportunities for Action!
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WIN WITHOUT WAR ![https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]()
What my service in Iraq cost
Dear Dick, $5.6 trillion, with no end in sight. That’s the cost of America’s wars since 9/11. But as a Marine who served in Iraq, I don’t need a price tag to tell you about the cost of our wars for veterans like me. I’ve seen for myself the amputations, traumatic brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder and moral injury that all lead to massively disproportionate levels of suicide, depression, substance abuse, domestic violence and homelessness in veterans returned home from war. And I’ve witnessed the human cost of our wars beyond our borders, in Iraq where I was stationed and for millions around the world. Today, Veterans Day parades will celebrate the bravery of service members, and I will be remembering those who were alongside me overseas. But before Cold War hysteria took over, November 11th was Armistice Day -- a day for peace. The original Armistice Day marchers, veterans who survived the killing fields of the First World War, carried banners declaring “Never Again.” Imagine if we had listened to those veterans. Instead, our country continues to pour troops into stupid, bloated, and deadly wars. That’s not honoring or respecting veterans. That’s putting war profits and reckless ideologies over our lives. Please join me in supporting Rep. John Lewis’ call to honor our veterans by accounting for the human, moral, and financial costs of war. $5.6 trillion by next September works out to $310 billion per year to prop up our endless wars. That’s $23,386 per taxpayer per year. Slice it however you want, it’s an incomprehensibly massive number. And instead of asking ourselves if a single penny is worth it, we just keep freefalling into gargantuan war debt. As for the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical costs of my time at war -- we won’t ever pay those off. Neither will the friends I remember today who died for a country that won’t acknowledge the cost of their loss. Neither will our families and communities who continue to shoulder the burdens of our service long after we leave the battlefield. That’s why Rep. John Lewis is speaking up to demand a public, national conversation on war financing. His amendment to Trump’s tax bill would prohibit cutting taxes on the rich -- a loss of revenue that would add right onto our pile of war debt -- until we get our troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria and eliminate the war deficit gobbling up our budget. Thank you for all you do, Matthew Hoh, Iraq War veteran (About Me | Matthew Hoh–D)Win Without War is a project of the Center for International Policy. 2000 M Street NW, Suite 720, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 232-3317 | info@winwithoutwar.org | |||||||||
Ann Wright wrote the following in 2017:
Next year marks the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day. The centennial anniversary is an opportunity for us as veterans to go bigger and bolder than ever before and to call on the U.S. public to say no to more war and to demand justice and peace, at home and abroad.
LET’S MAKE 2018 A NEW BEGINNING FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO RECLAIM ARMISTICE DAY. SEE YOU IN 2018 AND ONWARD.
OMNI NEWSLETTERS ON US MILITARISM CONTINUED
Chelsea (Bradley) Manning Newsletter #7, August 13, 2015
SNOWDEN NEWSLETTER #7, August 15, 2015
UN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
“PEARL HARBOR DAY,” COLONIAL PACIFIC WORLD WAR II NEWSLETTER #7, December 7, 2015 (2008-2015)
UN WORLD REFUGEE DAY NEWSLETTER #5, JUNE 20, 2015.
RUSSIA NEWSLETTER #4, JUNE 19, 2015.
US WAR OF TERRORISM NEWSLETTER, #12, June 3, 2015.
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers,May 29, 2015
VICTIMS OF WARS DAY (MEMORIAL DAY) NEWSLETTER #7. MAY 25, 2015.
CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF WARS, NEWSLETTER #6, May 19, 2015.
WHISTLEBLOWERS AND LEAKERS NEWSLETTER #1, Series 2
US EMPIRE, US NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, NATIONALISM, MILITARISM, SURVEILLANCE NEWSLETTER # 16, May 17, 2015.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO WAR NEWSLETTER #6, INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS’ DAY #6, May 15, 2015.
JULIA WARD HOWE’S MOTHER’S DAY FOR PEACE NEWSLETTER #5, May 10, 2015 (2nd Sunday of Each Year.). Final Newsletter.
POLICE USA, VIOLENCE, MILITARIZATION NEWSLETTER #4, May 4, 2015.
DISSENT NEWSLETTER #2, April 28, 2015
TERRORISM NEWSLETTER #1, April 18, 2015
GAZA NEWSLETTER NO. 7
BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY. April 8, 2015.
ISRAELI BDS DAY (BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS) AND PALESTINIAN LAND DAY, MARCH 30, 2015.
DRONE/ASSASSINATION NEWSLETTER # 16. March 29, 2015.
VIETNAM WAR NEWSLETTER #7, March 24, 2015.
CIVIL LIBERTIES INDEFINITE DETENTION, SOLITARY CONFINEMENT NEWSLETTER #3, March 24, 2015.
RUSSIA NEWSLETTER #5 (AND UKRAINE). March 16, 2014.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOLITION NEWSLETTER # 21, FOCUS ON MARSHALL ISLANDS LAWSUITS. March 13, 2015.
NUCLEAR VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS REMEMBRANCE DAY (formerly NUCLEAR FREE AND INDEPENDENT PACIFIC DAY AND MARSHALL ISLANDS NUCLEAR VICTIMS DAY), MARCH 1, 2015. NEWSLETTER #4.
NEWSLETTER ON IRAQ WARS #19, February 12, 2015
VIOLENCE USA NEWSLETTER #9, January 29, 2015
TORTURE NEWSLETTER # 10, TORTURE, WAR CRIMES, LAWLESSNESS, January 26, 2015
ANTI-WAR, ANTI-IMPERIALISM, NEWSLETTER #4. January 25, 2015.
NATIONALISM NEWSLETTER and FLAG PATRIOTISM #2, January 9, 2015
SNOWDEN NEWSLETTER #6, December 4, 2014.
PRISONERS FOR PEACE DAY NEWSLETTER #3, DECEMBER 1, 2014
WORLD UNITY DAY/ARMISTICE DAY(Veterans Day) NEWSLETTER #7, NOVEMBER 11
PTSD NEWSLETTER #4, NOVEMBER 10, 2014.
CELEBRATES UNITED NATIONS DAY OCTOBER 24, 2014, NEWSLETTER #7.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF AMERICAS DAY (IPAD) (Columbus Day) NEWSLETTER. Monday, October 13, 2014.
FIRST WORLD WAR NEWSLETTER #1, CENTENARY. SEPTEMBER 28, 2014.
UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE, CLIMATE SUMMIT, AND NATIONAL MARCH, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014
9-11, SEPTEMBER 11 FAMILIES FOR PEACEFUL TOMORROWS DAY, NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE NEWSLETTER #7,September 11, 2014 (alternative to Patriot Day).
UN INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS (THIRD ANNUAL) AUGUST 29, 2014. OMNI NEWSLETTER #3.
NONVIOLENCE NEWSLETTER #10, JUNE 12, 2014.
DRONE/ASSASSINATION NEWSLETTER # 14. JUNE 3, 2014
VICTIMS OF US WARS DAY (MEMORIAL DAY) NEWSLETTER #6. MAY 26, 2014.
GRASSROOTS MILITARISM, NORTHWEST ARKANSAS, NEWLSETTER #1, May 23, 2014.
PENTAGON BUDGET NEWSLETTER # 2. APRIL 18, 2014.
ANNUAL GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION ON MILITARY SPENDING, US TAX DAY, APRIL 15
2014.
ANTI-WAR, ANTI-IMPERIALISM, ANTI-CANT NEWSLETTER #3. March 25, 2014
US EMPIRE, THE US NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, NATIONALISM, MILITARISM, SURVEILLANCE. March 2, 2014
PENTAGON, WOMEN, RAPE NEWSLETTER #1
OMNI: WOMEN IN THE US MILITARY, NEWSLETTER #1. February 10, 2014.
OMNI NEWSLETTER ON AFGHANISTAN ANDPAKISTAN #21, Feb. 4, 2013.
US DOMESTIC MILITARIZATION, DEVELOPING POLICE STATE NEWSLETTER #1. December 9, 2013
SUPPORT THE TROOPS NEWSLETTER #2, December 9, 2013
OMNI “PEARL HARBOR DAY,” COLONIAL PACIFIC WORLD WAR II NEWSLETTER #6,December 7, 2013.
OMNI JUST-WAR NEWSLETTER #1, October 15, 2013.
OMNI: US CHEMICAL WARFARE NEWSLETTER #2. September 7, 2013.
OMNI SYRIA NEWSLETTER #5, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013.
OMNI MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL (CONGRESSIONAL) COMPLEX NEWSLETTER #2, August 19, 2013.
OMNI WAR CRIMES NEWSLETTER #5, June 8, 2013.
OMNI WAR ON LIBYA NEWSLETTER #1, April 28, 2013 .
OMNI NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER #2, APRIL 13, 2012.
OMNI GENOCIDE NEWSLETTER #1, JANUARY 8, 2013
OMNI WAR RESISTANCE, DISSENT, NEWSLETTER #1, JANUARY 3, 2013.
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2013/01/war-resistance-newsletter-1.html
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2013/01/war-resistance-newsletter-1.html
OMNI WAR ECONOMY NEWSLETTER, December 28, 2012.
STONE AND KUZNICK, THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2012/12/stone-and-kuznick-untold-history-of.html
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2012/12/stone-and-kuznick-untold-history-of.html
OMNI NEWSLETTER #6 ON NONVIOLENCE, DECEMBER 28, 2012.
OMNI NEWSLETTER #1, PROTEST US IMPERIAL MILITARY BASES AROUND THE WORLD, DECEMBER 9, 2012.
US ARMED FORCES AROUND THE WORLD, OMNI NEWSLETTER, November 2, 2012.
Contents: Armistice Day Newsletter #11, Nov. 11, 2017
(Memorial Day commiserates with those who died serving this country while engaged in war. Veterans Day celebrates everybody who wore a military uniform (if you knew some of the people I knew in the military you would be more selective in your celebration. We should replace both of these promotions of war, but Veterans Day is particularly pro-war, jingoistic, and imperialistic.)
Reporting Veterans Day (VD) in the NWADG
Reporting Armistice Day (AD) Around the Nation
Mobilization to Stop War in N. Korea
Christine Ahn Interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!
About North Korea
About North Korea
Anti-War Movement 2017
World Beyond War (WBW)
Veterans for Peace (VFP)
Dick’s Anti-War Newsletters
Armistice Day 2016
Nov. 11 and 12: Towns, UAF, Schools, Churches, Newspaper
Nov. 13
Kurt Vonnegut’s Birthday, author of Slaughterhouse Five
Contents: Armistice Day 2016 Newsletter #10
END ARMISTICE DAY NEWSLETTER #12, 2018