http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0718-02.htmFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 18, 2007
10:25 AM
CONTACT: Military Families Speak Out
Ateqah Khaki, Riptide Communications, 212-260-5000
Nancy Lessin, Military Families Speak Out, 617-320-5301
Anti-War Surge Reported Among Military Families
MFSO Reports 20 New Families Joining Each Day as Anti-Iraq War Sentiment Grows on Military Bases
MASSACHUSSETTS - JULY 18 - Scores of military families are joining Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), the national organization of military families opposed to the war in Iraq, and adding their voices to the nationwide chorus that is demanding an immediate end to the Iraq War. According to MFSO national staff, an average of almost 20 new families each day are now joining the effort to bring the war to an end and bring their loved ones home quickly and safely. The current surge in membership can be traced to recent national news reporting on the frustrations felt by military families whose loved ones are on the front lines of an unjustifiable war that is exacting a terrible price in human suffering among military families and in Iraq. Many of the new members have been fearful of voicing their opposition to the war but now feel that they must speak out, while others previously supported the war effort and have now turned against it. “I backed this war from the beginning, but I don’t think I can look my kids in the eyes anymore, if my husband, comes back in a wooden box, and tell them he died for a good reason,” said Beth Pyritz, a new MFSO member based at Fort Eustis in Virginia., “It’s time to bring him and all of our troops home.”
Ms. Pyritz is one of many military wives condemning the war despite an unwritten code of silence which makes it difficult to speak out, especially for those living on military bases. But according to MFSO co-founder, Nancy Lessin, an increasing number of military wives are breaking that code of silence: “The extended and multiple deployments, the increasing casualty rates, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that accompanies service members when they do come home, are all taking a toll; but most pressing is the understanding that loved ones are in harm’s way for no good reason, in a war that should not be happening. Many wives on bases are now seeing a greater risk in not speaking out, so they are stepping into the forefront to be heard.”
The surge in MFSO’s membership comes as Congress and the Administration are engaged in a battle over time lines and benchmarks, placing them well adrift of the growing nationwide sentiment supporting an immediate end to the war in Iraq.
Military Families Speak Out has called for an end to funding that allows the war in Iraq to continue, for full funding for a safe and orderly withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, and for the care they need when they get home.
Members of MFSO, including families with loved ones currently in Iraq, soon to deploy or re-deploy, and those living on military bases or in base towns are available for interview.
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of 3,500 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones in the military.
For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit:
http://www.mfso.org
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