Sept. 8, 2020
As a group, Veterans For Peace advocates against war, but we also respect and honor the sacrifices of our fellow servicemembers.
Therefore, we are adamantly opposed to the President of the United States referring to US servicemembers injured or killed in war as “losers” or objecting to wounded veterans participating in military parades.
As concerned, civically engaged members of the human community, we need to recognize that militarism is, at best, a failed tool for world peace and human dignity; and at worst, a guarantor of the complete opposite.
However, we need to respect those who have made the choice to “serve” by supporting returning veterans and showing honor and respect to those who didn’t return.
As the Commander in Chief, the President instead should be appalled that one-third of homeless Americans are veterans, that suicide rates among veterans are unacceptably high, and that the VA healthcare system is underfunded to meet its needs.
As the representative of the American people, the President should instead be duty-bound to pay our nation’s respect to the war dead wherever they lie, interred at Arlington or an American cemetery in France.
North Star Veterans For Peace ch. 146
with Alaska Peace Center
Rob Mulford
Alan Batten
Karl Franke
Heather Koponen
Carrie Farr
Maia Genaux
Alaska Peace Center 