and to Address Problems with Veterans Healthcare and the VA Crisis
What: Press Conference and Vigil
Who: Patrick McCann, VFP National President
Michael McPhearson, VFP Interim Executive Director
Gerry Condon, VFP National Vice President
John Spitzberg, Chapter 099 Convention Coordinator and others.
When: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 5:30 PM
Where: Vance Monument, Pack Square, Asheville NC
Why: With the increasing conflict at home and abroad, Veterans For Peace offers a unique voice, solution and perspective that affects our world. The VFP annual convention is open to the general public with paid registration
Saint Louis, MO–Veterans For Peace is kicking off its 29th National Convention this Thursday, July 24th in Asheville, NC.Veterans from WWII through the current Post 9-11 era will gather with military families, supporters and friends to share information and experiences and to discuss how to move the U.S. away from endless war to an age of diplomacy and global cooperation.
As a lead up to convention activities, this Tuesday members of Veterans For Peace national leadership will participate in the local Asheville Chapter 099 weekly peace vigil from 5pm to 6pm at Vance Monument, Pack Square in downtown Asheville.
VFP will hold a press conference during the vigil at 5:30 pm to comment and take questions on how war and peace impact our service members, veterans and the nation. Speakers will comment on the Veterans Administration, the U.S. and its policies toward the Russia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq.
The organization will also make a clear statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for the end to the Israeli siege of Gaza and cessation of violence and targeting of civilians by Israel and Hamas.
“As veterans who have witnessed the horrors of war, we are outraged by Israel's slaughter of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians in the open-air prison that is Gaza,” said Gerry Condon, National Vice-President of Veterans For Peace. “We call for an immediate and to the bombing and a withdrawal of all Israeli military from Gaza.”
Veterans For Peace Interim Executive Director Michael McPhearson stated, “For more than a decade the U.S. has spent trillions of dollars conducting a policy of global endless wars.
According to an April State Department report, there was a worldwide 43% increase in terrorist incidents 2013. If the purpose of these wars is to reduce or end terrorism, the policy is an abysmal failure.”
Veterans For Peace asks, with all the money spent on these wars and the outcome being more terrorism, more war and more violence, who benefits from them?
“These wars do not benefit military families who wait in fear every day for their loved one to come home, many times never seeing them whole or alive again. They do not benefit the service members who sacrifice their time, bodies and minds and some, their lives. These wars do not benefit the veterans that find they cannot get the help they need and deserve. And the wars do not benefit the average U.S. citizen who pays for them yet receives little help in a stagnant economy and still faces the specter of terrorism,” remarked Veterans For Peace National President Patrick McCann.
"We are excited to be hosting hundreds of veterans and friends from all over the U.S. Viet Nam and England," said John Spitzberg, Asheville Veterans For Peace Convention Coordinator.
"We will bring attention to the plight of homeless veterans in Asheville, with whom we will share a meal on Sunday morning,” said John Spitzberg. “We want peace at home as well as peace abroad, and to bring all the troops home from Afghanistan and from the 900 U.S. bases around the world. Furthermore, we insist the Veterans Administration be fully funded so it can provide prompt quality healthcare to all our veterans when they need it."
ASHEVILLE RESIDENTS INVITED TO CONVENTION
and FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT
The Asheville community is invited to a special Friday night concert by master musician and songwriter,John McCutcheon. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Asheville residents may also participate in the many Convention workshops and activities by paying a modest daily fee, or by volunteering to help out at the Convention.
* Veterans For Peace is a 29-year-old U.S. based nonprofit educational organization with chapters in over 100 US cities and several international chapters. VFP members include veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as non-veteran allies. The mission of Veterans For Peace is to abolish war as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 21, 2014
For more information:
Regarding press conference and convention media queries:
Ed Sacco, 828-686-8791
Regarding VFP and interview arrangements:
Tom Palumbo, VFP Communications Chairperson, 828-335-3627, TPeacenik@gmail.com
Gerry Condon, VFP National Vice President, 206-499-1220, projectsafehaven@hotmail.com