September 17, 2020
Photos by Alma Bruhnke
Rachel Bruhnke, VFP Associate member, organizes the LA Harbor Peace Week. This is the 5th annual Peace Week and was a direct response to the "LA Fleet Week."
Her partner, John Lackner US Navy Veteran and member of VFP, read out the VFP Mission Statement/Who we are. John worked in the defense industry for 10 years after the Navy 1976-1980, and left in disgust.
The activities also included reading parts of the 2019-2020 Dept of Defense budget breakdown.
An article in the Daily Breeze covered the first day of events:
"L.A. Harbor Peace Week, which has traditionally coincided with L.A. Fleet Week in the Harbor Area, started with a march on Thursday, Sept. 3.And it was in-person, unlike this year’s virtual-only Fleet Week — though the marchers did wear masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Peace Week is typically much smaller than Fleet Week and is often overshadowed by the military festival.About a dozen activists carried signs Thursday that read “Work 4 Peace,” “Fund Veterans, not new wars,” and “China is not our enemy, support trade.” They made several stops on the march, including a union hall and LA City Councimember Joe Buscaino’s office."
We also had a Labor Day event. Dave Logsdon, Vice President of the Veterans For Peace board was a panelist! The event was "Labor Day National Call for a Just Transition from a War to a Peace Economy". They focused on highlighting the need to address that as an American Worker issue-that all workers should have the Freedom to not work in a War Economy.
Also Rachel is trying to find contacts for all 12 U.S. port cities that host Fleet Weeks, so if your local community hosts a fleet week, please be in touch: sojournerrb@yahoo.com