Collaborations between MFSO, IVAW, VVAW and VFP

Military Families Speak Out is committed to working closely with our partner organizations in the military/ex-military community: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. There were two recent local/regional events that brought our organizations together to build relationships and share strategies for the anti-war movement.

California Regional Conference

Last weekend, April 16-18,  California members of MFSO participated in their first regional conference for IVAW, MFSO, VFP and VVAW. The idea started last winter when chapter leaders Pat Alviso and Jeff Merrick were asked to do a presentation at the local Veterans For Peace regional conference in San Diego. Since then leaders from the 4 organizations have been meeting monthly which lead to this conference. The weather and beautiful grounds right across from the beach made for a perfect day.  

MFSO chapter leaders from Salinas, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, LA, Orange County, Long Beach and San Diego were represented amongst the 140 members from the 4 organizations that attended. Workshops and speakers included former Capt. Paul Chappell, State Dept. diplomat Col. Ann Wright (ret.), US Marine Jeff Paterson, Dr. Judith Broder of the Soldiers Project, and human rights leader Marjorie Cohn. The high point of the conference was hearing Dr. Broder’s presentation on PTSD and learning how we can interact with our families in a significant way when they return from duty or show signs of combat stress. Pat and Jeff presented three different workshops including an important update on what is going on with Afghanistan and the current situation about the Obama withdrawal plan. At the end of the workshops all the military family members got together to talk about what was going on in our individual chapters, identify our needs and plan for our next gathering of MFSO members this summer. We hope to see all California members there.  

MFSO Upstate New York Hosts Meet and Greet

On April 16th, 2010 MFSO members Bill Fisher and Marilyn Lambert-Fisher (who are also Associate members of Veterans For Peace) hosted a meet and greet at their home in Rochester. The 14 members of the three organizations got to know each other and learned about the work of Military Families Speak Out, Veterans For Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against the War. They learned they had a lot in common; for example, two of the IVAW members will be joining MFSO because their other brother is currently in the service.

They committed to monthly meetings, working together more closely in the future and getting the word out about local and national efforts to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have plans to participate together in upcoming peace festivals and conferences.

MFSO encourages increased collaboration with our sister/brother organizations in the military/ex-military community. For more information please contact us at mfso@mfso.org.