In light of the current investigations into U.S. military conduct in Haditha, Ishaqi, Al Hamdania and elsewhere in Iraq, we are putting this open letter to GI's back on MFSO's front page. It was written in fall, 2003 by Stan Goff, a member of Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace.

I am the wife of a National Guard soldier who served twelve months in Iraq. I am also a member of Military Families Speak Out, an organization of more than 3,000 military families opposed to the war in Iraq.

Joyce and Kevin Lucey are the parents of Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, who killed himself on June 22nd, 2003 after returning from a tour in Iraq. Joyce and Kevin Lucey are currently suing the Department of Veterans affairs arguing the VA was negligent in caring for their son. A VA Inspector General’s Report notes VA officials turned Jeffrey Lucey a few days before he took his own life. The Luceys are members of Gold Star Families Speak Out, a chapter of Military Families Speak Out.

By Cindy Sheehan, Member MFSO, Co-Founder Gold Star Families For Peace. "Congressman Conyers and all, it is an honor to be here to testify about the effect that the revelations of the Downing Street Memo has had on me and my family. It is an honor that I wish never had to happen. I believe that not any of us should be gathered here today for this reason: as the result of an invasion/occupation that never should have occurred."

By David Cline. " Almost 20 years ago, I was dumped in a strange swamp and told to find my own way out I started walking but with every step I seemed to sink in deeper and deeper But I kept walking, what choice did I have?"

"Thank you all for being here on this Mother's Day Sunday. I'm happy to be here and to represent Military Families Speak Out and the 500 some families who have loved ones who have or will be ordered to the Persian Gulf."

A poem by Margaret Anderson.

Statement by Stephen Cleghorn of MFSO. "I have two points to make today. The first has to do with feelings about my stepson. The second has to do with the true roots of this proposed war with Iraq."

By Fred D'Amato. "On Sunday afternoon, February 9th, 2003, my army reservist son received the call to report for duty on Tuesday morning. Despite my vehement objections to the upcoming Iraq invasion and pleas not to go, he said he had to go "because it's the right thing to do". With less than 48 hours notice, my son notified college, his employer, friends and family of his call to active duty. "

"Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Frederick and I am a member of Military Families Speak Out, a group of over 2,200 families nationwide who oppose the war in Iraq and have loved ones who are serving in Iraq, have served, will soon deploy, or have died as a result of the war. "

Beth Lerman, an MFSO chapter leader from Dayton, Ohio, delivered this powerful speech at the National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation in Cleveland, Ohio on June 29, 2008.

I was very happy when I started seeing other military families at antiwar demonstrations. These were people who had the same fear I did, people with a personal reason for trying to stop the war. Some of them carried signs with photos of their loved ones in uniform, saying things like "This war is not worth my son's life". It wasn't hard to find them at demonstrations. They were always right up front, with veterans in uniform from other wars, especially Vietnam. It seemed like the peace movement has learned at least one lesson from Vietnam. The most powerful messengers against war are soldiers themselves, and their families.

As a mother I cannot escape the particular and neither can the other members of MFSO, nor the people of Iraq. Numbers cannot chill the soul the same way my soul was chilled when I sat in a darkened hotel room and listened to my daughter recount what it was like to clean her friend’s brains and body parts out of a humvee. The chill I felt when she described the shock of looking into the eyes of the first person she killed, a twelve year old boy. At that moment I knew we could never go back to the time before. From the minute my daughter took life our lives have been divided into then and now.

What's in a name? Ben Kamilewicz. That's my son's name. He spent 11 months of Hell in Ramadi, Iraq. He came home over a year ago suffering with four herniated disks in his back and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after being blown up multiple times. He still suffers.

My name is Debbie Whitfield and I am a member of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out . On June 28, 2005 our family became a Gold Star family. My son-in-law, Specialist Robert E. Hall, Jr. was killed in Iraq by an IED. On this Mother’s Day, I am asking our government to take action to end the pain and suffering that the war has inflicted on countless families.

During his second deployment, and in one of his darkest moments, my son called home and asked, “Mom, where are the American people? Do they know what’s going on over here? Do they even care about us?” Today, I put that question to you - do you care about our sons, our daughters, our loved ones? Then, I beg you, please don’t abandon them. Call your Congressional representative on Monday. Demand that they stop funding this war. Demand that the troops be brought home NOW, and that they be taken care of with dignity and decency when they get here, and for as long as they need it. I believe that this is the greatest way that we can honor all of our troops, particularly those who, by their deaths, have paid the supreme price for this war.

Today marks the three-month anniversary of my marriage to a Corporal in the US Marine Corps. My friends and family are always asking “how’s married life?” but I have no idea, because my husband is serving his second tour in Iraq, fighting an unjust, gratuitous war.

Hello, my name is Lisa Leitz. I am a graduate student at UCSB and I am the wife of a Navy pilot stationed in Lemoore, just a few hours north of here. I am one of less than half of a percent of the people of this country that have a loved one in uniform.

I am a member of Military Families Speak Out. My message today is very simple – There are too many. There are too many boots in front of us, there are too many shoes farther back, there are too many who have been maimed and scarred for life, there are too many soldiers who have returned as empty shells of human beings, their souls and humanity left behind on the battlefield. There are too many families who have suffered and who carry around grief and worry and anguish. There are simply too many.

Hello, we’re here today to ask congress to debate the war in Iraq. My name is Michael Perkins and I’m here with my fellow members of Military Families Speak Out, MN chapter.

In May of 2005, my partner informed me his National Guard division was being mobilized to deploy to Iraq. Eight months later, his division finally deployed. I say finally because his date of deployment kept changing. They were initially scheduled to leave in October, and for whatever reason, the date kept being pushed back. While I enjoyed having him home for a longer period of time, it was mentally taxing to constantly be saying a final goodbye, only to repeat the process again month after month.

Lance Corporal David Michael Branning was killed in action in Fallujah, Iraq on November 12, 2004. He was killed when he and his buddy, Lance Corporal Brian Medina, were ordered to kick in the door of a private home in that city. I imagine that in the last minutes of their lives, they must have known that there might be people in that dwelling – people who were defending their home. These defenders fired on David and Brian. David was shot in the throat and the bullet exited his head; he died virtually instantly. Brian bled to death within minutes. David was 21 years old; Brian was 20.

My name is Andrew Sapp. I’m 49 years old, and I teach English at Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, MA. I am also a staff sergeant in the 272 chemical company of the MAARNG and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. I have been married for nearly 26 years and have three children, ages 22, 18, and 9. My wife, Anne and daughters are members of Military Families Speak Out and have speaking out publicly against this war for over a year.

I am 26 years old, my husband served as a medic with a tank battalion in Iraq from February 2004 through November 2004 with the National Guard. When my husband was first deployed I had absolutely no idea how hard that experience would be. The mental toll of those months was horrible. Not only because I feared for my husband and that I missed him, but the feeling of isolation that comes with being “An Army Wife”.

I first read this poem during the US invasion of Falluja last November. Heretic had posted it to a weblog that he shared with two other soldiers. It was a shot to the heart for me, a mom with a soldier who had just transferred to his first base to train for war. As I stand here today, my son prepares to go to Ranger school ahead of a scheduled 18 month deployment to Afghanistan.

I am making very personal remarks tonight as the mother of a soldier who spent all of 2004 in Iraq. My son John was wounded twice and has been awarded 2 purple hearts and the Bronze Star for Valor. He has been told he must go back to Iraq this coming March.

My name is Laura McCarthy, and I have a son in the Idaho Army National Guard in Iraq. I have been opposed to the war in Iraq from the very beginning. I have been very vocal by writing letters to the President and other government officials and to the editor of our local paper, and I have participated in local street protests. However, I avoided making any public speeches due to my overwhelming fear of public speaking. That all changed last week when an opportunity presented itself, and I had to choose between remaining silent out of fear or speaking out in spite of fear.

A Speech by MFSO Member Mimi Evans. "The fact that my son is in Iraq is not enough of a wartime sacrifice for me, or for anyone else, who thinks they are doing all they can. We are clearly not doing enough – if we were, we’d see far fewer yellow ribbon magnets and more angry bumper stickers."

Good afternoon. I am Stephen Cleghorn, a member of Military Families Speak Out. My remarks will be brief because I have come simply to provide a little perspective from inside the world of military families. I am also here to stand in support of the call that Congressman Conyers and 88 other Representatives are making to investigate the revelations of the Downing Street Minutes and the British Briefing Papers.

"Don't get me wrong-I have nothing against old men. I'm getting to be an old woman myself. I am against the senseless death of young people, who serve this country with heart and mind and soul."

By Michael T. McPhearson. "Since I began protesting against the actions of my government, first to stop the invasion of Iraq and now to end the occupation and bring our troops home, I have met many courageous and determined people. Such people give me hope and motivation as I witness their heroism in the face of great tragedy. "

"Fall of 2002 was when the drumbeats for war in this country were getting deafening, and we noticed that all those saying “We gotta go to war!” weren’t going anywhere – nor were their loved ones. It was OUR loved ones who would be used as cannon fodder in a war that was about oil markets and dreams of empire – not protecting and defending Country and Constitution, which is what our troops signed up for."

"My name is Adele Kubein. I am a student here at OSU as many of you are. I became active in the peace movement in the 1960's and 70's during the Vietnam War, and I resumed my peace activities when I realized we would certainly go to war with Iraq. I did not realize my own daughter would be caught up in this war when I began to speak out against it. "

Address by Robert Smith on Behalf of Military Families Speak Out. "Now it's not just the United States lying about the reasons for the war. Many countries who opposed the war are in denial about its cause. My family connection to war has made me an amateur historian. In reading about wars from Troy to Vietnam, I know that nations seldom state the actual reasons for going to war. A country may claim attacks or threats or insults or national interests. Often, wars are the result of posturing two armies in front of each other, then waiting for something to happen. If that doesn't work, then sometimes a ruse is required."

Address by Robert Smith on Behalf of Military Families Speak Out. "The only thing that soothed my pain and anger about my brother's sacrifice was my belief that at least this would never happen again. No US president would mislead Americans in order to start a war of aggression. Never again would the administration continue to lie in order to hide a mistake of such monstrous magnitude. Never again would Americans accept such behavior. The concept of “my country, right or wrong” died with the Vietnam War. It has become part of patriotism to stand up and shout against our leaders when they wrong. "

"Thank you Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for inviting Military Families Speak Out to be part of today's town hall meeting. And thank you for being one of the few to stand up to Congress and ask that they not abdicate their constitutional responsibilities."

Address by Stephen Cleghorn at Rally in Tokyo on Behalf of Military Families Speak Out and the Bring Them Home Now campaign. "I come to your country to speak against my country's occupation of Iraq. I come today to call for an immediate end of that occupation. I also come to help you resist the deployment of Japan's Self Defense Forces to this failed and illegal occupation. "

MFSO Members Participated in a Congressional Briefing on Iraq Organized by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Held in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2318

A Speech by MFSO Member Fran Johns. "Our troops do not choose which wars to fight. They rely on our military and government leaders to make those decisions; to use them judiciously, to assure a compelling reason to put them in danger, to protect them in battle. That leadership has failed. "

By Charlie Liteky. "By way of introduction, my name is Charlie Liteky, a U.S. citizen, a Vietnam Veteran, and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. However, I renounced the Medal of Honor on July 29,1986 in opposition to U.S foreign policy in Central America. What the U.S. was supporting in El Salvador and Nicaragua, namely the savagery and domination of the poor, reminded me of what I was a part of in Vietnam 15 years earlier. "

"I wish that every American who supports this war could feel the pain and anguish that President Bush is causing in American, British, and Iraqi families. Perhaps this pain and anguish would cause them to seek another way for the United States to realize its political and economic aspirations."

"I wish that every American who supports this war could feel the pain and anguish that President Bush is causing in American, British, and Iraqi families. Perhaps this pain and anguish would cause them to seek another way for the United States to realize its political and economic aspirations."

Speech Presented by Nancy Lessin, Co-Founder, Military Families Speak Out

By Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, MFSO. "We notice that those who say “We gotta go to war” aren't going anywhere – nor are their loved ones. It's other people's children who are being sent – our loved ones. "