About MFSO Oregon
Published by admin August 14th, 2007 in Blog
MFSO Oregon is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), an organization of people opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have relatives or loved ones currently in the military, or who have served in the military since the fall of 2002.
As people with family members and loved ones in the military, we know that it is our loved ones who are, or have been, or will be on the battlefront. It is our loved ones who are at risk, who have been injured or who have died as a result of these wars. It is our loved ones who are returning scarred from their experiences, who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
MFSO Oregon Video
Published by admin June 3rd, 2011 in Blog, email-list, news, voices of mfso oregonThe members of MFSO Oregon have made a decision to post the complete video of Oregon Military Families Speak Out, which we hope is a tool to help our Oregon neighbors understand the true cost of the war through the stories of our loved ones.
MFSO Campaign Update
Published by admin June 1st, 2011 in Blog, campaigns, email-list, voices of mfso oregon
This past weekend was the 10th Memorial Day since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Initiatives such as Joining Forces are actively painting a pretty picture of the American support for military families and their active duty loved ones, but free concerts, parades, discounts and yellow ribbons are not enough for military families. These aren’t enough to bring our loved ones home; and they certainly won’t console the families who’ve lost loved ones. Two months ago we reached a toll of 4,450 deaths of troops in combat. The war is far from over. Almost 100,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. And Iraq? For a “non-combat operation”, there were 22 soldier deaths this year.
In reality, the American presence in the middle east is hurting our troops in ways that we can’t see and commanding officers and the general public often ignore. Continue reading ‘MFSO Campaign Update’
In Loving Memory of Mark Pritchard
Published by admin March 15th, 2011 in Blog, voices of mfso oregonJanuary 12, 1960—December 12, 2010
Mark was a staunch supporter of MFSO and GSFSO, and a staunch supporter of peace. He was compassionate, just, and he knew how to have fun. He stood up for what he believed in and he was not afraid to speak out. He, Annette, and the boys came to every march and event together. Mark, we will miss your humor and your commitment to humanity. Our thoughts are with your family.
Hidden Battles screening at PSU 2/12/ 4pm
Published by michael January 22nd, 2011 in BlogHidden Battles
Saturday February 12th at 4:00 p.m.
Portland State University
Free and open to the public.Hidden Battles is a documentary film which approaches the soldiers experience from a profoundly personal perspective. Starting with an
examination of the emotional impact of combat and following five soldiers from around the globe through their individual journeys to establish a life
for themselves after they have returned home.
Hidden Battles is a documentary film which approaches the soldiers experience from a profoundly personal perspective. Starting with anexamination of the emotional impact of combat and following five soldiers from around the globe through their individual journeys to establish a lifefor themselves after they have returned home.The screening will be held at:
Academic Student Recreation Center (ASRC) Auditorium, Rm. 001
Portland State University, SW 6th and Montgomery
Following the film there will be a Q & A with the film’s Director Victoria Mills
and returning veterans.
To see a trailer and learn more about the film, please visit
www.hiddenbattles.com
“Hidden Battles” is a timely and evocative documentary that looks beyond
political rhetoric and polemics to focus on the very real human cost of war;
any war. Poignant, engaging and disturbing, director Victoria Mills posits
an important message about the real cost of killing another human being.
Brilliant and highly recommended.”
-George T. Marshall, FLICKERS Film Festival.
February ’10 MFSO-Oregon Newsletter
Published by steve December 9th, 2009 in Blog, news, voices of mfso oregonMFSO’s newest Newsletter has stories about the Afghan war and personal stories from members. Click here for Feb 2010 newsletter.pdf (.pdf files, viewable with Adobe Acrobat).
For previous newsletters, click here:
GUEST VIEWPOINT: Deploying troops to Iraq backfires
Published by steve December 8th, 2009 in Blog, voices of mfso oregonOur military campaign to improve conditions in the Middle East is only making things worse
By Miriam Reinhart (MFSO-Oregon member) for The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Sunday, Nov 29, 2009
My son is a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who already has been deployed twice to Iraq, for a total of 27 months. He will be deployed to Iraq for a third time next spring.
Like every family member of a deployed soldier, I worry about him constantly when he is overseas. But my worry for his welfare would be more bearable if I thought that what he had done or will do in Iraq was in some way protecting the security of the American people.
The problem is that I don’t think he is protecting the American people by being in Iraq. It is not that he is doing anything personally that is a problem. It’s that our entire strategy and reasons for being in Iraq have been totally counterproductive to our security since the day we invaded. Continue reading ‘GUEST VIEWPOINT: Deploying troops to Iraq backfires’
Soldier’s Project to help returning vets
Published by steve December 6th, 2009 in Blog“The most horrifying aspect of it was the sense that I got that these were really just ordinary everyday guys, and they had seen things and done things that just shattered their whole sense of themselves,” says Broder. “And that they would all need help.”
That’s when Broder, a clinical psychiatrist, put her retirement plans on hold and founded the Soldiers Project. It provides free counseling not only to service members returning from war — but to their families as well.” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120278574
In Front of the White House…
Published by steve October 7th, 2009 in BlogCommemorating Those Killed in Afghanistan: A Cry for Peace
This past Saturday, starting at 6 a.m., I began placing pairs of empty
combat boots on the Ellipse within sight of the White House. I worked
alongside members of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC),
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Veterans for Peace, and Iraq Veterans
Against the War to install one set of boots for each US soldier killed in
Afghanistan. By the time we finished, six hours after we began, we learned
that we had to add three more. The names of three additional US soldiers
killed in Afghanistan had been announced while we worked.
Next to this improvised cemetery of loss and mournful rage, of
commemoration and protest, we set up another: a small spiral of civilian
shoes to recognize the untold thousands of Afghan civilians killed in the
ongoing cycle of violence that has engulfed the country for the last 30
years, and in particular, the last eight.
Laying out the boots and shoes was a contemplative, sad, slow process. As
we unpacked each pair of boots and positioned them into the grid, flecks
of the bootblack rubbed off on our hands, leaving them indelibly stained
with the ashes of unknown memories. Continue reading ‘In Front of the White House…’
MFSO Takes Position Against War in Afghanistan
Published by steve August 27th, 2009 in BlogAfter vigorous debate and discussions with journalists and aid-workers in Afghanistan, and upon an overwhelming vote of the membership, Military Families Speak Out has adopted a new mission statement expands its current mission by urging the United States to quickly end the war in Afghanistan:
“The United States should end the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, bring our troops home now, and take care of them when they get here. The US should also end the policies of preventive and preemptive wars of aggression that allowed the Iraq war to happen.”
This Place Too Is Left Behind
Published by steve May 23rd, 2009 in Blog, voices of mfso oregon–by Leslie Rose, MFSO member
He’s trying to settle in. He’s trying to fit in, get work, find some meaning in his new civilian life. Home doesn’t seem like the place he left behind. Sure, his beautiful old Chevy pickup is parked in the driveway, still wrecked from the short leave before his second deployment. But Portland’s become too loud, full of untrustworthy traffic and suspicious thoughts. He’s moved the TV onto the patio and attempts to sleep outside on the rattan couch, even though it’s winter. We’re not quite sure what to ask him this time, leaving space for him to tell his story, if he wants to. He doesn’t say much.
One day, though, he takes a plastic water bottle and bowls it across the concrete. This is how incoming sounds, he tells us. Continue reading ‘This Place Too Is Left Behind’
