[NYTr] Anti-War Surge Among Military Families

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

sent by Ed Pearl 

Military Families Speak Out - Jul 18, 2007 
http://www.mfso.org

Anti-War Surge Reported Among Military Families

MFSO Reports 20 New Families Joining Each Day as Anti-Iraq War
Sentiment Grows on Military Bases

MASSACHUSSETTS - JULY 18 - Scores of military families are joining
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), the national organization of
military families opposed to the war in Iraq, and adding their voices
to the nationwide chorus that is demanding an immediate end to the Iraq
War. According to MFSO national staff, an average of almost 20 new
families each day are now joining the effort to bring the war to an end
and bring their loved ones home quickly and safely. The current surge
in membership can be traced to recent national news reporting on the
frustrations felt by military families whose loved ones are on the
front lines of an unjustifiable war that is exacting a terrible price
in human suffering among military families and in Iraq.

Many of the new members have been fearful of voicing their opposition
to the war but now feel that they must speak out, while others
previously supported the war effort and have now turned against it. "I
backed this war from the beginning, but I don't think I can look my
kids in the eyes anymore, if my husband, comes back in a wooden box,
and tell them he died for a good reason," said Beth Pyritz, a new MFSO
member based at Fort Eustis in Virginia., "It's time to bring him and
all of our troops home."

Ms. Pyritz is one of many military wives condemning the war despite an
unwritten code of silence which makes it difficult to speak out,
especially for those living on military bases. But according to MFSO
co-founder, Nancy Lessin, an increasing number of military wives are
breaking that code of silence: "The extended and multiple deployments,
the increasing casualty rates, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that
accompanies service members when they do come home, are all taking a
toll; but most pressing is the understanding that loved ones are in
harm's way for no good reason, in a war that should not be happening.
Many wives on bases are now seeing a greater risk in not speaking out,
so they are stepping into the forefront to be heard."

The surge in MFSO's membership comes as Congress and the Administration
are engaged in a battle over time lines and benchmarks, placing them
well adrift of the growing nationwide sentiment supporting an immediate
end to the war in Iraq.

Military Families Speak Out has called for an end to funding that
allows the war in Iraq to continue, for full funding for a safe and
orderly withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, and for the care they need
when they get home.

Members of MFSO, including families with loved ones currently in Iraq,
soon to deploy or re-deploy, and those living on military bases or in
base towns are available for interview.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of 3,500
families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones in the
military.

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit:
http://www.mfso.org