WASHINGTON -

-- Mass. National Guard & other Military Families Hold Press Conference following meeting with Governor Romney, Urge him to Support Troops by Calling for their Return from Iraq

-- Military Families Hold Press Conference at Mass. State House, Oct. 17 at 10:30 a.m.

On Monday, Oct. 17 at 9:30 a.m. Mass. National Guard and other military families from Massachusetts, who are all members of Military Families Speak Out, will meet with Gov. Mitt Romney and call on him to honor and support their loved ones and all the troops by speaking out to bring them home now from Iraq, and to take care of them when they return.

Gov. Romney testified on Tuesday, October 11 in favor of his bill to support the Massachusetts National Guard by increasing death benefits received by their families. Concerned that the Mass. National Guard is reaching only 70 percent of their recruiting goals, the Governor stated, "We're going to have to revisit what our support is for those who ...wear the servicemen's uniform...We're going to have to improve our side of the bargain."

Military Families Speak Out members, including Mass. National Guard families, will remind Governor Romney that it was never part of the "bargain" for soldiers to be sent off to fight a war based on lies.

WHAT: Press Conference with Mass. National Guard and other Massachusetts military families

WHERE: Grand Staircase, Massachusetts State House, Beacon St. at Park St., Boston, Mass.

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17

WHO: Rose Gonzalez of Somerville whose mother is a member of the Mass. National Guard serving in Iraq; Anne Sapp of Billerica whose husband is a member of the Mass. National Guard and on his way home from Iraq; Nina Douglas of Jamaica Plain whose stepson is a Marine serving his second tour of duty in Iraq; Kevin Lucey of Belchertown whose son Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine Reservist, served in Iraq in 2003, suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and took his own life on June 22, 2004; Carlos and Melida Arredondo of Roslindale, father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo who served with the Marines in Iraq and was killed in action on Aug. 25, 2004; and Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, co-founders of Military Families Speak Out and parents of a Marine who served in Iraq in 2003 and is now in the Individual Ready Reserves, eligible for re-deployment.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) began in November, 2002 with two military families speaking out to prevent a U.S. invasion of Iraq. The membership of MFSO now includes over 2,600 military families speaking out to support the troops, bring them home now, take care of them when they get here, and prevent troops from ever again being sent to an unjustifiable war.

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