Veterans For Peace: Veterans Group Admonishes Members of Gathering of Eagles
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2007
1:44 PM
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CONTACT: Veterans For Peace
Michael T. McPhearson (314) 303-8874
Elliott Adams (518) 441-2697
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Veterans Group Admonishes Members of Gathering of Eagles and Pledges Full Support for Gold Star Father
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NEW YORK, NY - October 9 – On 09/15/07, near the end of a peace march to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq in Washington DC, Carlos Arredondo, a Gold Star Father who loss his Marine son in Iraq, pulled behind him a rolling memorial dedicated to his son. The solemn memorial consisted of a flag draped coffin, boots, poster sized pictures of the Marine, a Massachusetts Gold Star license plate and a copy of a street sign that the City of Boston named after the fallen Marine. Carlos’ son Lance Cpl Alexander Scott Arredondo from Boston was killed on 08/25/04.
As Carlos passed a group of pro war protesters who call themselves the Gathering of Eagles, one of the “eagles” ripped a secured picture off the memorial. When Carlos went to retrieve the picture, he was assaulted by five or six people standing with the group. According to many witnesses on the scene, he was then kicked repeatedly until the police showed up.
The man who grabbed the picture, Fred Peterson, wrote that when he "saw the photo-image of a proud young Marine in dress blues being held hostage in company not of his own choosing and affixed to a coffin not his own...I liberated his image from the midst of the hostile crowd." His account of the incident can be read on a Gathering of Eagles web forum page http://gatheringofeagles.org/forum?forum=3&topic=1002&page=1 .
National Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, Michael McPhearson commented, “This incident is an example of how the invasion and occupation of Iraq is tearing our nation apart. I am disappointed that some people who support the war and say they support the troops have forgotten that the troops serve to protect ideals like freedom of speech. It is one thing to disagree with each other. It is all together different thing to physically attack a person with whom you disagree. To deface a memorial created by anyone is wrong, but to vandalize a memorial made by a parent of the fallen is an outrage. Those who attacked Mr. Arredondo should be held accountable and he and his family should be given an apology immediately.”
Elliott Adams, National President of Veteran For Peace commented, “Veterans For Peace has been working closely with and in support of Military and Gold Star Families. We understand that not all military families agree with our position against the war. But that does not change our respect for them as people who make huge sacrifices everyday. They hold a special place of honor whether they agree with us or not. We ask that those who support the war also remember to honor Military and Gold Star Families who disagree with them. Carlos Arredondo and his family have the full support of VFP.”
In September Carlos Arredondo was in DC meeting with elected officials, attending press conferences and hearings related to the war in Iraq and displaying the memorial of his son. He sets up the memorial and often steps aside. Arredondo watches and states that "Many people want to find out more information on what they are seeing. That's when I introduce myself, tell them about Alex and give them a copy of one of the letters that Alex wrote while he was deployed." "
Carlos travels throughout the United States in an effort to make sure that the citizens of the US do not forget Alex and the costs of war. "I don't want my son to simply be a statistic. I want people to know who he was" states Arredondo.
For more information, please visit www.veteransforpeace.org
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