BOSTON, MA -- February 28 -- On Tuesday March 1, town meetings across Vermont will discuss resolutions calling for the withdrawal of U.S. military from Iraq and the provision of humanitarian assistance to Iraq. They further call on the Vermont Legislature to set up a commission to study impacts of National Guard deployments on soldiers, families, communities and the state. These resolutions were initiated by a coalition of groups in Vermont that includes Vermont Military Families Speak Out –- a group of families with loved ones in the military, including the Vermont National Guard. The resolutions point to the erroneous claims that were used to take the U.S. into this war. They also point to the substantial costs of the deployment of the Vermont National Guard, including deaths, injuries and trauma for the troops, as well as hardships on families and employers. According to the group Military Families Speak Out, Vermont communities have been placed at risk due to the deployment of essential public safety personnel. Extended deployments in a war that should never have been fought leave Vermont without its full contingent of troops in times of emergency or natural disaster and also threaten the long-term viability of the Vermont National Guard as enlistment and re-enlistment rates decline, the group said.

Members of Vermont Military Families Speak Out have joined with The American Friends Service Committee -– Vermont Program, the Vermont Network on Iraq Resolutions and others to urge Vermont voters to pass this resolution.

Available for Interview:

The following Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) members from Vermont are available for interview. Also available are the co-founders of Military Families Speak Out, who can speak about other state-based campaigns focusing on the deployment of National Guard troops. This list of Vermont MFSO members is in formation. For interviews, contact Ryan Fletcher, 202-641-0277, or Nancy Lessin, 617-320-5301, or Charley Richardson, 508-277-9466.

Vermont Military Families Speak Out Members:

• Nancy Brown of Rochester, Vt., whose son served in Iraq from January 2004 through February 2005 with the Vermont National Guard.
  
• Colleen McLaughlin of Burlington, Vt., whose son served in Iraq from January 2004 through February 2005 with the Vermont National Guard.
  
• Nancy Robinson of Richmond, Vt., whose son serves in the Vermont National Guard and may deploy to Iraq in the future.

Co-founders of Military Families Speak Out:

• Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, of Boston, Mass., whose son Joe, in the U.S. Marine Corps, served in Iraq in spring 2003. They co-founded Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) in November 2002 along with one other military family. MFSO currently has a membership of over 2,000 military families across the U.S., in Puerto Rico and living on bases in several other countries.

###