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For Immediate Release
May, 31 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Garett Reppenhagen, press@veteransforpeace.org, 719-235-7030
Veterans Release Statement Titled, "Fuck War"
Veterans For Peace released a Memorial Day statement early this morning. The statement highlights how Memorial Day has become a holiday that glorifies U.S. militarism and ignores the true costs of war.
Veterans For Peace is a group of military veterans, family members and friends who seek to bring a different message to Memorial Day than the themes usually promoted by popular media, the government, and traditional veterans' organizations.
The statement begins:
We are tired of parades, memorials and pageantry.
SAINT LOUIS, MO
Veterans For Peace released a Memorial Day statement early this morning. The statement highlights how Memorial Day has become a holiday that glorifies U.S. militarism and ignores the true costs of war.
Veterans For Peace is a group of military veterans, family members and friends who seek to bring a different message to Memorial Day than the themes usually promoted by popular media, the government, and traditional veterans' organizations.
The statement begins:
We are tired of parades, memorials and pageantry.
Take back your "thank you for your service" and 50% off sales.
We want people to live without threats of U.S. bullets and bombs.
We remember the enormous loss of civilian life that is forgotten in today's memorials and hidden from view in the U.S. consciousness. America has no space on its calendar to memorialize these victims.
We grieve the loss of friends and the death of veterans unable to forget the tragedies and forgive themselves.
[READ ENTIRE STATEMENT]
"Memorial Day has always been a complicated holiday for me." explains Garett Reppenhagen, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace and OIF veteran. "It is a time to mourn the sacrifice of my grandfathers, father and friends that were lured into military service. I also acknowledge that our missions in the US military were often based on fraudulent causes, under conduct that was immoral and resulted in atrocious consequences to ourselves and the communities we destroyed. When overwhelmed with the tragedy and loss of violent militarism I can only express myself in the simplest of statements, FUCK WAR."
Interviews available upon request
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.
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