All Hands on Deck: a Letter From the Veterans’ Boat on the Gaza Flotilla

Nine of us veterans arrived in Barcelona on August 27. We were mostly strangers meeting for the first time, with a couple of exceptions. We began to bond immediately—which was fairly easy considering our common bonds of being veterans sailing for peace.

Two Marine veterans had served together with HMX-1, presidential helicopter. There are two combat veterans. And then there’s me. That’s all that’s left as of today, as four veterans have had to leave the boat for a variety of reasons, including the inherent delays associated with the historical size of the flotilla.

In Barcelona, our days were full of training protocols; preparing travel documentation and our “SOS videos” for our anticipated illegal kidnapping. We also had time for bonding, and we took advantage of the luxury of eating out.

The send-off from 10,000 beautiful people in Barcelona was such a heart-filling experience, it’s difficult to limit to words. Only to be outdone at Carthage by the compassionate people of Tunisia—a crowd of 20,000 from all over the country. And now in Bizerte, Tunisia, hundreds still remain on shore, allowing their support to be felt by just a glance.

As veterans we know that the war machine runs on the deaths of innocent Indigenous people all for the glory of the almighty dollar, which is the only God the war pigs serve.

We have added a journalist from Mexico and one from Finland. We had also temporarily added another sailor to our crew, but his expertise was needed on another boat. He literally just left—change is constant, that’s for certain. We just got another participant from the Finnish delegation, so we are back at 12. So we’re set with our final manifest, we’re told.

Our medic—who is an expat living in Norway, was a combat medic in Ukraine and a musician-artist and former orthodox priest.

Boat life is never dull, and there’s seemingly always necessary chores to be done. From cooking to cleaning to sail and boat repairs to man-overboard drills, drone and interdiction drills, and multiple meetings a day. Being in port and on still waters makes boat life easier. But added chores like refilling our food, water, and fuel supplies try to offset that advantage.

For our first leg of the voyage, the seas were pretty rough; almost everyone was sea sick with exception of the captain. Three of us got IV’s in Carthage. I was treated in a Tunisian hospital and was told the government would foot the bill.

We are leaving port today [Sunday, September 14]; at least the sailboats are. A Zionist-owned yacht bribed port officials yesterday and took the fuel we intended to use for our fleet.

There are variations on how long it will take to get to Gaza—from 10-14 days. So likely the 24-28 of September.

I’d like to add that this isn’t about us, but about our innocent human siblings being slaughtered in Gaza. And that’s exactly what we’re pleading for—ALL EYES ON GAZA as the Axis of Evil is expediting their ethnic cleansing that has been intensified these last two years on the tail end of 77 years of apartheid, occupation, and murder. As veterans we know that the war machine runs on the deaths of innocent Indigenous people all for the glory of the almighty dollar, which is the only God the war pigs serve.

We need all hands on deck. This is not a drill. Humanity is literally at stake, in Gaza/Palestine and at home, in the states. As veterans, we’ve put our lives on the line for the Empire, it’s past time we do the same for humanity and ourselves.

“What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now! And if we don’t get it. SHUT IT DOWN.” It’s not just a chant. It’s a creed. We shut the war machine down now, or we perish.

There’s much more to relay and convey. I’ll be posting more content routinely to social media for this last leg, and hopefully the seas will cooperate (check out @veteransforpeace on Instagram).

All my best,

Phil Tottenham
9/15/2025

P.S. All the boats from Tunisia and Barcelona have met up and are setting sail for Gaza. We will be meeting up with the fleets from Italy and Greece on our way. We should be somewhere around 40 boats.