Military Families Speak Out

From an MFSO Member in Missouri

Fri, 02 Sep 2005

My 23 year-old daughter is enlisted in the USAF. She spent last summerin Iraq.one of her duties was to pick-up the bodies from the morg and pack the body bags (and baggies ) in ice and into foam coolers to be flowen out of Iraq. None of those wooden coffins drapped in flags left Iraq, you know the ones our president does't want us to see. I support my soldier, she did her part.

War in Iraq creates a disconnect in paradise

Thu, 01 Sep 2005

My husband is active duty Army, currently stationed in Iraq. Regardless of his assurances, I am oh so scared he might not make it home. Our two young grandchildren would lose a beloved grandpa.

A Message from Gold Star Mother Mary Ann MacCombie

Thu, 11 Aug 2005

"Ryan was in the wrong place. Iraq. At the time of Ryan�s death, he had been �temporarily� stationed in and around Baghdad for over a year. At the time of Ryan�s death, the original and subsequent reasons President Bush had given for invading Iraq had long since been invalidated."

Not counted as a casualty of war

Tue, 28 Jun 2005

By Joyce & Kevin Lucey. "Their son, Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, served in the Marine Reserves in Iraq in 2003. He came home neither safe nor sound. He suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and took his own life on June 22, 2004. His name is not in the Department of Defenses' roster of those who died in this war; yet Cpl. Lucey is a casualty of this war as much as any who has lost his or her life on the battlefield. This is their thoughts after watching President speak at Fort Bragg on June 28, 2005."

The real state of the union

Mon, 14 Feb 2005

By Celeste Zappala. "MY SON Dante and I watched the State of the Union with the sound low, trying to discern some truth amidst the choreography of clapping and fawning."

Why My Brother Died

Fri, 14 Jan 2005

By Dante Zappala. " This week, the White House announced, with little fanfare, that the two-year search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had finally ended, and it acknowledged that no such weapons existed there at the time of the U.S. invasion in 2003."

A Parent's Concerns

Fri, 03 Dec 2004

By Kathryn D. Struck. "They stayed at Fort Hood two extra weeks to receive the proper training from their own Iowa Guard officers (not from anyone at Ft. Hood), and then flew to Afghanistan, where they were ordered to 'stay put in Bagram until the body armor arrives.' And they did. And it finally arrived. I was prepared to purchase this 'Composite 3' armor for my son, no matter what the expense. Thank-you, Wolf Blitzer for bringing that issue up on the news and embarrassing the army into getting more body armor passed out in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Juxtaposition of Lives

Sat, 20 Nov 2004

By Unknown. "Thoughts swing from an Army son whose life is in danger every second, to planning nourishing meals that are compatible with a breastfeeding Mom�s diet, to figuring out how to balance the household needs on Greenview with those of the new-baby home on Newcastle."

The Flag-Draped Coffins

Sun, 14 Mar 2004

"On March 14, 2004, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Veterans for Peace and other organizations joined together at the gates of Dover Air Force Base. The delegation from MFSO included five families who have lost loved ones in Iraq. At the gates of Dover AFB we thanked the service men and women who so carefully and tenderly accompany, receive and honor our loved ones when they return."

"We, the relatives of the Florida National Guard soldiers..."

Fri, 12 Sep 2003

This is a letter from several military parents in South Florida who are speaking out against the ongoing war in Iraq. The letter was originally written in Spanish. English translation included.

Houston Military Family Member Speaks Out

Fri, 28 Feb 2003

By Anne Bayerkohler. "I will not talk about how David's life has changed since the war started or how different he is now that he came home, how he is someone's son, grandson, brother, uncle, friend, and husband, and how we are all afraid he wouldn't make it back home. I will not tell that story because those stories are everywhere and you have heard them all before. In fact, we are the lucky ones, because at least he came back alive, on an airplane instead of in a body bag."

On February 20, 2004 for a birthday gift all I could give my son was a grave marker

By Lila Lipscomb. "Feburary 20, 1977 my son came through me into this world, for such a short time, taken away because of "One man's War", on February 20, 2004 for a birthday gift all I could give my son was a grave marker."

On the first anniversary of the death of his son Jesus in Iraq

By Fernando Suarez del Solar. English & Spanish translations.

When I see the blood of my beloved son

This poem was written by Rosemarie Dietz Slavenas, whose son First Lt. Brian Slavenas was killed in Iraq on November 2, 2003 when the Chinook helicopter he was piloting was shot down in Falluja.

A Nation Rocked to Sleep

A Poem by Carly Sheehan.