NY Veterans Speak Out profile picture

NY Veterans Speak Out

Anti-War Vietnam Veteran, Counter-Recruiter ... and Retired NYC Dean West Side HS

About Me

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NY Veterans Speak Out... Against War. We are veterans from different wars and eras whose goal is to educate high school students about Peace and the pain of war. I recently retired as a high school dean in NYC and currently am working within the system to secure medical help and support for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

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Untitled Document Untitled Document The 1st photo in my pics: Hafez Tomb in Shiraz, Iran... with college students that are working for change but are oppressed by their president and live in fear of our president! BTW- Cold Play, U-2 and Taking Back Sunday most popular groups and Tupac highly esteemed. Everyone has access to bootleg cable... they watch BBC, CNN and MTV. There are two great short videos of my trip to Iran on the "My Favorite Videos" under "My Videos"

My Websites:
http://www.veteransforpeaceny.org
....a quick connect to veterans groups in the NY area including the Iraq War + info on PTSD and D-U poisoning..... In our site we reach out to Vets who need counseling, connect veterans with contacts and services, list up-to- date notices from the VA and other organizations that may be of interest to veterans and, most importantly, attempt to educate young people about the reality of war... that it is the result of incompetent politicians placing corporate profits and control of international resources over the lives of the humanity of other nations and of our own soldiers.AND http://www.teentalkny.org ... a TV and radio production program for students from West Side HS and GED sites in the 5 boroughs. Teen Talk is devoted to giving a meaningful and powerful radio/media voice to NYC's 'at risk' youth. All of our students are from the NYC Alternative Schools Superintendency and attend one of over 25 alternative schools or sites. Teen Talk Productions is sponsored by West Side High School(WSHS), Career Education Center (CEC) and Off Site Educational Services(OES) which also are the schools from where the 12 Teen Talk interns come from.



My Interests

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The Peace Movement.... Untitled Document Untitled Document Veterans For Peace :
http://www.veteransforpeace.org
is a national organization founded in 1985. It is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, MO and comprised of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members. There is an annual convention each year attended by our members, families and supporters from across the nation. Members receive periodic VFP publications.
The organization includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations including from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current Iraq wars as well as other conflicts. Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary.
Veterans For Peace is an official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the UN.

Whether or not you wish to participate in chapter activities, please consider becoming a Veterans For Peace member. As an organization, we are what our members make us. You can be part of that effort. Help us put an end to war.

We draw on our personal experiences and perspectives gained as veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war - and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives.

Some major areas of concern and involvement are:

WAR IN IRAQ:

http://www.ivaw.org
When our government threatened invasion, we conducted public forums, met with elected representatives and participated in marches to express our opposition. As the war began, we gathered in Washington, DC, with other veterans groups for Operation Dire Distress. Since then, we joined together with Military Families Speak Out and others in the Bring Them Home Now campaign and supported recently returned vets who formed the Iraq Veterans Against the War. Local chapters continue to conduct educational forums, demonstrations and ongoing Iraq memorial displays, such as Arlington West, to remember the growing human cost of the war, to end the occupation and to bring our troops hone now!

AND AT HOME:
Members and chapters actively participate in efforts to save VA healthcare and defend of veterans rights; to protect our civil liberties threatened by the Patriot Act; and other repressive legislation; to provide counseling through the GI Rights Hotline to active duty military needing assistance; and providing alternative information to counter military recruiters in the schools.

VIETNAM:
VFP has worked with other Vietnam veterans to bring medical supplies, help build clinics, hospitals, and schools, advocate for Agent Orange victims and promote reconciliation and friendship between our two countries and peoples.

SOA WATCH:
Each year VFP members from across the country go to Fort Benning, Georgia, to demonstrate for the closing of the Army's infamous School of the Americas, a training center for thousands of soldiers from repressive regimes in Latin America with long records of human rights abuses.

KOREA:
After revelations of the massacres of civilians by American soldiers during the Korean War, we sent several fact-finding delegations to investigate these allegations and bring the hidden history of that war before the public. Today we continue to work for an end to that conflict through our Korea Peace Campaign.

VIEQUES:
Along with other veteran and community groups, we actively supported the people of Puerto Rico in their struggle to end the US Navy's six decades of bombing and shelling on the island municipality of Vieques. We continue to support current efforts for cleaning up the environment and return of the land to the people of Vieques.

COLOMBIA:
VFP sent fact-finding delegations to this violence-torn land and educated U.S. citizens to the US military involvement, the murder of union leaders by para-militaries and other human rights abuses, including the harmful effects of chemical defoliants used in the "war on drugs".

CENTRAL AMERICA:
In the 1980s, we opposed US sponsored wars and continue to support people struggling for their rights and dignity. We regularly send election observers to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador in support of justice and peace. Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985, as a non-profit 501c3 educational organization and recognized as a United Nations Non-Governmental Organization in 1990. Chapters and members are active in communities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. National conventions are held annually and members communicate through quarterly newsletters as well as daily list-serve news, on line discussions groups and the national and many chapter websites.

The Adirondacks....
Adirondack State Park - 6 Million Acres.
Adirondack Forest Preserve - 2.3 Million Acres.
8,000 Sq. miles of mountains.
2,000 miles of foot trails.
240 lean-tos.
35 state campsites.
200 lakes at least a square mile area.
Over 2,300 lakes and ponds.
There are over 2,000 high peak mountains.
There are over 46 high peak mountains over 4,000 feet.
The highest peak is Mount Marcy at 5,344 feet.
There are over 50 species of animals.
Over 220 Birds. Over 30 species of reptiles and amphibians.
66 species of fish.
1,500 miles of rivers.
30,000 miles of brooks and streams.

Teaching kids take control of their education...

my Golden Retrievers....

and always my family!

I'd like to meet:

Untitled Document Progressive Educators.... Anti-War Veterans (especially from Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan.... Persons that are working to change the cycle of poverty and racism in our society....

Music:

Untitled Document CS&N .... Neil Young.... Pink Floyd.... The Dead.... Dixie Chicks.... Derek And The Dominoes.... Old School Rock ... Funk.... Taj Mahal.... Stevie Goodman.... Joe Cocker.... Leon Russell.... Tupac.... John Fahey

Heroes:

Edward A. Reynolds, Gandhi, JFK, MLK, Mohammed Ali, Jimmy Carter, Young People that return from Iraq and work to help their brothers and sisters, Conrad Lynn, Jan Scruggs, Charles MacMathias, Saul Alinsky, Jonathan Demme, Frances Pratt, Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger

My Blog

NYC Area HS Visits 2006=07 by NY Veterans Speak Out

Because Military Recruiters have complete access to many NYC area high schools, we visit and speak in classes and at assemblies to discuss the facts that recruiters often leave out. Our speakers are n...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:05:00 PST

TV Drama Gets it Right: Gitmo, Torture and Human Rights

Watch this excellent courtroom scene from "Boston Legal"... with Alan Shore http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/11/boston-legals-alan- shore-on-gitmo/ In Peace, Jim Murphy:  www.veteransforpeace...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Fri, 11 May 2007 02:16:00 PST

An Estimated 200,000 U.S. War Veterans Are Homeless

CBS) Hassam Elgoarany knows the price of war. He fought in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, where a sniper's bullet took his best friend. "His head got blown off  I get nightmares about that," said...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:24:00 PST

10 Lies (Some) Recruiters tell Applicants : Rod Powers

Top 10 Lies (Some) Recruiters Tell Applicants 1. Your chances of being sent to a combat zone are slim. Truth: This depends primarily upon (1) your branch of service and (2) your military job. For t...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:51:00 PST

Aimee Allison: Reasons Not To Join The Military

You May Face DiscriminationA Chapter From 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Militaryby Aimee AllisonAntioch, California ..> ..>The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book, 10 Ex...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:32:00 PST

Young Women: Read This Before You Enlist!

The Private War Of Women Soldiershttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/07/women_i n_military/?source=newsletterMany female soldiers say they are sexually assaulted by their male comrades and can't ...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:00:00 PST

For NYC Area Teachers and Students

http://www.veteransforpeaceny.org NY Veterans Speak Out... Against War We feel that the local Peace Action Groups found in the communities of the U.S. are the backbone of this Anti-War Movement. We ar...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Tue, 12 Dec 2006 01:54:00 PST

DEP Delayed Enlistment Program

When a high school senior signs up for delayed enlistment, usually with the Marine Corps or the Army, the recruiters make sure that the young person does not realize that they can change their minds. ...
Posted by NY Veterans Speak Out on Tue, 12 Dec 2006 10:58:00 PST