Click hereAbout MFSO Oregon
Published by steve October 12th, 2008 in Blog
MFSO Oregon is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of people who have relatives or loved ones in the military and are opposed to the continued occupation of Iraq.
If you would like to help out with a donation, please click here.
MFSO was formed in November of 2002 and has contacts with military families throughout the United States, and in countries around the world. National membership currently includes over 3,000 military families, with new families joining daily.
MFSO Oregon started as it’s own organization in November 2004 as it was evident the war and occupation was continuing with no exit strategy and that Oregon families needed support and a way to speak out against the war in a safe and protected environment.
MFSO Goals:
- Provide support to families of soldiers.
- Speak out against the war and ensure the voices of families are heard.
- Educate the public on the impacts of war on soldiers and families.
- Engage in advocacy in the community and with elected officials for an exit strategy and proper care for troops returning from the occupation in Iraq.
Vet Centers Need Our Help
Published by steve October 12th, 2008 in BlogHelping our Veterans
We can be a part of doing something to help those that have served their country and are facing difficult times. Throughout the State of Oregon all the Veteran Outreach sites need supplies for our homeless Vets and those that need assistance to keep a roof over their heads.
Klamath Falls has dozens and dozens of homeless Vets living in the woods as they are not allowed to live on the streets in town. Bend reports that 70% of their homeless Vets are employed full time. There is a group of 6 Vets living in a homeless camp, they work all week for minimum wage and on the weekends they are building houses for Habitat for Humanity—the house they are currently working on is for a single Mom Veteran.
Taking care of our Veterans is something that we can all be involved with. It was distressing to talk with each agency and find that there aren’t enough needed items at any location. Each agency has hundreds of Veterans that they are trying to help. It is an overwhelming task.
Oregon has lost over 100 soldiers in combat in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and thousands more have been seriously injured and/or suffer from PTSD. 153 Oregon Veterans, of all ages and from various wars, have committed suicide. The motto of the Wounded Warrior Project is “The greatest casualty is being forgotten.” Continue here to find out how to help and where agencies are located near you (Bend, Eugene, Grants Pass, Portland, Salem, La Grande, Roseburg, Klamath Falls, North Coast) Continue reading ‘Vet Centers Need Our Help’
Monthly Support Group
Published by michael June 14th, 2008 in Blog, eventsSupport group meets Saturday, January 3rd, from 1:00 - 3:00
Call Linda Marshall for information about the support group at (503) 617-0997 or email Suzi Sutherlin-Martin at jmartin906@aol.com. The regular monthly support group meets the first Saturday of each month at the UCC Frog Pond Church in Wilsonville. This is a wonderful, supportive group of parents and spouses who have family members now, or recently, serving in the armed forces — many now deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a place to share stories, fears and worries, but also laughter and hugs. Please join us!
For google map directions to the church, click here.
At this Saturday’s meeting we will be collecting non-perishable food and baby products (diapers, baby food, wipes) for donation to the Portland and Salem Vet Centers. Please bring your contributions!
One mother wrote this about the meetings…
Yesterday was the meeting of the “Military Families Speak Out” support group I attend once a month. There weren’t very many of us this month — just 5 parents, three with sons in the Army and two with sons in the Marines, sitting around a table in a church fellowship hall. We started out talking about a hearing in our state legislature. The hearing was on a resolution calling for bringing our troops home from Iraq.
Some of us testified about our sons at the hearing. Their stories vary. They patrol streets and disarm bombs in Iraq. Continue reading ‘Monthly Support Group’
December MFSO-Oregon Newsletter
Published by steve December 2nd, 2008 in BlogMFSO’s October Newsletter has articles about MFSO’s efforts to help veterans, including outreach to Ft. Lewis. Click here for December ‘08 Newsletter (Newsletters are .pdf files, viewable with Adobe Acrobat.)
What Does It Mean to “Support the Troops”?
Published by steve September 15th, 2008 in BlogClick here to watch the movie. Produced by 2007 Northwest Institute for Social Change fellows, “Yellow Ribbons” asks what it really means to support the troops, especially in light of the unseen psychological wounds that these brave men and women regularly experience. Does “supporting the troops” as simple as putting a bumper sticker on your car, or is it something more? For more information about NWISC, visit www.nwisc.com
Sanctuary Weekend for Wives of Combat Vets
Published by steve September 7th, 2008 in BlogFOR MORE INFO, CONTACT: Stacy Bannerman 541-646-0220
Sanctuary One at Double Oak Farm (formerly the Oregon Animal Sanctuary in Medford, OR) will launch a series of Sanctuary Weekends for veterans and military family members this fall. The first retreat is scheduled for October 23-26, and will provide an all-expenses-paid retreat for wives of combat veterans. These women are the main providers of nonprofessional care for the veteran, and are at particularly high risk for harm both physical and psychological the caregiver.
Among military spouses, 40% believed their mental health was hurt by their husband’s or wife’s service overseas, according to a recent survey by the American Psychiatric Association.
The retreat is co-facilitated by military wives and family members, and will include: outdoor activities at the 55-acre Double Oak Farm in the Applegate Valley; lodging at the Applegate River House; a chance to meet, connect with, and learn from other wives of combat veterans; yoga and meditation with Tina Tonkin of The Chi Room; and more.
The Sanctuary Weekend is an innovative, grassroots, community-based retreat that will provide respite, eco-therapy, and peer support to improve stress management, and promote healing and wellness in a nurturing, supportive environment.
For more information, please call: Stacey at 541-646-0220
Exposure to Asbestos in the Military
Published by steve August 25th, 2008 in BlogThere are a number of health-related issues facing veterans, as well as current military personnel, including healthcare coverage, post-traumatic stress, and a need for ongoing rehabilitation after an injury. There is another issue, however, that veterans and their families may not consider, and that is the possibility of exposure to asbestos while serving our country. Why is asbestos exposure a pressing issue? Previous exposure to this toxin is the only confirmed cause of pleural mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that attacks the lungs and presently does not have a cure. Continue reading ‘Exposure to Asbestos in the Military’
MFSO - Oregon asks Governor to Keep National Guard Troops Home
Published by steve August 22nd, 2008 in BlogMFSO-Oregon Joins National Effort to Challenge Federalization of National Guards
MFSO-Oregon has joined with a network of peace groups to introduce legislation that questions the authority of the federal government to use National Guard troops in a war that was not authorized by Congress. We have sent the following letter to the Governor.
Governor Kulongoski:
We are concerned urban and rural Oregonians, military families, veterans, workers, and people of faith writing you regarding the ongoing federalization of Oregon’s National Guard.
We were encouraged to read your statement in the August 3 Oregonian regarding the upcoming planned deployment of 3500 Oregon Guard members to Iraq next summer. We agree with you that “Everybody is worried about the continual deployment of the Guard… I think sometimes we’re asking too much of these kids and their families.”
We are writing to you because we believe Oregon’s elected representatives have the power to decline to send the Guard overseas to military actions that are not lawfully authorized by Congress. We are working together in Oregon and in conjunction with the “Bring the Guard Home–It’s the Law” network nationally to actively call for the National Guard to remain here in the US for its intended purposes.
Legislation has been introduced in Vermont, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania to give Governors the authority to challenge federalization. We have been working with members of the Oregon Legislature to create similar legislation here. We have attached a copy of the proposed resolution/legislation.
The heart of the legislation would: (a) limit the use of Oregon’s National Guard to wars that are constitutionally authorized “pursuant to a congressional declaration of war or resolution”; (b) give Oregon’s Attorney General the authority to defend decisions regarding federal deployment of the Guard; and (c) clarify the intent of this law is that Oregon’s government, not the Oregon Guard members, will make this decision. Continue reading ‘MFSO - Oregon asks Governor to Keep National Guard Troops Home’
MFSO Billboards
Published by steve June 20th, 2008 in BlogOur “Public Service” billboards are going up around Portland!
So far we have three. This one’s at NW Front Street and 17th. While MFSO is able to get billboard space fairly cheaply, it still costs a lot to produce and install them. Please help us get out our important message! click here to donate
MFSO Mother Shares Her Experience
Published by steve June 19th, 2008 in BlogHello, my name is Adele Kubein, I am a member of the advisory board of
Military Families Speak Out and the mother of a permanently disabled
Iraq veteran.
I have been invited here tonight to speak about the cost of the Iraq
war. Who pays this price? The simple answer is all of us, but some
more than others. I can rattle off monthly figures for the financial
cost of war (over three billion), and the numbers of American soldiers
killed (almost 4100), as well as the estimated number of dead Iraqi
civilians, (somewhere between 100,000 and 600,000). But when one
focuses on the particular, the cost becomes horrifying. As a mother I
cannot escape the particular and neither can the other members of
MFSO, nor the people of Iraq. Numbers cannot chill the soul the same
way my soul was chilled when I sat in a darkened hotel room and
listened to my daughter recount what it was like to clean her friend?s
brains and body parts out of a humvee. Continue reading ‘MFSO Mother Shares Her Experience’
