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News :: Peace |
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Veterans and Families Speak Out April 1 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ricky Baldwin
Email: baldwinricky (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!)
Phone: 217-328-3037
Address: 801 E California Av, Urbana 61801 |
30 Mar 2004
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Mother of soldier and former U of I student killed in Iraq joins local veterans in anti-war forum Thursday April 1 at 7PM in the Champaign Public Library Auditorium.
“George Bush killed my son,” she told reporters at the service. |
(Champaign) Rosemary Dietz Slavenas, whose son Brian was killed in a helicopter crash outside Fallujah in November, will be speaking at an anti-war forum this Thursday, April 1 at 7PM, in the Champaign Public Library Auditorium, 505 S. Randolph St., Champaign. Brian Slavenas was a recent graduate of the University of Illinois and a helicopter pilot.
Rosemary Slavenas, a resident of Rockford, Illinois, and a member of the De Kalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice, made national news recently when she spoke out against the war at her son Brian’s funeral service.
“George Bush killed my son,” she said.
At Brian’s service, Rosemary did not allow a military honor guard, the US flag traditionally draped over a dead soldier’s coffin, or the presentation of her son’s Bronze Star and Purple Heart. She says her son was opposed to the invasion of Iraq, as she is, because it was an illegitimate use of American military might -- and based on lies.
“They lied to us about what it was for,” she said. “We’re there for Halliburton and greed and domination, and we’ve sent our children into the gates of hell to fight for that. That’s what it was. Literally, the gates of hell.”
The Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE) organized the speaking event and is hosting Slavenas. Also speaking will be Joe Miller of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Paul King, a local veteran from Champaign. This event is free and open to the public.
Paul King served four years in the U.S. Army between 1988 and 1992 as a Russian Linguist. During this time he witnessed the dawn of Perestroika, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the U.S. invasion of Panama and, finally, the first Gulf invasion.
Joe Miller served in the U.S. Navy from 1961 to 1968, including duty connected to the National Security Agency. Upon discharge from the Navy in 1968, Miller says he “jumped into the antiwar movement,” eventually joining Vietnam Veterans Against the War in Chicago in 1970. He is currently one of the National Coordinators of VVAW. |
See also:
http://www.anti-war.net
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This work is in the public domain |
