Military Families join Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.

Less than a week after VT posted Sign the Petition for Operation Recovery – STOP deploying injured troops!, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) has joined Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) in helping to promote this effort.

ROBERT L. HANAFIN, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, U.S. Civil Service-Retired, Veterans Issues Editor, VT News Network, Member Military Families Speak Out – Ohio

Dear Members and Supporters of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO),

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) have always been an organization MFSO remains proud to support, and proud to call our allies. They are about to launch their first strategic campaign – Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.

As military families, we know this story well. We have seen our loved ones sent back to war without adequate care for physical or mental injuries –  care that they needed and deserved. Because of our stories, we can play a vital role in this campaign.

Right now, MFSO seeks a few people who can speak directly to the issue of redeployment of troops that are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

If you, or a family member, are willing to write a short account of your story (anonymous or not), or be interviewed about this issue, please contact National Organizer Nikki Morse ASAP at nikki@mfso.org.

In addition, MFSO, and our supporters, can play a role by filling out the IVAW Pledge of Support. They have a goal of reaching 2,000 pledges by October 7 when they publically announce their campaign.

(If you are in the DC area and might be interested in participating in their campaign launch, let us know this as well.) In the coming months MFSO will be identifying additional ways to help build this campaign. Signing the pledge is the first way you can be part of it.

More information about the campaign, as well as the link to the Pledge, are found below. Please help build support for this vital campaign! Let us know you want to be involved, and if you have personal stories about this important issue.

Please also forward this email to your friends, particularly other military families.

In peace and solidarity,

Nikki Morse, Organizer Military Families Speak Out   nikki@mfso.org 347-703-0570 (cell) www.mfso.org www.mfsotribute.org

(Below is the latest email from Iraq Veterans Against the War about the campaign) Dear Supporters,

On October 7, the 9th anniversary of the Afghanistan invasion, Iraq Veterans Against the War will announce our first-ever strategic campaign, Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.  As a loyal supporter, we are letting you know about our plans before we make them public.

Join our campaign now by making a Pledge of Support.

Thousands of troops are being sent to war despite suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Military Sexual Trauma (MST).  Many of us within IVAW have faced or are currently facing deployment as we try to recover from the severe trauma we have already experienced.

While we recognize that we must stop the deployment of all soldiers in order to end the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, we see the deployment of soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and Military Sexual Trauma as particularly cruel, inhumane, and dangerous.  Military commanders across all branches are pushing service members far past human limits for the sake of ‘combat readiness.’  We cannot allow those commanders to continue to ignore the welfare of their troops who are, after all, human beings.

Because you are a trusted supporter, we are asking you to make a commitment to help us end this systemic abuse of GIs’ right to heal, which only furthers the cycle of dehumanization and destruction of these wars.

Sign the Pledge today.

By signing this pledge of support, you can stand with us in solidarity and affirm:

Service members have the right to heal.
Because the military is desperate for warm bodies in the field, and the VA doesn’t have the resources to serve all those in need, too often service members are conveniently denied care or access to quality mental health screenings.  We say, service members with PTSD, TBI, MST, and combat stress have the right to high quality health care.  They have the right to seek care and pursue treatments in the best interest of their health and well-being.

Service members have the right to receive medical care and advice from medical professionals.
A commander’s orders always supersede the opinion of military medical professionals when it comes to the well-being of our troops.  We say, no military authority shall override the advice of medical professionals regarding the health of service members.

Service members who experience PTSD, TBI, MST, and combat stress have the right to exit the traumatic situation and receive immediate support, and compensation. Too often, service members are forced to redeploy back into dangerous combat, or train in situations that re-traumatize them.  We say, individuals suffering from trauma have the right to remove themselves from the source of the trauma. Service members who are not physically or mentally healthy shall not be forced to deploy or continue service.

We will support service members standing up for their right to heal, and we will stand against those responsible for violating them.

Will you stand with us?  Sign the Pledge today.

We know that without the repeated use of traumatized soldiers on the battlefield, the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan could not continue.

Those responsible for the deployment of traumatized soldiers will do everything they can to hide the truth, but through our Operation Recovery campaign, IVAW is prepared to make demands and back them up with collective action.

For the past nine months, we have been developing this campaign.  In the coming weeks, we will let you know of specific ways to get involved.

Start today by signing the Pledge of Support.

We can’t do this without you.

Sincerely,

The Campaign Team

Robert L. Hanafin

Readers are more than welcome to use the articles I’ve posted on Veterans Today, I’ve had to take a break from VT as Veterans Issues and Peace Activism Editor and staff writer due to personal medical reasons in our military family that take away too much time needed to properly express future stories or respond to readers in a timely manner.

My association with VT since its founding in 2004 has been a very rewarding experience for me.

Retired from both the Air Force and Civil Service. Went in the regular Army at 17 during Vietnam (1968), stayed in the Army Reserve to complete my eight year commitment in 1976. Served in Air Defense Artillery, and a Mechanized Infantry Division (4MID) at Fort Carson, Co. Used the GI Bill to go to college, worked full time at the VA, and non-scholarship Air Force 2-Year ROTC program for prior service military. Commissioned in the Air Force in 1977. Served as a Military Intelligence Officer from 1977 to 1994. Upon retirement I entered retail drugstore management training with Safeway Drugs Stores in California. Retail Sales Management was not my cup of tea, so I applied my former U.S. Civil Service status with the VA to get my foot in the door at the Justice Department, and later Department of the Navy retiring with disability from the Civil Service in 2000.

I’ve been with Veterans Today since the site originated. I’m now on the Editorial Board. I was also on the Editorial Board of Our Troops News Ladder another progressive leaning Veterans and Military Family news clearing house.

I remain married for over 45 years. I am both a Vietnam Era and Gulf War Veteran. I served on Okinawa and Fort Carson, Colorado during Vietnam and in the Office of the Air Force Inspector General at Norton AFB, CA during Desert Storm. I retired from the Air Force in 1994 having worked on the Air Staff and Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.