North East Winter Soldier
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North East Winter Soldier
Saturday, October 4th, Rochester, New York
Monroe Community College
Building 4 (Theater) 12pm - 7pm
http://www.rochesterIVAW.org
Along with the testimony of numerous members from Iraq Veterans Against the War, we will have a number of amazing speakers from around the country such as:
* Tod Ensign - Director of Citizen Soldier and author of "America's Military Today: The Challenge of Militarism"
* Michael Schwartz - Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook Universiy and author of the forthcoming book, "War Without End: The Iraq War in Context"
* Elliot Adams - National President of Veterans For Peace, former paratrooper in the infantry serving in Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and Alaska.
....and more to come!!
The inspiration for this event came from an article written by, in our opinion, one the best journalists in the world, Dahr Jamail on the Winter Soldier event put on by the Seattle chapter of IVAW and many local organizations.:
http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=12941
The purpose of North East Winter Soldier is first and foremost to put the voices of those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan front and center. Their voices and their testimony stand as one of the strongest indictments of this illegal war and occupation. But it goes beyond that, we want to grow the veterans antiwar movement and the domestic antiwar movement. To this end, after hearing the testimony we will march out of the venue toward a VA outpatient center to demand better healthcare for vets and soldiers.
Together, we are both stronger, and together we can end this war, in soldiarity with those in Iraq who want their country back. The planning and running of North East Winter Soldier needs to include as many local groups as possible and intends to be a model of democratic collaboration.
For those who missed IVAW's National event in March, Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan featured testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground. In addition, panels of scholars, veterans, journalists, and other specialists gave context to the testimony. These panels covered everything from the history of the GI resistance movement to the fight for veterans' health benefits and support. Watch testimony at IVAW.org and Blip.tv
If you haven't heard yet, our IVAW chapter is producing a bi-monthly podcast with a rotating cast of characters. Check out http://www.rochesterIVAW.org
