About Face: Veterans Against the War
UPDATE: Almost 900 Veterans have signed
this open letter and we are receiving messages from dozens of troops
looking to refuse orders or know their options if they get them. If you
would like help spread the message, you can find printable fliers and
posters, graphics and other resources at our website
aboutfaceveterans.org. Share on social media, distribute them or post
them up where they can be seen!
Attention Members of the National Guard,
We write you as fellow veterans and service
members with full knowledge of what's at stake as many of you are being
asked to mobilize against civilians in your own country. As your
neighbors fill the streets demanding the justice this country promised
them, your command is undoubtedly telling you that you're being
activated in service to your community. And yet, it is your community
members who fill the streets, while your Commander in Chief tweets
about using you to murder people over something as insignificant as
property damage.
A moral choice lies before you. As veterans who
have faced similar tests of conscience, only to realize too late that
we chose wrong, we cannot stress enough the impact this decision will
have on the rest of your life. We all took an oath to defend the
country from enemies foreign and domestic. Are Black protesters the
enemy of this country? Today you have to decide whether you are loyal
to the values you swore to uphold or to the commanders who would order
you to turn on your neighbors for demanding justice. You cannot be
loyal to both.
We know that it is your intention to be of service
and prevent more harm, but we urge you to remember the deadly legacy of
the National Guard enacting violence against protesters -- Watts in
1965, Kent State in 1970, Los Angeles in 1992, and many other examples
in recent history.
The military is designed to be lethal, not to
de-escalate.
We urge you to have the courage to do the right
thing. Refuse activation orders.
No amount of property is worth a single human
life. Are you really prepared to carry out the violence President Trump
threatened against Minnesotans and others? We ask that you stand up for
Black lives by standing down. We know the consequences you may face for
disobeying orders. Many of us have faced them ourselves. And many of us
live with the consequences of following orders we shouldn't have, and
can tell you that the cost of moral injury is far greater.
There is a long legacy of troops choosing what's
right over what's ordered. You are not alone in your convictions. To
discuss your rights and the options available to you, contact the GI
Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487. You can also connect with veterans
ready to support you as peers and stand with you in your decision by
emailing support@aboutfaceveterans.com.
Very respectfully,
About Face: Veterans Against the War
and the undersigned
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 21 - June 13, 2020
Article Link:
About Face: Veterans Against the War
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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