3/14: Welcome Home Event for Stephen Funk 3-9 PM
Stephen Funk is a Marine reservist who is one of the few GIs who have publicly spoken out against the war. He was the first to be prosecuted for refusing to fight. Funk spent 6 months in a military prison for going AWOL for 46 days while he was filling out a conscientious objector discharge request. About his refusal to fight in this endless war, Funk said, "In the face of this unjust war based on deception by our leaders, I could not remain silent. I spoke out so that others in the military would realize that they also have a choice and a duty to resist immoral and illegitimate orders. You don't have to be cog in the machinery of war... I wanted those who may be thinking about enlisting to hear and learn from my experiences."
Meanwhile, the military budget for recruiting is over 2.4 billion dollars per year, giving nearly 40 million dollars in advertising to Nascar alone. Much of the recruiting budget is aimed at high school students. There are 110,000 fresh troops being deployed to Iraq today. At least two GIs have taken refuge in Canada, and many more are expressing outrage at the war.