Voices for Peace

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact Nancy Goebner
E-mail: grdnpeach [at] aol.com
VFP_101 [at] yahoogroups.com
Telephone: 408-386-9260

Veterans For Peace National Organization:
Phone: (314) 725-6005
E-mail: vfp [at] igc.org
Website (http://www.veteransforpeace.org)



The exhibit, "Voices for Peace," is on display at the Berryessa Branch of the San Jose Library, 3311 Noble Ave., San Jose. Sponsored by Silicon Valley Chapter 101 of Veterans for Peace, Inc. (VFP), the exhibit is a fascinating compilation of quotes from former U.S. presidents and generals, as well as Major General Smedley D. Butler, the most highly-decorated Marine in U.S. history.

The exhibit was compiled by veterans Ed Hart and Tony van Renterghen. "An exhibit like this serves as a good counter-point" (to the current high-pressure military recruiting taking place in local schools), says van Renterghen, "there can be no question of the patriotism, courage and wisdom of the people quoted here."

"We've had wonderfully positive reactions to it," says veteran Don Olson. "We even got an email from a tourist in San Diego thanking us for doing this and wanting a copy of the quotes."

Some quotes are surprising. From George Washington: "My first wish is to see War, this plague to mankind, banished from this earth."; and, Theodore Roosevelt: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Marvin van Houten, WWII veteran and VFP member says, "It shows many of our national leaders saw the futilty of war as an answer to problems...or terrorism." Van Houten hopes the exhibit will help "to get more people involved in the anti-war movement."


Dr. Donald Trent Jacobs, recipient of this year's Moral Courage Award from Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, is a former helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam. He feels such exhibits are valuable reality checks: "Those who think a soldier's work is glamorous have never been a soldier."

The exhibit will be on display at the Berryessa Branch Library through October 7, 2004. Reception time with opportunity to discuss issues with Veterans for Peace members may be scheduled.

Veterans for Peace, Inc. (VFP) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational and humanitarian organization dedicated to the abolishment of war.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others
(a) Toward increasing public awareness of the costs of war.
(b) To restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
(c) To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
(d) To seek justice for veterans and victims of war
(e) To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.

We urge all people who share this vision to join us.







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