Call to Conscience from Veterans to Active Duty Troops and Reservists

Started December 6, 2002, signatures up to date as of January 9, 2003

We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in opposition to the United States’ all out war on Iraq. We span many wars and eras, have many political views and we all agree that this war is wrong. Many of us believed serving in the military was our duty, and our job was to defend this country. Our experiences in the military caused us to question much of what we were taught. Now we see our REAL duty is to encourage you as members of the U.S. armed forces to find out what you are being sent to fight and die for and what the consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We call upon you, the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience and do the right thing.

In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of thousands, including civilians. We remember the road to Basra—the Highway of Death—where we were ordered to kill fleeing Iraqis. We bulldozed trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left the battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today. One in four Gulf War veterans is disabled.

During the Vietnam War we were ordered to destroy Vietnam from the air and on the ground. At My Lai we massacred over 500 women, children and old men. This was not an aberration, it’s how we fought the war. We used Agent Orange on the enemy and then experienced first hand its effects. We know what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder looks, feels and tastes like because the ghosts of over two million men, women and children still haunt our dreams. More of us took our own lives after returning home than died in battle.

If you choose to participate in the invasion of Iraq you will be part of an occupying army. Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of a people that hate you to your core? You should think about what your “mission” really is. You are being sent to invade and occupy a people who, like you and me, are only trying to live their lives and raise their kids. They pose no threat to the United States even though they have a brutal dictator as their leader. Who is the U.S. to tell the Iraqi people how to run their country when many in the U.S. don’t even believe their own President was legally elected?

Saddam is being vilified for gassing his own people and trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. However, when Saddam committed his worst crimes the U.S. was supporting him. This support included providing the means to produce chemical and biological weapons. Contrast this with the horrendous results of the U.S. led economic sanctions. More than a million Iraqis, mainly children and infants, have died because of these sanctions. After having destroyed the entire infrastructure of their country including hospitals, electricity generators, and water treatment plants, the U.S. then, with the sanctions, stopped the import of goods, medicines, parts, and chemicals necessary to restore even the most basic necessities of life.

There is no honor in murder. This war is murder by another name. When, in an unjust war, an errant bomb dropped kills a mother and her child it is not “collateral damage,” it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a child dies of dysentery because a bomb damaged a sewage treatment plant, it is not “destroying enemy infrastructure,” it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a father dies of a heart attack because a bomb disrupted the phone lines so he could not call an ambulance, it is not “neutralizing command and control facilities,” it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a thousand poor farmer conscripts die in a trench defending a town they have lived in their whole lives, it is not victory, it is murder.

There will be veterans leading protests against this war on Iraq and your participation in it. During the Vietnam War thousands in Vietnam and in the U.S. refused to follow orders. Many resisted and rebelled. Many became conscientious objectors and others went to prison rather than bear arms against the so-called enemy. During the last Gulf War many GIs resisted in various ways and for many different reasons. Many of us came out of these wars and joined with the anti-war movement.

If the people of the world are ever to be free, there must come a time when being a citizen of the world takes precedence over being the soldier of a nation. Now is that time. When orders come to ship out, your response will profoundly impact the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and here at home. Your response will help set the course of our future. You will have choices all along the way. Your commanders want you to obey. We urge you to think. We urge you to make your choices based on your conscience. If you choose to resist, we will support you and stand with you because we have come to understand that our REAL duty is to the people of the world and to our common future.

RESOURCES:
If you have questions or doubts about your role in the military (for any reason) or in this war, help is available. Contact one of the organizations listed below. They can discuss your situation and concerns, give you information on your legal rights, and help you sort out your possible choices. (For information only, listed organizations are not responsible for this veterans' statement.)

For questions, or for discharge or other GI rights information, visit: www.girights.org or call: GI Rights Hotline: (800) FYI-95GI Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) (510) 465-1617 or (888) 231-2226, www.objector.org, info@objector.org

VETERAN SIGNERS
name, branch, years

Kelly A. Allison, Navy, 1975-1979
Ed Armas, Army, 1962-1965
Peter B. AShaw, Marine Corps, 1951-1954
Paul L. Atwood, Marine Corps, 1965-1966
Niall Aslen, Royal Air Force, 1962-1986
Aram Attarian II, Air Force, 1965-1966
Henry Ayre, Coast Guard, 1942-1945
Tarik Aziz, Army, 1970-1975
Collin Baber, Air Force, 1994-1998
Eric Bagai, Marine Corps, 1958-1961
David E Baker, Army, 1988-1991
George Batton, Marine Corps
Philip L. Bereano, USPHS, 1966-1970
Anton Black, Navy, 1977-1984
Dave Blalock, Army 1968-1971
Michael Blankschen, Army, 1972-1973
David Bledsoe, Air Force, 1987-1997
Louis Block, Army, 1966-1972
Blase Bonpane, Marine Corps Reserve, 1948-1950
Charlie Bonner, Marine Corps, 1963-1972
Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, Air Force, 1955-1959
Todd Boyle, Navy, 1970-1972
Horace R. Boykin, Marine Corps
William P. Brandt, Army
Don Broadwell, Marine Corps, 1960-1966
Roger W Brown, Marine Corps, 1957-1960
Greg Busby, Air Force, 1980-2000
Scott R. Cade, Army, 1968-1971
Rick Campos, Air Force, 1969-1971
William J. Cavanaugh, Army, 1951-1953; Army Reserve, 1953-1982
Neville Chamberlain, Army, 20 years
Fredy Champagne, Army, 1965-1966
Guy Chichester,USN 1952-1956
Gary A. Chipman, Army, 1970-1972
Elwood A. Chirrick, Navy, 1970-1972
Debra J. Clark, Army, 1976-1984
Rockney Compton, Army, 1967-1974
David Connolly, Army, 1967-1971
James Coty, Army, 1959-1962
Dave Coull, Scotland, British Royal Air Force,1959-1964
Davey Coull, Scotland SNP, 1939-1945
James M. Craven, Army, 1963-1966
Charlotte Critcher, Army, 1964-1971
Milton Cunningham, Navy 1943-1945
Candice Davis, Navy, 1974-1978
Carl Dix, Army, 1968-1972
Barry Donnan, British Army, 1987-1993
Pat Driscoll, Navy, 1972-1975
Kenneth Dugan, Navy, 1984-1988
John P. Echavarria, Air Force, 1965-1969
David Eldredge, Navy, 1953-1955
Jake Elkins, Marine Corps, 1965-1969
Marcus Eriksen, Marine Corps, 1985-1991
Orlando Espino, Marine Corps
Ed Everts, Air Force, 1941-1946
T. Patrick Foley, Navy, 1997-2000
David J. Fonda, Army, 1968-1971
Dr. Ray Foster, Army, 1972-1975
Lou Fox, Army, 1965
Dean Friend, Marine Corps, 1981-1985
India Mahdi Gamboa, Air Force, 1985-1987
Jim Gibson, Army, 1968-1970
Ernest Goitein, Army, 1943-1945
Jay R. Goodman, Army, 1969-1970
Todd Greenwood, Marine Corps, 1993-2001
Robert Charles Hamilton III, Navy, 1986-1990
John Hanscom, Air Force, 1968-1990
James F. Harrington, Air Force, 1966-1967
David Harris, Air Force, 1965-1967
Rev. Richard K. Heacock, Jr., Navy, 1944-1946
Glenn Helkenn, Army, 7 yrs
Dud Hendrick, Air Force, 1963-1967
Rodger Herbst, Army, 1969-1971
Andres Hernandez, Navy Reserve, 1979-1985
Steven A. Hessler, Air Force, 1973-1975
John Hockman, Army, 1963-1965
Walter Hrozenchik, Navy, 1951-1955
Allen L. Jasson, Australian Army, 1972-1974
Michael L. Job, Army, 1968-1970
Eric Edward Johansson, Army, 1989-1992
Eric Joyal, Army, 1989-1996
James Michael Kearney, Army, 1963-1965
Keith Keller, Air Force, 1966-1972
George M. Kesselring, Air Force, 1942-1963
Talat Khan, Air Force, 1986-1992
Ronald Knarr, Marines Corps, 1950-1952
Ron Kovic, Marine Corps, 1964-1968
Raymond Krauss, Marine Corps, 1969-1972
Robert Krezewinski, Navy, 1973-1977
Marty Kunz, Navy, 1970-1976
Krystal Kyer, Navy, 1993-1997
Michael Lawton, Navy, 1962-1965
John L. Levy, Naval Reserve, 1942-1946
Neal Liden, Navy, 1965-1969
Rela Mazali, Israel Defense Force, 1966-1968
Mark McCleary, Navy, 1996-2002
Bruce McFarland, Navy, 1982-1986
Ruth McKenney
Teresa Media, Navy, 1972-1977
Ronnie D. Miller, Army, 3 yrs
Jack Minassian, Army, 1943-1945
Rob Moitoza, Navy, 1965-1971
Michael Moore, Army, 1975-1979
Paul S. Moorhead, Navy, 1943-1946
Dale L. Morgan, Air Force, 1956-1960
David Rees Morgan, British Royal Air Force, 1948-1950
Catherine Morris, Marine Corps, 1981-85 & Army National Guard, 1989-96
Bryan Morrison, Air Force, 1994-1998
Paul Pat Morse, Air Force, 1965-1968
John L. Murray, Army, 1971-1973
Stan Nishimura, Army, 1964-1967
John L. Opperman, Navy, 1951-1970
John J. Pagoda, Air Force, 1965-1968 and 1985-1998
Todd A. Papasadero, Army, 1983-1989
John Pappademos, Naval Reserves, 1943-1946
Jeff Paterson, Marine Corps, 1986-1990
Wilson M. Powell, Air Force, 1950-1954
Erwin Rommel, Army, 22 yrs
Randy Rowland, Army, 1967-1970
Rodney A Rylander, Air Force, 1962-1967
Steven E. Saelzler, Army, 1969-1971
Lee Santa, Army, 1965-1968
William F. Santelmann, Jr., Marine Corps, Air Force Reserves, 1954-1957
Dan Scaarlett, Army, 1943-1945
Richard Hermann Schmidt, Navy, 1957-1960
Louis Anthony Schmittroth, Jr., Army, 1943-1956
Nikko Schoch, Army, 1968-1970
Betty R. Scott, Navy, 1943-1945
Vern Simula, Army, 1954-1956
Charles T. Smith, Army, 1969-1971
John Steinbach, Coast Guard, 1965-1969
Robert Stephens, Marine Corps, 1966-1970
Darnell S. Summers, Army, 1966-1970
Thomas Swift, Army, 1953-1955
Harold Taggart, Air Force, 1959-1964
Toby Tahja-Syrett, Army, 1992-1996
Bruce William Taylor, Navy, 10 years
Tom Trigg, Army, 1967-1975
Joe Urgo, Air Force, 1967-1968
Gerald Waite, Army, 1967-1982
Paul J. Walker, Air Force, 1974-1978
William H. Warrick III MD, Army Security Agency, 1968-1971
Eric Wasileski, Navy, 1993-1999
Joel Wendland, Army, 1991-1993
Tim White, Air Force, 1966-1970
David Wiggins MD, Army, Gulf War
John P. Wirtz, Army, 1943-1946
Mike Wong, Army, 1969-1975
Leonard Zablow, Army, 1945-1946
Luis Zamora, Army, 1948-1971
Howard Zinn, Air Force, 1943-1945
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4742—42nd Ave SW #142, Seattle, WA, 98116-4553
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Veterans Call to Conscience
(or VCC)
4742 42nd Ave SW #142, Seattle, WA, 98116-4553
Stmttotroops@excite.com
www.calltoconscience.net