VETERANS FOR PEACE, CORVALLIS
Minutes 27 October 2008
I. Introductions of those attending: Leah Bolger (president), Del Shirley (scribe), Paul Daghlian, Bryan Puckett, Bob Stebbins, Bob Winget, Bart Bolger, Rebecca Michelson, John Gaylord, Phil Scott, Lyle Jincks, Karen Winget, George Hutchinson.
II. Administration
Treasurers Report Net gain of $500 since the first of the year. Set aside designated funds include-- $724 for the legal defense fund and signature fund leaves us a usable balance of $760, We spent $36 for the VFP flag to give to the new Roseburg Chapter. We contributed $50 to the Portland Winter Soldier event. This gives $1284 balance.
Decided: to purchase Soldiers of Conscience DVD for $85.
Website –Phil Scott is webmaster. If you have ideas about what you want to see on the website let Leah or Phil know. We discussed using a counter on the site.
Membership list—It will be updated by Leah to include new members and she will send them out to the membership. Member data is not posted on our web site.
Vote for VFP Board members. Discussion re getting ballots turned in revealed not all VFP members had gotten ballots. Associate members do not get ballots.
III. Actions/events status and debrief
Southern Poverty Law Center Journal (web site)-- Bart referenced an article about the American Legion and how far they are to the right on immigration and other issues. Bob Stebbins pointed out that the Legion is strong on veteran’s issues.
Keep the Guard Home Campaign Has close to 5000 signatures. Del is to call Andy Olson to see if he will support the campaign. Dick Olsen and Sara Gelser are onboard.
Rally--March 15 in Salem peace groups will work together to rally on Sunday and then lobby on Monday. Currently the draft resolution is being reviewed by legal experts, who are also consulting other states who have already introduced legislation. Legislation will be introduced in January with a big press event. Leah distributed a copy of state wide supporters.
Oregonian article re deployment of Guard-- August 3rd issue of the Oregonian reports Gov. Ted Kulingoski expresses concern about the deployment.
VFP National supports the campaign nation wide and Leah is working to get other chapters involved.
Quarter sheets--were distributed with a list of things we can do to help the campaign and contains website with more information. Efforts are needed in the rural areas.
Second Saturday Concert—September. It benefited the homeless shelter and $500 was raised. The Corvallis Mayor attended. The musicians were homeless people.
Peace and Pizza had about a dozen people who showed up. The lady with the numbers was there (guess who?)
Democracy Days. Bart, the 3 Bobs, plus Karen helped. This is where they met Lyle Jincks who is attending tonight. A lot of contacts were made. We got a bunch of signatures on the Campaign sheets. Vets asked for and received information on how to get their benefits.
George Mann concert. Only 8 or 10 people attended.
Winter Soldier NW (we sent $50 to support it) Those going included: Rebecca, Bryan, Bob Winget, Leah, Benji Lewis was there on the first panel. Leah spoke on the Campaign. The March event is written up in a book which Leah has a copy of and will loan out. Also Letters from Abu Graib is a short compilation of a conscientious objector’s e-mails he sent while assigned as an interrogator in Iraq.
IV. Future actions/events
Homecoming Parade. (1 Nov)--We did not apply because there seemed to be little commitment to do it.
Veterans’ Day Parade. (11 Nov)-- Bob Stebbins will refurbish his float to fit the theme. The application has been sent in with the blurb describing our our organizantion and Leah, using her bullhorn will read it if the announcer doesn’t. The theme is “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.” Leah ordered 500 cost of war cards to hand out during parade. We talked about replacing it with an Armistice Day event/parade in Corvallis but no-one stepped forward to take it on.
Corvallis Community Christmas Parade. (28 Nov) 7pm. Traditionally we turn out and carry our lighted banner.
Kathy Kelly visit. --She started Voices in the Wilderness. She has made about 24 trips to Iraq since 1996, been jailed for planting corn near a missle site and more. Leah met her in Minneapolis. She will fly in to Eugene Nov 6 to talk to the Tax Resistor’s Union and Leah will bring her to the Congregational Church for a 7pm presentation “Eyewitness to War, Witness for Peace” and the next day will also have her talk to high school classes. We will host a potluck dinner for her either at the Congregational Church (if available) or Bob Stebbins’ house (if not). Bob will check with his church for an available room, a first choice. Spouses and best buddies are welcome to the 5:30 meal.
PTSD presentation. Albany Peace Seekers has organized the presentation, “Invisible Wounds of War” at 4pm Wednesday November 19. Leah will send us details and the location.
National Guard Reach Out-- Bryan’s wife, Rebecca, and Adele Kubein are planning to make up goodie bags with enclosed DVD “Sir, No Sir” and contact information about how we can support them. It will provide information for Guard about what we are doing. It is part of a national group intended to show support for Guard members.
Peace and Justice Coalition—meets on the Fourth Sunday of each month.
Josh Hough forum--.Friends of Middleast Peace are hosting a series of panel discussions entitled “Obstacles to Peace.” The first will be held November 16th.
Youth scholarships. A youth from the Peace on Earth Club organized and sent out a request for funds to send kids to Portland for a one-day Peace conference. She raised enough for 20 kids to go.
School of the Americas opposition. Joan Noyce and Aleita Hass-Holcomb are making the annual trip to protest the School of Americas at Fort Benning Georgia.
Gifts for a better world is opening November 8 at the Congregational Church in Corvallis. It is a good place to purchase Christmas gifts.
V. Action Team reports
Counter-Military Recruitment—(John Griffiths, Bob Stebbins, Rebecca Michelson) Emphasis is high school truth in recruitment. Peace signs on decals and buttons might be picked up better than literature that appears boring to students. We need more people to help with counter recruitment.
Crescent Valley (CV) -- Bob Stebbins is going to CV along with Rebecca and Roger Weaver
Corvallis High School (CHS)--Aleita is coordinating CHS. Rebecca offered to help Aleita. Students related well to Benji Lewis.
Philomath High School (PHS)--(Bob W. Bob S. Rebecca, Bart) Expansion to Philomath has been slow. Bob Stebbins has delivered materials. Bob has talked to the principal and the principal asked to see the materials we would be handing out. Rebecca is going to call Aleita to clarify what the law says about our presence in the schools.
Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC)--Lyle Jincks and Bryan Puckett will work to get something going at LBCC
Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—(not discussed, Dianne not present)
State legislation for testing
Federal legislation
PTSD—Public educational forum—Albany Peace Seekers (covered above)
Homeless Shelter—Will be at the West Side Community Church. Starts November 15 and goes to the15th of March.
Training Saturday November 1st John G. will go. It is from 10 to 12 at Benton County Health Center
VFP week to staff shelter.-- 6th to 12th of December is being considered. Each group takes Saturday through Friday. Need 3 people per day, 2 for the evening and one to sleep over.
Volunteers to staff. We discussed how we might be able to recruit from some of the churches to help VFP cover the week. The Mennonites have been most helpful.
Veterans’ Affairs—Bart reported that a draft set of recommendations resulting from the Governor’s Task Force on Vets Affairs has been wrapped up & sent to the governor.
Resistance—Rebecca reported that Benji Lews has been recalled to active duty, but intends to refuse deployment orders. The Winter Soldier event in Portland was amazing. Ehren Watada had 3 charges dropped because he could not be retried on them and 2 remain. Robin Long has been moved from Colorado Springs to Nevada but currently his mailing address is unknown. James Burmiester is supposed to be out of custody at the end of November. Suzanne Swift is doing fine, doing her job, and being left alone.
Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord (see Peace & Pizza, above)
Numbers—Bob Winget requested the numbers on Leah’s tape be recorded in the minutes: 4188 U.S. soldiers and 1,273,378 Iraqi civilians have died.
Quilts being made for family members of soldiers that have been killed. Organization called “Home of the Brave” makes quilts with Civil War design. It is a nation wide organization.
VI. Wrap-up
Important Dates
Daily, 5:00 to 6:00 pm—Corvallis Peace Vigil, Benton County Courthouse
Fridays, 4:30 pm--Albany Peace Vigil, Linn County Courthouse
Sat, 1 Nov, 10:00 am to Noon—Homeless Shelter training session, Benton County Health Department
Sat, 1 Nov, 1:00 pm—OSU Homecoming Parade
Thu, 6 Nov, 7:00 pm—Kathy Kelly presentation, United Church of Christ, West Hills Road, Corvallis
Tue, 11 Nov—Veterans’ Day Parade, Albany
Wed, 19 Nov, 4:00 pm—PTSD presentation “Invisible Wounds of War,” Albany
Sat, 22 Nov, 6:00 to 8:00 pm—Second Saturdays (on the 4th Saturday ), Sunnyside Up Café
Sun, 23 Nov, time TBD, Willamette Peace and Justice Coalition meeting
Mon, 24 Nov, 7:00 pm—Next monthly VFP chapter meeting
Minutes—22 September 2008
I. Introductions: Phil Scott, Leah Bolger (president), Bart Bolger, Dianne Safford, Todd Allen, Esmeralda Allen, John Gaylord, Bob Stebbins, Bob Winget, Joe Magner, Del Shirley (scribe).
II. Administration *Welcome Chapter 929 members from Eugene: Hank Dizney, Jim Schmidt. They are trying to get their own chapter going and are welcome to come to our meetings in the meantime.
*Rogue Valley Chapter 156, located in Grants Pass, was given their Charter at the recent VFP Convention. Decided to spend $30 for VFP Flag to give this new chapter.
*Treasurers Report $600 in liquid funds. Other funds are designated with $1350 total in the bank. Leah’s Parking for Peace brought in $20. $45 was expended for our website renewal.
*T-shirts—we have 40 or so remaining and they are selling for $15 each. They can be viewed on the VFP web site.
*Website—Two new entries--the event calendar of important dates and pictures of the VFP convention. Thanks to Phil Scott.
*National Dues: Chapter will pay for any members that cannot keep up on their National dues—just speak to her privately. It is important to keep membership dues up.
III. Actions/events status and debrief *Peace and Justice Coalition (Peace, Justice & Environment Project): The guy setting up websites is doing it for free. All the members of the coalition will get websites for each state. Leah is helping find contact information about projects to be added. (see PJEP.org or WAnet.org)
*Keep the Guard Home Campaign : Leah collected sheets from members with 50+ signatures tonight. We can download more blank copies at the Peace and Justice Works web site. Phil put the link on the website. They will be delivered to the Legislature when they reconvene in January, 2009. It is suggested--when you go to meetings like candidate forums, take signing sheets. We want to show that all the people of Oregon support keeping the Guard home.
*Million Doors for Peace—Del Shirley, Bob Stebbins, Bob Winget, Bob Sonn, and Leah Bolger collected signatures.
*VFP National Convention – Leah put her report on the website.
Leah is on the ballot for national Board of Directors. She would like us to vote for her. Eight people are running for 4 spots with 3 incumbents.
We discussed the preemptive raids and demonstrations at the RNC. Eight people were charged with felony terrorism and their charges have not been dropped. Non-violent actions are resulting in terrorism charges.
*Last Second Saturday Event--James Burmeister is in jail and was the beneficiary of the September Second Saturday Concert. Next event will feature homeless musicians and the beneficiary will be the drop-in center.
*Conference Call by National to discuss new emphasis on Afghanistan (tomorrow evening)
IV. Future actions/events
*Democracy Days—LBCC (14-15 October) VFP is invited to set up a table. A lot of LBCB students are veterans. Joe Magner suggested the students need to develop a veterans group that is non political. Volunteers to do a shift are John Gaylord, Bart Bolger, and Phil Scott.
*George Mann concert (22 October at 7pm. Odd Fellows Hall has been reserved. He was here in July and is coming again (promoting his latest CD, Farwell to the Thief)
*Homecoming Parade—The plan is to walk and carry the VFP banner. Saturday, November 1. Volunteers to march: Esmeralda Allen, Bob Stebbins and Leah Bolger, Decided to authorize the $15 entry fee.
*Veterans (day) Commemorative Parade Tuesday 11 November— This is the last year that the VCA (Veterans Commemoration Association) will put on the parade. Leah suggested that perhaps the city of Corvallis might want to take over this parade and reclaim it as an “Armistice day parade” –a celebration of peace. The theme this year is “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.” Last year they did not read out our 5-7 lines to describe who we were. This year if they don’t read what Leah sends in, she will use her bullhorn and read it for them. They ask us for money but don’t explain why they don’t read our full statement. Bob Winget suggested doing some kind of non-violent action in front of review stand. Joe suggested by doing a float that is controversial and it gets attention. A small committee was suggested. Decided: Cost of War cards (with VFP purpose on the other side) will be distributed along the parade and if they don’t read our entry statement like it is written, Leah will read it and we will stand with her. *Hotline—GI rights hotline for active duty vets –It is a civil rights program for active duty personnel. It would give advice specific for Oregon.
*Action Team reports
--Counter-Military Recruitment—Bob Stebbins (Bob Winget, Bob Sonn. Rebecca, Bart Bolger, Lindsay Rahmun, Bobbi Hall, and Aleita Hass-Holcomb are potential and active helpers.)
*Expand to Philomath. October 1 names can be submitted and thus is the deadline for submitting Opt Out forms. Aleta H-H might go to Philomath. Bart Bolger and Bob Winget will help. There is a woman that works at Philomath HS that would like to help. *Corvallis HS – we think it is covered.
*Crescent Valley HS --Bob Stebbins and Bobbi Hall. 12:35 At CV, (4th Thursday). If anyone is interested they can come on the 4th Thursday.
--Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—Dianne
*State legislation for DU testing.
*Federal legislation --There is a Bill to stop using cluster bombs.
--PTSD—Doug Clark and Bob Ross want to have a public educational forum proposed for around Veterans Day.
--Homelessness—Jim. Leah reported no additional info on the shelter *October Second Saturdays Concert
--Veterans’ Affairs—Bart --Resistance—Rebecca
--Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord *Social event -- Crowbar behind American Dream Pizza. All members of the peace and justice community are invited. We picked a date 3 weeks from tonight, which will be Monday the 13th of October from 6 to 8 for peace and pizza.
V. Wrap-up *Personal notes re our membership:
Oct 5-- 1pm service for Todd Allen’s son at the United Methodist Church.
Bob Winget’s brother died 3 weeks ago.
Joe Magner’s mom died 3 weeks ago.
Don Anderson—has been in the hospital with an infection and pain. He has the support an in house care giver. PTSD is also an issue. He is on the contact list
Important Dates
Daily, 5:00 to 6:00 pm—Corvallis Peace Vigil, Benton County Courthouse Fridays, 4:30 pm--Albany Peace Vigil, Linn County Courthouse Sep 28--Coalition meeting Oct 9, 6pm New student welcome at Westminister house. Oct 11--Second Saturday Concert Oct 13, 6pm—Peace & Pizza Tue, 14 Oct to Wed, 15 Oct—Democracy Days, LBCC, Albany (VFP Tabling) Wed, 22 Oct, 7:00 pm, George Mann Concert, Odd Fellows Hall. Mon, 27 Oct—7:00 pm, Next Chapter Meeting, Unitarian Fellowship.
Adjourned 9pm
VETERANS FOR PEACE, CORVALLIS Minutes—25 August 2008
I. Introductions: Todd Allen, Esmeralda Allen, Kurt Andrews, Bob Stebbins, Phil Scott, Bob Winget, Tina Empol, Joe Magner, John Griffiths, Del Shirley, Leah Bolger (presiding).
II. Administration
*Treasurers Report—Balances about the same as last month. $89 taken in and spent $46 .
$89 was taken in at the Bention County Fair on t-shirts & notecards, etc. $724 designated for legal offence, and the signature ad designated moneys. Designated funds for $541 we can spend.
*T-shirts Have some left over after the Fair and we will sell them whenever we have an opportunity.
Leah leaves tomorrow for the VFP Convention. Leah will purchase caps & t-shirts by our special order to save us postage by buying at the VFP convention. Leah took orders from members in attendance. She can take orders, even at the convention, by 541-207-7761 or e-mail <LeahBolger@comcast.net>
*Website—908-1243 call Phil for concerns about the web site, to get things on it, etc.
III. Actions/events status and debrief
*Peace and Justice Coalition Met last night, small turnout. Help get interest out on PTSD forum. Bob Ross & Doug Clark. Leah put an article in Albany DH about the Coalition.
DH
*Benton County Fair Peace Booth While we didn’t take in much money, we gathered 130 signatures on Keep the Guard Home Campaign (KTGHC) and talked with several youth about recruiting. Bob talked with out of uniform soldiers. Leah just sent in an additional 40 signatures.
*Keep the Guard Home Campaign is coming along and we have co-signed on a national resolution. 41 organizations are gathering signatures. All Blackhawk Helicopters will go and not come back so they would not be available for emergency evacuation, moving fire fighters. We are encouraged to contact our legislators. Question came up about if Guard is Federally funded and if so it would make it more difficult if the Legislature refused to deploy the Oregon Guard. When the Guard is not here we are without their help with local emergencies such as fires. Leah has, and distributed, petition forms. Petition signers must be Oregon residents but not registered voters. Petitions will be presented at the beginning of the legislative session in January 2009. We need to talk to State Legislators and others. www.pj.info is the website for more information and downloading petition forms.
IV. Future actions/events
*Million Doors for Peace-- Sept 20, a Saturday--Thousands will knock on millions of doors for peace and ask people to sign petitions and ask persons to sign anti-war petitions and get them involved with anti-war groups. Intent is to be a massive organized effort on this day. More info is forthcoming.
*International Day of Peace a United Nations event, Sunday, Sept 21, On Saturday UMC doing pinwheels for peace at the Benton County Courthouse, just before the Vigil. Ask churches to put something in church bulletins. Eugene is having a vigil. We discussed activities but the Coalition decided that there was not enough time to do something this year. We thought it best to do something like a well planned peace fair next year.
*Action Team reports
--Counter-Military Recruitment—John Griffiths, Bob Stebbins. No response on Philomath. Bob(s) will work on Philomath. Albany’s South and West High Schools are no longer giving ASVAB. Is ASVAB being given in Corvallis schools? Doug Clark is doing some counter recruitment at LBCC. Expand to Philomath Bob Stebbins will help organize. Bob Wingett, and Aleita H-H will approach Philomath.
*Robin Long—Leah—Back in the US and sentenced to 15 months. See Couragetoresist.org has names of those in jail, etc.
--Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—Dianne (no report)
*State legislation for testing
--PTSD—Don A.
*Public educational forum LBCC wants us to help put on a forum
--Homelessness—Jim. Have not located a shelter yet and still looking.
--Veterans’ Affairs—Bart—Leah reported no new info.
--Resistance—Rebecca Couragetoresist.org has names and addresses of all those in jail. A generic version of Leah’s letter could be put on the website.
--Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord (not present)
*Social event—John still wants to have a social event, such as a place like the American Dream Pizza.
V. Wrap-up
Important Dates
Daily, 5:00 to 6:00 pm—Corvallis Peace Vigil, Benton County Courthouse
Fridays, 4:30 pm--Albany Peace Vigil, Linn County Courthouse
28 through 31 August—VFP National Convention, Minneapolis
Thur, 11 Sep—3:00 to 5:00 pm, Nonviolence Rally, PSU. (note date) Free
Thur, 11 Sep—Sun, 14 Sep—Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference, PSU has Ann Wright. Kathy Kelly $225 fee. www.peacejusticestudies.org/conference/
Thur, 11 Sep—Sun, 14 Sep—Conference for Nonviolent Living, UofO Eugene “Living a More Peaceful Life.” www.peaceforceoregon.org
Sep 11—anaversery of Ghandi’s satyagraha
Tue, 16 Sep, 7:00 pm—Fr Roy Bourgeois presentation, First Methodist Church, 1376 Olive, EUGENE. He created the School of Americas Watch. Has been arrested many times. Leah will organize carpool.
Sat, 20 Sep—Million Doors for Peace Campaign
Sat, 20 Sep—Pinwheels for Peace. LoErna is organizing.
Sun, 21 Sep—International Day of Peace
Mon, 22 Sep—7:00 pm, Next Chapter Meeting, Unitarian Fellowship. (4th Monday) (Someone asked if she thought she would be out of jail by then.)
VI. Afterthoughts
--The Coalition wants to get locations of DVDs & Books. Send info to Leah and she is recording titles, authors, who has it.etc. She is making the list and it will be put on the Chapter web site. Owners will retain possession of the media.
--Leah is running for National VFP Board of directors.
--Richard Dancliff—Bob Stebbins will contact Richard about peace judging. Peace Action Council would be a good group to do the work, VFP will be a contributing sponsor, Leah and Bob will bring it up.
Del Shirley, scribe.
VETERANS FOR PEACE, CORVALLIS Minutes of 28 July 2008 meeting
I. Introductions (present)
Bob Stebbins, George Hutchinson, Jim Spain, Bob Winget, Karen Winget, Esmeralda Allen, Todd Allen, Dianne Safford, Bart Bolger, Leah Bolger, Del Shirley (scribe)
II. Administration
*Treasurers Report $1224 Balance. $500 approximately liquid cash. $340 spent for 36 t-shirts that will be sold for $15. Contributed to WITO and Benton Co fair. We made a donation towards the repair of Carlos Arrandondo’s truck (He lost his son in Iraq and travels around protesting the War.)
*T-shirt order—36 ordered.
*Website--Check out the website Phil has worked over—VFPCorvallis.org--. Also go to Yahoo.com and search Groups & search VFP Corvallis. The site has a calendar. Discussion ensued about how these sites might facilitate getting information to the membership. We decided to continue having Leah forward info as she has been doing.
III. Actions/events status and debrief
*Dept of Peace Resolution -- Corvallis City Council endorsed by 5-3 the Department of Peace Resolution.
*Peace and Justice Coalition -- 20 to 25 groups have identified a delegate to attend. Leah is encouraged.
*FOR Conference -- Leah did session on VFP, sold cards, t-shirts. Leah made contacts/did networking. Rebecca Michelson did a session on Counter Recruitment.
*George Mann—Bart went to hear the labor activist George Mann and saw the movie he made about Julius Margolin. 25-30 people attended and contributions were good. This event was sponsored by VFP.
*WITO – Iraqi mom and 3 kids arrive on Wednesday. The boy is blind. Because of the blind child, services to the family may extend beyond the normal 6 months. Fundraising is going well. The apartment is coming along well. They need a 2 child stroller. Children’s toys, bedding are also needed.
IV. Future actions/events
*Benton County Fair Peace Booth--Starts Wednesday. Tuesday, tomorrow, at 2pm is setup time. Members welcome to help. Bobbie is managing the cash box. She has passes and parking passes. All shifts are covered. Help is needed to take down Sunday at 7pm. VFP paid for about half the cost. Alternatives to War and several other groups are supporting. There will be a counter recruitment emphasis. We will sell the note cards and t-shirts for $15, 8 assorted cards for $5, also the peace flags for $8, and with a flag and t-shirt you can have a “start a peace kit” for $20.
*Keep the Guard Home Campaign—we will be collecting petitions all summer and all winter. Leah is collecting the forms. Sara Gelser will be a co-sponsor of the legislation. Jason Brown, supports it. Richard Riggs is also in favor of it.
*www.militaryproject.org--We are encouraged to check it out. It is about civilian groups reaching out to support military people.
Announcements--
*There is a link between hatred and the war. A man entered a UU Church in Knoxville, killing 2 people and wounded others. Gretchen Woods, the local UU minister, reported on what is being done. UU trauma response ministers have gone to help. There is general concern about the safety of UU congregations. There will be a vigil service at UU Church at 6:30pm on Thursday.
*James Burmeister was convicted and given bad conduct discharge and 6 month sentence. We could help with employment and letters can be written to him asking what he needs if he decides to make his home here.
Leah will draft a letter to James Burmeister, from VFP, saying that if he decides to move to this area we would like to be of support.
*James (not Burmeister), an Iraqi vet, came to a concert in Miami and gave parachute cord bracelets for the 80 men that sang in the concert. He makes the bracelets in memory of those that didn’t make it. He has done 3 tours in Iraq and 21 years in the military. (Reported by Bob Winget)
*Action Team reports
--Counter-Military Recruitment—John Griffiths & Bob Stebbins. Bob & Aleita will visit the CHS principle as soon as Aleita comes back from vacation. Bob described how one on one talks with students are very effective. The 2nd and 4th Fridays the team meets in one of the 2 high schools for about one hour in each. Opt Out forms will also go to freshman students this year.
--Expand to Philomath -- Bob Sonn and Rebecca were excited about doing something last spring but have done nothing so far. The opt-out form needs to be in the student packet in August. Rebecca is in Europe right now. An appointment with the principal ASAP should be made very soon. Bob Winget (Philomath resident) will call Bob Sonn about getting this going.
--Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—Dianne
*State legislation for funding the more expensive of the two DU tests.—The cost is about $1,200 per DU test. The Urine Analysis DU test costs $200 but must be done within 2 weeks of exposure. We should press our legislators to make the use of DU and cluster bombs a war crime. Put testing on the agenda of the Governor’s Task Force for Veterans. The Commission is completing its work. Recommendations will be converted to legislation.
--PTSD—Don Anderson (not present).
*Public educational forum LBCC is interested in doing a large forum on PTSD. Doug Clark and Bob Ross represent the Institute for Peace and Justice which is a member of the new Coalition.
--Homeless shelter for non-abstinent homeless—Jim Spain-- Fraternity near the Methodist church parking lot on 13th and Monroe is being looked into. One of the former shelter residents, Richard aka “Cave Man” went through rehab and has been sober for about a year. Another example of another success story is another former client who dried up enough to get into Community Outreach.
--Veterans’ Affairs—Bart Bolger -- Don Johnson—Is our County Veterans Affairs Officer—758-1595— He is part of the State VA Program. His office is across the street from the Obama site on 4th Street.
--Resistance—Rebecca (not present).
*GI Rights Hotline cards –Leah has not received the Hotlines cards she was expecting on download from their website. Therefore Leah has made a business card and has put a variety of vet help hotline phone numbers on it. Leah will make them for any of us that want them.
--Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord (not present)
*Social event—Considering one in the fall that all the members of the Coalition would be invited to.
V. Wrap-up 8:25
Important Dates
Daily, 5:00 to 6:00 pm—Corvallis Peace Vigil, Benton County Courthouse
Fridays, 4:30 pm--Albany Peace Vigil, Linn County Courthouse
Mon, 25 Aug—7:00 pm, Next Chapter Meeting, Unitarian Fellowship
Wed, 30 Jul through Sun, 3 Aug—Benton County Fair Peace Booth
28 through 31 August—VFP National Convention, Minneapolis
VETERANS FOR PEACE, CORVALLIS Minutes—23 June 2008 7:30 at The Unitarian Church
I. Present:
Leah Bolger, Esmeralda & Todd Allen, Bob Stebbins, Del Shirley, Phil Scott, Joe Magner,II. Administration
*Treasurers Report— Total balance is a little over $2,000 but part of that is in designated funds. $724 is legal defense fund, $324 was for the signature ad we didn’t run, leaving approximately $1300 balance.
*T-shirt order— They would cost $9 and sell for $15 and we would use them as a fund raiser. We reviewed several designs. Decided: Approve the fundraiser. Discretion for design is left to Leah. She will order 36, to qualify for the quantity discount.
*BC Fair Peace Booth—. Booth will cost $225 and all but $75 has been collected. We decided to donate up to $100 toward the cost of the booth (from the $1300).
*Cards—Leah has made up cards making another item for sale. She has gotten a good response to them and has made them up in higher quality, putting 8 in a zip-lock bag and then sells them for $5.
III. Actions/events status and debrief
*Dept of Peace Resolution HR-808—On June 23, Corvallis City Council Legislative Committee recommended it be forwarded to City Council for consideration but without recommendation. July 7 at noon, the Corvallis City Council will take testimony. Leah recommends we talk to our City Counselors and ask them to lend their support.
*LBCC Community Activist Fair. Bart, Leah, & Karen Winget staffed a VFP table and a few people stopped by the table but the event was not well attended.
*Protest Hooley’s vote on May 15 about the war funding. A small group went. They talked with and aide. Darlene voted “no” on the most recent money vote.
*Peace and Justice Coalition. About a dozen came to the meeting Sunday afternoon and decided it was a good idea. Next step is to set an organizational meeting. Barbara Bull—may be trying to do the same thing. They meet at the Library on Wednesdays. Leah will get in touch with her to make sure the Coalition and Bull’s group are not doing parallel work.
*Ann Wright visit. 50 showed up.
IV. Future actions/events
*Benton County Fair Peace Booth—Bobbi Hall is coordinating. Esmeralda can take a night or weekend shift. Bob Stebbins is already signed up for the 30th.
*Keep the Guard Home Campaign. Leah passed out petitions. It is a movement to defederalize the Guard. The original authorization to federalize the troops was based on weapons of mass destruction and that authorization has now expired. Signatures will be presented to the Oregon Legislature this coming January. VFP members are encouraged to get signatures. All 12 Oregon National Guard Blackhawk Helicopters are in Iraq. Leah has been making contact with local state legislators. The legislation must be drafted and ready to go when the Legislature meets in January. Letters to the Editor saying a petition is being circulated will help call attention to the petitions—Leah will write one for the GT. We talked about having a petition table at Saturday Market and churches, etc. Copies of the petition were distributed to us at this meeting “Keep Oregon’s National Guard From Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.” VFP members were encouraged to copy them so that they might have more available if the one they got is filled.
*Fellowship Of Reconciliation conference at Seabeck—Leah has been asked to be a presenter on Veterans for Peace. She will have VFP items for sale.
* www.militaryproject.org. Someone contacted Leah through Facebook. It is a way civilians can reach out to military personnel.
*Action Team reports
--Counter-Military Recruitment—John Griffiths, Bob *Replacement for Jeanne Raymond. Bob Stebbins is interested in continuing the work next year and will work with Aleita Hass-Holcombe to coordinate with the new principal at Corvallis High School making sure that she understands “Opt Out”. Bob agreed to coordinate the staffing that Jeanne used to do.
*Expand to Philomath -- Rebecca Michelson is interested but her children are very young and she doesn’t have any highschool kids. Bob Stebbins to work with Philomath residents, especially contacting Bob Sonn. It is critical to get started soon because of registration this summer.
--Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—Dianne (Leah reported for Dianne)
*State legislation for testing -- If a soldier thinks he has been exposed to DU and asks the VA to be tested, the VA will conduct a test that costs approximately $200, but is only effective within 2 weeks of exposure. There is another, better test which will detect exposure after two weeks, but it costs something like $2,000 and you must pay for it yourself. Some are working to get their states to pay for the expensive tests. It is one way to”take care of the troops.” Leah has talked to Jason Brown (candidate for State House) about the possibility of state legislation to do this. Even if the legislation were not passed, at least it would help to educate the public about DU. Leah will contact Sera Gelser our State Representative – because Leah is knowledgeable about DU, what it is, how it is used, and the effects on soldiers and civilians. The weapons are illegal, like cluster bombs, under the Geneva Convention.
--PTSD—Don Anderson (Leah reported)
*Public educational forum -- Eddie Black travels around and gives presentations on symptoms. Would we want to bring Eddie here? He has a PowerPoint version of his talk and we will try and download it for review. Leah knows several psychotherapists that would be willing to help with a public forum. There is a PTSD group of 5 counselors that work out of the Methodist Church in Lebanon.
--Homelessness—Jim (Leah reported no current changes.)
--Veterans’ Affairs—Bart (taking care of sick dog)
*Governor’s Task Force -- Leah went to the meetings and talked about veterans issues. The Governor has appointed a task force of 27 people from different agencies and veterans groups. Tom Mann, State Veterans Affairs, was helpful in suggesting things to Leah that Bryan could do if he contacted the VA. Don Johnson, on 4th street is local Veteran Affairs person. Don Anderson just got his PTSD disability adjudicated. He has been suffering from PSTD since Viet Nam but his disability benefits are not retroactive so he lost nearly 40 years of benefits that could have been available to him. Persons in homeless shelters should be questioned and, if a veteran, be referred to Don Johnson.
--Resistance—Rebecca (Leah reported)
*GI Rights Hotline cards---Leah has not received the cards yet.
--Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord
*Social event -- After the coalition is formed it is planned to have the social event.
Meeting Adjourned
Important Dates
Daily, 5:00 to 6:00 pm—Corvallis Peace Vigil, Benton County Courthouse
Fridays, 4:30--Albany Peace Vigil, Linn County Courthouse, east side.
Sun, 29 Jun—1:00 pm, Protest to protect the homeless, EMU, (U of O campus), Eugene Police have been doing sweeps to get homeless out of sight while Olympic track and field trials are being held.
July 4--9:30am – March in the parade and wear VFP shirt & hat to have a presence. Bart will be home so the banner will be available. T-shirts and hats can be ordered now from VFP and they will arrive before the 4th
Wed, 16 Jul—7:00 pm, George Mann at Odd Fellows Hall. He will play his film about Julius and labor organizing.
Tue, 22 Jul—7:00 pm, World Criminal Court film (with Amnesty International), LoErna Simpson has a film and will co-sponsor the showing at the Corvallis Library.
Mon, 28 Jul—7:00 pm, Next Chapter Meeting, Unitarian Fellowship, in the Gallery Room.
Wed, 30 Jul through Sun, 3 Aug—Benton County Fair Peace Booth
28 through 31 August—VFP National Convention, Minneapolis
Del Shirley Scribe
VETERANS FOR PEACE
CORVALLIS CHAPTER 132
Minutes—26 May 2008 Convened 7:12
I. Introductions of members present
Bryan Puckett, Karen Winget, Bob Winget, Leah Bolger, Bart Bolger, Bob Stebbins, John Gaylord, Jim Spain, Joe Magner, Del Shirley.
II. Administration
*Treasurers Report: Balance is $1900, but that total includes money designated for legal defense and a signature ad. Total less set aside: $1258
--Help LA vet, Mubarak Raschid: DECISION: Send Mubarak $50
*Selling buttons—options discussed. DECISION: Give lapel buttons to new members and guest speakers.
*Albany Peace Seekers is giving a peace scholarship to a South Albany HS student. Shall we contribute to the APS scholarship? DECISION: Yes, $100.
We would like to make an award in Corvallis next year and can start planning for next year. We want to hear from APS about on what basis the award is made.
* Regular minutes-taker assignment given to Del Shirley
III. Actions/events status and debrief
*Loyalty Days parade Gordon Sturrock with his bus. 30-50 people from various peace groups attended plus the bus. VFP place assignment was #96 out of about 100. We were well received, getting and applause etc.
*Iraq War Flag Memorial on the OSU commons in front of the Valley Library. Passersby said thank you, OSU Democrats were the official sponsoring body and VFP did a majority of the work putting up and taking down. The Griffiths are appreciated for going to Ashland to pick them up and returning them—all 1,500 pounds. Next stop for the flags was capitol grounds in Sacramento.
*Winter Soldier Congressional hearings. The Progressive Congressional Caucus had 4 or 5 members (of the many that could have attended) hearing Winter Soldiers. DeFazio was not seen. It got a little press but the best part—Lynn Woolsey wants bring the soldiers before the full committee.
*Piece of the Pie action (Dept of Peace). VFP supports proposed legislation (HR 808) for the creation of a cabinet-level “Department of Peace.” If enacted, the D of P would receive 1% of defense budget. Corvallis City Council is will consider a resolution in support of HR 808, following a recommendation from their Legislative Committee. Leah Bolger will testify before this Committee next week.
*Freeway Blogging. Bob & Karen Winget and Bart & Leah Bolger held a banner on an I-5 overpass on Memorial Day. Originally they were on poles and now are hooked to the fence. VFP activists heard honking horns, & saw trucker’s thumbs up. We considered it very effective and appropriate wording for a Memorial Day activity (“Bring them home now!”) The sign can be seen on U-Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sReuqiEGyBU Thanks to Leah for organizing and making this happen.
*OSU ELI presentation. Joyce Bryan invited Leah to talk to her class.
IV. Future actions/events
*NW Winter Soldier Regional hearings in WA State. Ann Wright is on one of the panelists.
*June Second Saturday concert—Last concert this year. Proceeds will go toward bringing an Iraqi family to Corvallis (WITO). VFP is supporting this effort.
*Dept of Peace resolution (mentioned above)
*Protest Rep. Darlene Hooley She voted yes and should have voted no on the funding the war. She had promised Leah she would not vote on any more war funding. Now she will not give Leah an appointment. Leah would like to protest this Friday but doesn’t think it would be effective unless there are approximately 12 demonstrators. Leah will contact others to organize possible protest.
*Corvallis Peace Coalition. The intent is to combine forces on peace activities. It would operate like a council of peace groups with VFP being represented by Leah. The collective board would coordinate, share e-mail lists, develop an essay contest, etc. It would include groups like Raging Grannies, VFP, Beyond War, A2War, Churches. Lots of ideas were generated for how to make it work. DECISION: Leah will write letters to organizations and will be the contact with other groups.
*LBCC Community Activist Fair—VFP will man a table. Bart, Leah and Karen Winget will staff the table.
*Action Team reports
--Counter-Military Recruitment—Bob Stebbins has been going to CVHS. Unsure if there will be another session before the end of the school year.
--Depleted Uranium/Cluster Bombs—Dianne & Bryan Puckett. Obama doesn’t understand the question addressed to him was about DU munitions. We support putting pressure on legislators to stop the use of DU and cluster bombs. Bryan will talk to legislators about his DU poisoning. Lots of ideas expressed.
--PTSD—Bryan got a letter saying he doesn’t have PTSD.
--Homelessness men next winter—Jim said he has no new information since our last meeting.
--Veterans’ Affairs—Bart has nothing new to report. He did say that the New GI Bill is a success. IVAW did a lot of supporting work. The new legislation creates a GI bill similar to what was created after WWII.
--Resistance—We wrote cards to James Burmeister. There was a peace quote on one side and a personal note on the other. See the Courage to Resist web site http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
--Membership/Community Outreach—John Gaylord suggests planning a community social event at least a couple times a year and was encouraged to do so.
--Leah will make peace note cards.
