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BEACON PHOTO/MARSHA MCLAUGHLIN
Making his stand — Vietnam veteran Jimmy Capp makes his position clear at a demonstration in 2006 on the corner of New York Avenue and Woodland Boulevard. Capp died in 2011.
By Jen Horton
posted Nov 14, 2012 - 10:56:53am
Nov. 11 is a day to honor the nation’s veterans. But it wasn’t always.
From 1938 to 1954, Nov. 11 was called Armistice Day. It marked the day World War I ended in 1918, and it became a national holiday in the pure hope that there would never again be a worldwide conflict.
Author Kurt Vonnegut wrote of that moment when the battlefields fell silent in 1918, as men stopped trying to kill one another.
“I have talked to old men who were on the battlefields during that minute,” Vonnegut wrote. “They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God.”
To honor that moment when peace was the loudest silence on the planet, Congress in 1938 declared Nov. 11 Armistice Day. In celebration, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, churches and cities rang bells 11 times as a celebration of peace — the end of battles that had cost millions of lives.
That changed in 1954. By then, there had been a second World War.
Veterans across the country would like to hear the bells of peace ring again.
Phil Restino, a U.S. Army peacetime veteran, heads the Central Florida Chapter of Veterans for Peace. His and other chapters have adopted the mission of changing the focus of Veterans Day back to its original purpose.
Flyovers and gun salutes change the focus from peace to war, he said.
While celebrating the heroes of war isn’t a bad thing, Restino said, the national focus should be on the end of wars, and the bringing about of peace.
In Minnesota, dozens of local churches have signed on to ring bells at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 each year.
The city of Minneapolis declared via proclamation in 2011 that Nov. 11 was Veterans/Armistice Day in the City of Minneapolis “in the hope that some day, instead of spending money on war, our nation will spend money on building better cities for our children to laugh and play and grow.”
The signing of the armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, was supposed to be the end of the war to end war.
“This was supposed to be it,” McKeown said.
That message has been lost, he said.
“We don’t have anything against veterans; they need healing,” McKeown said. “We want less war, and we want to make fewer veterans of war. We’re anti-war; we’re not anti-veteran.”
The bell-ringing commitment grew gradually; now 176 Minnesota churches have signed on.
“It seems much more appropriate than a 21-gun salute,” McKeown said.
Members of Chapter 27, when they pass on, have a bell rung 11 times, instead of receiving a 21-gun salute.
The 11 Bells movement is spreading now throughout the United States.
The Central Florida Chapter of Veterans for Peace has been in the area since 2005. Its members include combat veterans from World War II through the Iraq War, as well as peacetime veterans, such as Restino.
“We really need new members,” Restino said.
The group does a weekly anti-war demonstration in Daytona Beach.
Restino has contacted about 100 area churches to ask them to participate in 11 Bells on Nov. 11.
To make a donation to VFP, to participate in 11 Bells, or for more information, call Restino at 386-788-2918 or visit www.cflveteransforpeace.org.
For more information about VFP Minnesota Chapter 27, visit www.vfpchapter27.org.
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We owe soldiers this discussion
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/10/27/we-owe-soldiers-this-discussion/
- Veterans For Peace is imploring you all to come together with us in re-evaluating the current U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, Central Asia and Northern Africa. -
By Phil Restino (original printing on October 17, 2010 in the Daytona Beach News-Journal)
This month marks the ninth anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2001, U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan, and begins the 10th year of our U.S. military occupation there. The past year has been the deadliest year, so far, for U.S. troops killed in action in Afghanistan. In addition, the number of active-duty soldiers dying from suicide has exceeded the number of active-duty soldiers being killed in action since last year, as reported in January 2010. This is to be expected when troops have been sent off to three, four, five, six and even seven tours of combat duty. U.S. military veterans are committing suicide at the rate of 18 veterans per day.
Traumatic brain injury is the “signature wound” for our combat troops, while many others wounded in combat return as single or multiple amputees requiring lifelong care. The number of homeless and incarcerated military veterans in America is reaching all-time highs.
Epidemic levels of post-traumatic stress disorder have, in turn, led to high incidences of alcoholism and drug abuse among our troops and veterans. Military families are being broken up as spouses and children have to endure multiple deployments of their loved ones, and, when the troops do return home, the family members are often exposed to domestic violence. Repeated exposure to depleted uranium, used in U.S. munitions during deployments, has led to our troops and military veterans being subject to various cancers, auto-immune diseases, and other serious illnesses as well as birth defects in their offspring. Depleted uranium has often been referred to as this war’s “Agent Orange.”
On the home front, the U.S. military occupations abroad are costing U.S. taxpayers $7 billion per month, according to a recent article by retired CIA analyst Philip Girardi in The American Conservative.
That translates into roughly $240 million per day ($10 million per hour) of the U.S. taxpayers’ money while Americans are losing their jobs and their homes at record levels, post offices are closing, essential services in cities and towns are being cut, schools are laying off teachers and social services are being drastically cut. Due to years of debt-based funding of the wars and occupations, the prices of food, energy and goods and services are increasing, at the risk of hyperinflation in America.
The American people have a responsibility for what our servant government does in our name, and with our blood and treasure, and it’s incumbent upon us that we pay close attention to and continue to evaluate the policies being carried out by our government. It’s never more important than when our nation’s sons and daughters are engaged in ongoing wars and military occupations in the name of the American people.
With the mention of all of the above, Veterans For Peace is imploring you all to come together with us in re-evaluating the current U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, Central Asia and Northern Africa. Please contact us at 386-788-2918 to arrange for educational talks and documentary screenings and, most importantly, sincere nonpartisan discussions on the matter.
MEDIA ALERT - CENTRAL FLORIDA Oct 15, 2012
To: All Central Florida churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other houses of worship
Veterans Group Promotes Recall of Original Intent of November 11th Celebration
Contact: Phil Restino, Central Florida Veterans For Peace, ph: (386) 788-2918
It was at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 that World War I was halted as a result of the signing of the armistice between the Allied Nations and Germany. In the years to follow, people from around the world have stopped what they were doing at 11:00 AM local time on November 11th in silent rememberance of the point in time when what’s been known as the “War to end all wars” that took the lives of tens of millions of people came to an end. In other commemorations of that peaceful pledge begun on the 11th hour of November 11, 1918, bells have been rung from around the world on November 11th.
On May 13, 1938, the U.S. Congress passed a law that made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday; "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'." However, the name ‘Armistice Day’ was later changed to ‘Veterans Day’ via an act of Congress and signed into law on June 1, 1954.
American novelist and World War II veteran Kurt Vonnegut wrote about his war experiences and in particular his time as an American prisoner of war surviving the horrific fire-bombing of the German city of Dresden in his famous novel “Slaughterhouse-Five”. Years later, Vonnegut reflected on the U.S. government’s changing the official recognition of November 11th from ‘Armistice Day’ to ‘Veterans Day’ in the following way:
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called ‘Armistice Day’. When I was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind. Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not. So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
Some members of Veteran For Peace feel that the substitution of the word ‘Armistice’ with ‘Veterans’ politicized the day by changing the focus from peace to war in its celebrating and honoring military veterans and the wars they served in. Too often rhetoric and patriotic symbols are used instead of genuine compensation for the extraordinary sacrifices and services of military personnel.
Many feel that the ringing of bells is a much more fitting recognition of the pledge for peace agreed to on that morning in November of 1918 when the ‘Voice of God’ was heard. Sadly, gun salutes and fighter plane flyovers have been used as the norm in more recent years to mark that sacred day. However, at the urging of the Twin Cities chapter of Veterans For Peace, on November 11th of last year dozens of Minnesota churches joined in ringing bells along with urging their congregations to work for peace.
This year the Central Florida chapter of Veterans For Peace is asking churches and other houses of worship in Central Florida to join Minnesota’s Twin Cities, along with other cities around the U.S and the world, to reconsider the original intent of a public recognition of November 11th by adopting a procedure of bell ringing so as to honor peace and encourage their congregations to denounce war as a means of settling differences.
Note: Restino is co-chair and a founding member of the Central Florida chapter of Veterans For Peace and a member of Military Families Speak Out - Florida. He lives in Port Orange, FL. Veterans For Peace is made up of veterans working together for peace and justice through non-violence since 1985. The Central Florida chapter covers from Greater Orlando east to Greater Melbourne and north to Greater Jacksonville. For more information, visit www.cflveteransforpeace.org or call (386) 788-2918.
Veterans Day Talk 11-11-12
This Veterans Day, instead of a few minutes of respected silence, we are celebrating LET
FREEDOM RING. Instead of ringing bells, we are DRUMMING. We want our veterans to
hear our appreciation for all they have done for our country.
For centuries, this has been a form of celebration for veterans returning home in victory.
Many Americans believe this is the case for us, today.
I want to share with you, a few of the facts, greeting our troops on their arrival home.
A recent CBS NEWS report published in an Injury Prevention article that showed that
suicide rates among US Army personnel increased 80% between 2004 and 2008.
Another recent Marine Times article said that more than 1 in 10 Marines who deployed
overseas reported having suicide thoughts, or plans to attempt suicide.
Facing his 9th deployment, Army Ranger Staff Sgt.Jared Hagemann killed himself.
His wife Ashley said it was just horrible.. He would just sit there and cry. He tried to come to
grips with what he had seen and done on his 8 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He told her there was no way any God would forgive him and that he was going to ****.
He could not live with that any more , and had to end his suffering.
More US soldiers and veterans have died from suicide than from combat wounds over
the last 2 years. And as a special way of thanking those who served, Texas Republicans
want to make it more difficult for young homeless and traumatized veterans to vote.
A year ago, our Military issued their official position on suicides in the service.
They said the increase in suicide deaths is one of the most distressing issues facing
military leaders who want to reduce the rates among active-duty service members. More
than 2000 of them have killed themselves in the past decade, including 295 last year
compared with 153 in 2001.
The difficulty, however, is in identifying which initiatives work best and deciphering
the multiple triggers than can lead to suicide within the armed services.
The most commonly identified risk factors according to the leaders are
relationship issues, work-related problems, financial pressure, legal concerns, alcoholism
and substance abuse. NOT ONE WORD ABOUT POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.
PTSD-THE NUMBER 1 CAUSE OF TROOP SUICIDE.( I WILL LEAVE THAT ONE FOR YOU TO FIGURE OUT)
Our wars in the Gulf are disabling our veterans in different ways than in previous wars.
Our bases are located close by, or in the cities and larger towns.
That leaves our troops among the civilians.
Not able to know friends from foes, they may be friends in the day, and a possible terrorist
at night, planting roadside bombs. In the day time, they can mingle among the crowds that may
contain small groups of troops who are vulnerable to suicide bombers.
As a result of this situation, the military is demanding that any man, woman, or child,that they
suspect is carrying a bomb, is to be shot on sight.They are told that they are saving their own as well as their buddies lives and if they do not obey that order, they will be reprimanded severely.
Serving in these conditions,who knows how many victims they are returning home with, for following
orders.
Their grief and guilt can be extremely emotionally disabling and more that many cannot
possibly bear.
Instead of ringing bells, or drumming a few minutes one day a year, PLEASE,PUT YOURSELVES
IN THE PLACE OF THESE SUFFERING LOVED ONES AND WORK TO END THESE WARS INSTEAD
OF STARTING NEW ONES.
(And Kindly- Google Bud Deraps)
Bud Deraps I strongly recommend the book- Evidence of the Afterlife by
by Dr. Jeffrey Long
6605 Clayton Ave. #203
St. Louis, Mo. 63139
peacebud@earthlink.net
314 645 0883 Member of the Barnes Jewish Hospice Team
Veterans Day Talk 11-11-12
This Veterans Day, instead of a few minutes of respected silence, we are celebrating LET
FREEDOM RING. Instead of ringing bells, we are DRUMMING. We want our veterans to
hear our appreciation for all they have done for our country.
For centuries, this has been a form of celebration for veterans returning home in victory.
Many Americans believe this is the case for us, today.
I want to share with you, a few of the facts, greeting our troops on their arrival home.
A recent CBS NEWS report published in an Injury Prevention article that showed that
suicide rates among US Army personnel increased 80% between 2004 and 2008.
Another recent Marine Times article said that more than 1 in 10 Marines who deployed
overseas reported having suicide thoughts, or plans to attempt suicide.
Facing his 9th deployment, Army Ranger Staff Sgt.Jared Hagemann killed himself.
His wife Ashley said it was just horrible.. He would just sit there and cry. He tried to come to
grips with what he had seen and done on his 8 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
He told her there was no way any God would forgive him and that he was going to ****.
He could not live with that any more , and had to end his suffering.
More US soldiers and veterans have died from suicide than from combat wounds over
the last 2 years. And as a special way of thanking those who served, Texas Republicans
want to make it more difficult for young homeless and traumatized veterans to vote.
A year ago, our Military issued their official position on suicides in the service.
They said the increase in suicide deaths is one of the most distressing issues facing
military leaders who want to reduce the rates among active-duty service members. More
than 2000 of them have killed themselves in the past decade, including 295 last year
compared with 153 in 2001.
The difficulty, however, is in identifying which initiatives work best and deciphering
the multiple triggers than can lead to suicide within the armed services.
The most commonly identified risk factors according to the leaders are
relationship issues, work-related problems, financial pressure, legal concerns, alcoholism
and substance abuse. NOT ONE WORD ABOUT POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.
PTSD-THE NUMBER 1 CAUSE OF TROOP SUICIDE.( I WILL LEAVE THAT ONE FOR YOU TO FIGURE OUT)
Our wars in the Gulf are disabling our veterans in different ways than in previous wars.
Our bases are located close by, or in the cities and larger towns.
That leaves our troops among the civilians.
Not able to know friends from foes, they may be friends in the day, and a possible terrorist
at night, planting roadside bombs. In the day time, they can mingle among the crowds that may
contain small groups of troops who are vulnerable to suicide bombers.
As a result of this situation, the military is demanding that any man, woman, or child,that they
suspect is carrying a bomb, is to be shot on sight.They are told that they are saving their own as well as their buddies lives and if they do not obey that order, they will be reprimanded severely.
Serving in these conditions,who knows how many victims they are returning home with, for following
orders.
Their grief and guilt can be extremely emotionally disabling and more that many cannot
possibly bear.
Instead of ringing bells, or drumming a few minutes one day a year, PLEASE,PUT YOURSELVES
IN THE PLACE OF THESE SUFFERING LOVED ONES AND WORK TO END THESE WARS INSTEAD
OF STARTING NEW ONES.
(And Kindly- Google Bud Deraps)
Bud Deraps I strongly recommend the book- Evidence of the Afterlife by
by Dr. Jeffrey Long
6605 Clayton Ave. #203
St. Louis, Mo. 63139
peacebud@earthlink.net
314 645 0883 Member of the Barnes Jewish Hospice Team
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