Amesbury Friends Peace Center

An Outreach Project of Amesbury Friends Meeting

What You Can Do to Help Veterans

 BECOME EDUCATED ABOUT TRUTH IN RECRUITING: Many organizations now exist to help young men and women understand what is involved when they sign up to join the military. For a complete list of Truth-in-Recruiting/Counter Recruitment organizations and resources, visit www.nnomy.org. Other resources include:

Center on Conscience: http://www.centeronconscience.org/;

Iraq Veterans against the War - http://ivaw.org/truth;

Veterans for Peace http://www.veteransforpeace.org/take_action.vp.html

American Friends Service Committee Youth and Militarism Project. http://www.afsc.org/Youth&Militarism/..

 

FIND HELP FOR SOMEONE IN THE MILITARY:

---G.I. Rights Hotline: 877-447-4487 http://www.girightshotline.org/. This is a network of nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations who provide free and confidential information to service members about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights to include a toll free phone hotline (1-877-447-4487).

 ---Join the Veterans for Peace “Bring the Guard Home” Campaign

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Bring_national_guard_home.vp.html

 LEARN ABOUT VETERANS:

--National Coalition for Homeless Veterans: http://www.nchv.org/facts.cfm. The list below is what individuals can do to help homeless veterans in their community.

·        Support emergency shelters

·        Volunteer as mentors, counselors or legal aides

·        Raise funds for programs

·        Volunteer at Stand Down programs

·        Develop Homeless Veteran Burial

--House of Peace. One High Street, Ipswich, MA 01938; 978 356-9395 Visit and see what you can do to help. John Schuchardt, one of our readers, is the founder.

 --Veterans Northeast outreach center - Offer to help in this Haverhill program. http://www.northeastveterans.org/

 --Iraq war veterans association. Learn about ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder). http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/ptsd.htm (this is a military based organization; not peace related)

 You can do a lot: Join an organization, stand in front of a recruiting station, get involved in presenting alternative information in the schools, talk to your family member or neighbor who is about to enlist! Protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, call your legislators, demand better rights for veterans, learn about ptsd. Follow veterans’ legislation in the House (http://veterans.house.gov/) and Senate (http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm).