Military Families Speak Out–NYC

May 14, 2010

SATURDAY, MAY 29th, 2010

Filed under: Arlington New York State, Iraq Memorial to Life, Memorial Day Weekend — Tags: , , — Admin @ 7:10 pm

flowers from dad

Arlington New York State

Arlington New York State

Iraq Memorial to Life

Iraq Memorial to Life


JOIN US ON SATURDAY, MAY 29th, from 10:00 AM until 9:30 PM for a Memorial Day Weekend event. Peace activists from around the Country will be commemorating the lives and deaths of not only the over 1,300,000 Iraq civilians who died because of the immoral and illegal invasion of 2003, but the military members from New York State who died as a result of this invasion, as well as the invasion of Afghanistan.

The “Arlington New York State” exhibit, along with the combat boots from the “Eyes Wide Open” display, will be shown on South Beach, Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier. Along with this representation of American deaths, the “Iraq Memorial to Life” exhibit will be displayed, representing civilians killed.

This Memorial Day Weekend, remember those who died or were killed in useless and endless wars of aggression.

Join us! We need help setting up. Contact elainebrower@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer.

Press conference will be at 1 PM, special guests include: Salam Talib, Iraqi who lost his brother in the invasion; Douglas Mackey, founder of the Iraq Memorial to Life; and others from the peace and justice community.

Candelighting ceremony at dusk, then a movie will be shown on the beach! Food will be provided all day for those who wish to contribute to a pot-luck!

Location: Father Capodanno Blvd. & Seaview Avenue (Ocean Breeze) on the beach next to the fishing pier

DIRECTIONS Father Capodanno Blvd. & Seaview Avenue:
A 10 a.m. ferry and 10:30 a.m. S51 bus (Ramp B near southeast end of St. George Ferry Term., see page 7 of S51 BUS SCHEDULE. at

Car rides to the ferry are available also.

FERRY SCHED.: OR take the
MTA SIR LOCAL TRAIN STREET MAP: BUS MAP:
http://is.gd/zHag-/ > OR take the
MTA SIR LOCAL TRAIN from center of St. George Ferry Terminal to Dongan Hills stop, then walk/bike 1.2 miles southeast against Seaview Av. traffic or with Garretson St. traffic, towards South Beach, passing Hancock St. & Henry Pl.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 917-520-0767

May 27, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend “Arlington, New York State and beyond…” A Success

Filed under: Arlington New York State, Memorial Day Weekend — Admin @ 7:08 pm

On the weekend of May 23rd and 24th, Military Families Speak Out teamed up with activists from Movement for a Democratic Society-Staten Island, Peace Action Staten Island, and others to set up a vast display of crosses, Stars of David, Crescents, combat boots and shoes of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the beach on the south end of Staten Island, off the recently built Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier, 200 markers representing soldiers and marines killed who came from New York State and died in Iraq and Afghanistan, were displayed.  Along with the markers, combat boots tagged with the names of the soldiers and marines were placed in the sand, with a memorial flower.  Flags were erected representing Iraq, Afghanistan, United States and a World Peace flag, in the center of the entire exhibit, running lengthwise along the beach.

Visitors who came on bike, foot, or stroller stopped and gazed in amazement at this memorial for the human cost of wars.  The exhibit received a tremendous amount of local press running on the local TV news stations, as well for 2 days in the Staten Island Advance. Coverage from Staten Island advance:

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/arlington_new_york_state_retur.html

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1242906303275270.xml&coll=1

http://photos.silive.com/advance/2009/05/524_news_photos_6.html

On Saturday, the first day of the exhibit, a press conference was held highlighting speakers such as Ed Josey from the Staten Island chapter of the NAACP, Elaine Brower of Military Families Speak Out, Sue Niederer, Gold Star Mom of Seth Dvorin, KIA in Iraq 2004, Sally Jones, Peace Action New York State, Hugh Bruce, Veterans for Peace Chapt. 34,  Debi Rose, candidate for City Council and Rev. Susan Karlson, Minister of the Unitarian Church on Staten Island.

Over the course of 2 days, thousands of people witnessed the display and reacted.  Whether they were for the war or against it, people were reflective about what they saw.  Family members visited their loved ones who were from New York, and it gave them a little comfort to see the boots and names of the person they so missed. 

Motorcycle groups visited, and solemnly walked to the Iraqi shoes representing those civilians killed in the war, and then turned to walk through the crosses and boots, with the same expression of sadness and grief.

The war has touched us all on some deep level, and taking our Arlington New York State exhibit to the beach brought it home to Staten Island.

For more media and photos see:

http://nextleftnotes.com/NLN/?p=593

Powered by WordPress