Global Village School is a progressive, accredited, customizable K-12 international homeschool diploma program that integrates peace, justice, and diversity studies with the core subjects. Please learn more about our school here.

We provide these links for the benefit of veterans, soldiers currently serving, their families, young people who are of draft age or are considering enlisting, and all those who care about them.

With all the administration’s calls for “patriotism” and “supporting the troops” (by which they seem to mean supporting their policies without question), and their claims that “you’re either with us or against us,” often the actual facts get obscured.

It is time to see through all the propaganda that has been used to divide us. The days when the “support our troops” people and the “peace” people stand on opposite sides of the street need to end. Whether one believes that the troops should be in Iraq or not, what is clear is that the government and the military are not supporting them. These are people who trusted their government to tell them the truth, and to take reasonable care to protect them. They have the right to expect nothing less.

Organizations and Other Resources

Articles

 
 

Organizations

American Gulf War Veterans Association - The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) was established with one goal in mind: To obtain treatment for those service members and their families who experience symptoms collectively known as the "Gulf War Illness". However, there is more to this issue than meets the eye. As this investigation into causation has now progressed into the arena of possible exposure to chemical and/or biological agents, radiation poisoning due to the use of depleted uranium and most disturbingly, the use of our fighting men and women as "Guinea Pigs" in medical experimentation, the AGWVA has now added a second goal: To obtain justice and compensation for all those affected by these illnesses.

Bring Them Home Now! - Statement of Purpose: BRING THEM HOME NOW! is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on." Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GI's themselves to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures; and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.

Center on Conscience and War – works to defend and extend the rights of conscientious objectors. Formed in 1940, The Center is committed to supporting all those who question participation in war, whether they are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, documented or undocumented immigrants--or citizens in other countries.

Gold Star Families for Peace - We as families of soldiers who have died as a result of war are organizing to be a positive force in our world to bring our country’s sons and daughters home from Iraq, to minimize the “human cost” of this war, and to prevent other families from the pain we are feeling as the result of our losses.

GI Rights Hotline - a network of nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations who provide information to service members about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights.

Iraq Veterans Memorial - Over the past four years we have lost many wonderful men and women to the Iraq War. This site was conceived as a place to honor the fallen servicemembers who gave their lives representing the United States of America. Please view the video below.

 

Military Families Speak Out - an organization of people who are opposed to war in Iraq and who have relatives or loved ones in the military. We were formed in November of 2002 and have contacts with military families throughout the United States, and in other countries around the world. As people with family members and loved ones in the military, we have both a special need and a unique role to play in speaking out against war in Iraq. It is our loved ones who are, or have been, or will be on the battlefront. It is our loved ones who are risking injury and death. It is our loved ones who are returning scarred from their experiences. It is our loved ones who will have to live with the injuries and deaths among innocent Iraqi civilians.

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans - Founded in 1990 by a group of community-based homeless veteran service providers, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) seeks to eliminate homelessness in the veteran community and work its way out of business. Mission: NCHV will end homelessness among veterans by shaping public policy, educating the public, and building the capacity of service providers.

National Gulf War Resource Center - The National Gulf War Resource Center is an international coalition of advocates and organizations providing a resource for information, support, and referrals for all those concerned with the complexities of Persian Gulf War issues, especially Gulf War illnesses and those held prisoner or missing in action.

Operation Truth - a non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to educate the American public about the truth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from the perspective of the troops who have experienced them first-hand. The truth about Iraq from those who served.

Veterans for Common Sense - Mission Statement: Veterans for Common Sense seeks to inject the element of Common Sense into debates over war and national security. In an age when the majority of public servants have never served in uniform, the perspective of war veterans must play a key role in the public debate over national security issues in order to preserve the liberty veterans have fought and died preserving.

Veterans for Peace - Veterans Working Together for Peace & Justice Through Non-violence.

 

Other Resources

Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches - Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraw for the Iraqi people and the US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.

Faces of the Fallen - Details on each soldier killed in Iraq.

How to support the American soldiers and help the people of Iraq - links to organizations helping the soldiers and their families as well as ones helping the people of Iraq (from MichaelMoore.com)

The Eleventh Hour - True stories of war from the last 100 years. "Stories untold fester. Stories unheard become illness and despair. Stories unspoken undo the mind and the soul. Stories told heal the heart. Stories witnessed create community. Stories heard become wisdom....We have refused to hear and feel the agony of war and violence from the perspective of the young soldiers who are being called to commit the unthinkable. From the perspective of the civilians, children, women, the aged who will suffer it. From the perspective of the earth that will be destroyed by it if we do not together as a global community say: "No" ...The telling and the receiving of these stories are activities that say: "This must stop here and now." These stories contain the essential information and understanding needed by everyone in the world in order to know how to move forward at this time. These stories when we listen to them will provide the wisdom of healing and will inform us to take proper action."

CNN's list of US and coalition casualties – lists the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose families have been notified of their deaths by each country's government. Also includes Pentagon statistics on soldiers wounded in action. The Pentagon does not report the number of non-hostile wounded. This list is updated regularly. Also includes a historical look at U.S. war casualties.

Back to Top

 

Articles

New Doubts About Health Care for U.S. War Vets - By Aaron Glantz. OneWorld US Monday 21 April 2008

Soldiers' Crimes Signal Need - By Dana Hull. San Jose Mercury News Sunday 18 March 2007

Blood Diamonds and Blood Oil - By Retired US Army Reserve Colonel Ann Wright. Truthout.com Tuesday 6 March 2007

"It Is Just Not Walter Reed" - By Anne Hull and Dana Priest. The Washington Post Monday 5 March 2007

Vets on the Street - By Sarah Childress. Newsweek Saturday 24 February 2007

Back from despair, in her words - By David Zucchino. The L.A. Times Friday 23 February 2007

US Orders Review Into Treatment of Wounded Troops - By Matt Spetalnick. Reuters Tuesday 20 February 2007

Depleted Uranium: Pernicious Killer Keeps on Killing - By Craig Etchison, Ph.D. Truthout.com Monday 19 February 2007

The Hotel Aftermath - By Anne Hull and Dana Priest. The Washington Post Monday 19 February 2007

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration at Army's Top Medical Facility - By Dana Priest and Anne Hull. The Washington Post Sunday 18 February 2007

Truth has consequences for soldier of conscience - By Paul Rockwell. The Baltimore Sun Thursday 1 February 2007

A Life, Wasted - By Paul E. Schroeder. The Washington Post Tuesday 3 January 2006

The Soldiers Behind the Walls of Ward 54 - By Mark Benjamin. Salon.com Friday 18 February 2005

Regaining My Humanity - By Camilo Mejia. CodePink.org Thursday 17 February 2005
Camilo Mejia spent more than 7 years in the military and 8 months fighting in Iraq. On a furlough from the war, he applied for Conscientious Objector status, and was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. He was convicted of desertion by the U.S. military for refusing to return to the war in Iraq and was imprisoned. Mejia was released from prison on February 15th.

The Siege - By Kristin Henderson, The Washington Post, Sunday 10 October 2004
Going to war is never easy, but neither is being left behind.

Soldiers Trained to Kill, Not Cope - By Charles Duhigg, Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2004

Traumatic brain injury, a 'silent handicap,' affects many Iraq vets – By Matthew B. Stannard, San Francisco Chronicle. Monday, July 19, 2004

Depleted Uranium:America's Silent Weapon of Mass Destruction - By Sally Carless. Common Dreams, July 13, 2004. American troops are coming home poisoned -- not by Saddam -- but by their own government's weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction.

When Veterans Speak... - By Sara Daniel. Le Nouvel Observateur Hébdomadaire. Week of 15 July 2004

Nadia McCaffrey on Her Son's Death in Iraq: "We Cannot Ignore Anymore What Is Going On In Iraq...I am Speaking as a Mother and as a Human Being" – Interview, Democracy Now!, July 6, 2004. Army National Guard Special Patrick McCaffrey was shot dead in an ambush in Iraq. He was 34 years old and the father of two. His son is 9 years old. His daughter is 2 years old. His death received national attention in July when his mother Nadia McCaffrey invited the press to Sacramento International Airport to record images of his flag-draped coffin returning home. Since his body was flown in on a commercial flight, the Pentagon's ban on photos of coffins did not apply.

The Price of Valor - by Dan Baum, The New Yorker. Posted July 5, 2004
We train our soldiers to kill for us. Afterward, they’re on their own.

A Tale of Three Soldiers - by Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson. Published on Wednesday, June 2, 2004 by CommonDreams.org

Is This What "Supporting Our Troops" Really Looks Like?- By Sally Carless. HopeDance, May/June 2004. What does supporting the troops really mean? When the US government attacked Iraq, many assumed that supporting the troops meant supporting the war -- that to speak against the drive to war was to speak against the troops risking their lives overseas. The notion that the American government takes care of its soldiers’ health and needs is a myth. They are exposed to severe health hazards without being informed, they are poorly paid and equipped, they have been misled about the reasons for going to war, and they often receive substandard care when they return from their service.

VA probes long-term effect of malaria drug - By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted, United Press International, 04/12/2004. A decade after veterans first began complaining, the Department of Veterans Affairs says it will review an anti-malaria drug given to thousands of U.S. troops fighting the war on terrorism to determine if it could cause long-term health and mental problems.

Reservists Cite Woes in Medical Treatment - Deborah Funk. Army Times. April 12, 2004.

G. I.'s: Dust Made Us Ill - By Wil Cruza, Newsday. 10 April 2004

Disturbing Revelations About Quality of Care at Some U.S. Veterans' Hospitals - ABC News
Friday 08 April 2004. With 130,000 young American men and women putting their lives at risk in Iraq today, there are concerns about conditions at some U.S. veterans' hospitals.

Is America sending battle-weary, clinically stressed soldiers back into the heat of Iraq? By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles. Published April 3, 2004 in the Independent (www.independent.co.uk)

Quagmire in Iraq: U.S. Casualties Up To 11,700 - By Mark Benjamin, United Press International. April 2, 2004. (For more of Mark Benjamin's articles, go to UPI )

Gulf War Veterans' Children Have Increased Risk - By Nic Fleming, The Telegraph, 3/26/2004
The research studies continue to pour in confirming the claims made by Gulf War veterans: Service in the Gulf War has a significant adverse impact on Gulf War veterans' health and on Gulf War veterans' children’s health.

Living Weapons Labs - War American-Style- by Nick Turse. Published on Friday, March 26, 2004 by TomDispatch.com

Navy Public Affairs Officer in Iraq Condemns Bush & the U.S. Invasion- By Democracy Now!
Friday 26 March 2004

Iraq's Children of the Bomblet: A year later, remembering the deadliest weapon - by Kareem Fahim. Published March 23rd, 2004 in the Village Voice.

The Things They Wrote - Soldiers' Last Letters Home - The New York Times. Sunday March 21, 2004

Soldiers' Families Fight to Keep Lives on Track - Iraq war, one year later. In Michigan, loved ones grapple with fear, loneliness, fatigue, cranky kids, daily routines. By Ron French and Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News. Thursday, March 18, 2004

U.S. Families Protest War - By Tim Harper, Published in The Toronto Star CA. Sunday March 14, 2004

The Forgotten Soldiers of Operation "Iraqi Freedom" - By Greg Palast, gregpalast.com, Sunday 07 March 2004

The Casualty: An American soldier comes home from Iraq - By Dan Baum, The New Yorker.
Wednesday 03 March 2004

The Damage Done - Mother Jones, March/April 2004 Issue. It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's a lot harder to face them when they come home. Photo Essay by Nina Berman. Text by Verlyn Klinkenborg

WHO "suppressed" scientific study into depleted uranium cancer fears in Iraq - By Rob Edwards. Published on Sunday, February 22, 2004 by The Sunday Herald (Scotland) Radiation experts warn in unpublished report that DU weapons used by Allies in Gulf war pose long-term health risk.

Ten Percent of U.S. Casualties Evacuated from Iraq have Psychiatric Conditions - By Mark Benjamin, United Press International, 2/18/2004

Darpa Offers No Food for Thought - The Pentagon wants to run soldiers on no food. By Noah Shachtman. Feb. 17, 2004

Veterans Battle on the Home Front - Even as President Bush sends American soldiers into Iraq, he is cutting their benefits. By Maile Melkonian. San Francisco Chronicle. November 11, 2003

Private Jessica Says President is Misusing Her 'Heroism' - By Edward Helmore, The Observer.
Sunday 09 November 2003

Military reservists: Even on front lines, always on back burner - By Phillip Carter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 10-26-03 (registration required)

Reservists treated horribly while they await medical care - Gainesville Times. October 23, 2003. Deplorable best describes the conditions that more than 600 U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard troops find themselves in at Fort Stewart.

Soldier Blues - By Ruth Rosen, Mother Jones. Tuesday 21 October 2003. It's becoming more apparent every day that the U.S. military has a serious morale problem. Depression, mild and severe, is plaguing the troops, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Saving Pvt. Ryan ... From Pain - The Pentagon wants soldiers to be able to fight wounded. By Noah Shachtman. Oct. 10, 2003

When duty calls, some military families find financial hardship - By Christian Hill. The Olympian. Sunday, September 14, 2003

Sick Veteran Battles Bureaucracy Back Home - By Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press. Tuesday 12 August 2003

The Soldiers of Ward 57 - (scroll down to second article) Moving Forward, One Step at a Time. After Iraq, Wounded Soldiers Try Out New Limbs, New Lives. By Tamara Jones and Anne Hull, Washington Post. Monday 21 July 2003

Reservists Pay Steep Price for Service - By Sandra Block, USA Today. Posted 6/8/2003

The War Against Ourselves: An Interview with Major Doug Rokke. Spring 2003

Air Force Pilots on Speed - The U.S. Military Needs Its Speed: By Elliot Borin. Feb. 10, 2003

Iraqi Cancers, Birth Defects Blamed on U.S. Depleted Uranium - By Larry Johnson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Foreign Desk Editor. Tuesday, 12 November, 2002. This article also contains a large amount of factual information on DU in general, its effects of Gulf War vets, etc.

Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own Troops - What 'Support Our Troops' Really Means. By Amy Worthington, The Idaho Observer. Tuesday 03 May 2002

Depleted Uranium And The SMH - by Helen Caldicott. January 2001

Tests show Gulf War vets have uranium poisoning – by Jonathon Carr-Brown and Martin Meissonnier. September 3 2000.

Death ruling raises issue of Gulf War ills - Syndrome called a contributing cause. By Allan Turner. Houston Chronicle. April 15, 2000.

Back to Top