My Son Leaves for Afghanistan July 25, 2011
-DAY #1: Text Message, Sunday, June 19, 2011 @ 9:50 am- Mom: Did you make it to your new base okay? Call when you can. Love you. Son: Everything is good Mom: Keep me posted! Let me know when and how...
View ArticleArt by MFSO Members: Reflecting on 10 Years of War
On this page you will find examples of art made by members of Military Families Speak Out, reflecting on their experiences over the last decade of war. “I’ve Come to Take My Boy Home” a play by Dave...
View ArticleWeird Math: 1 Percent versus 1 Percent
MFSO Member Paula Rogovin reflects on Occupy Wall St. On Saturday, October 8, 2011, members of Military Families Speak Out stood alongside members of Veterans For Peace and thousands of other people...
View ArticleGold Star Families reflect on the end of the Iraq War
In Our Breath and On the Wind From Celeste Zappala, Mother of Sgt Sherwood Baker, KIA 4/26/04 Baghdad I heard the news of the war ending late on Friday. It seemed an odd time to release such serious...
View ArticleMilitary Families reflect on the end of the Iraq War
The nightmare continues… From Pat Alviso and Jeff Merrick, Long Beach Ca. Parents of Marine who has been deployed 4 times As a loving family, along with our son, who is a career Marine, we watched in...
View ArticleSick & Tired
How often in our lives have we heard the phrase ‘sick and tired’ either from the mouth of our mothers or from our own mouths for our children? I remember a comedy routine by Bill Cosby when he was...
View ArticleApril News Round-Up
Details Offered on How Suspect Could Have Left Afghan Base (NY Times, Mar 28, 2012) Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was able to easily leave his base twice on the night he allegedly murdered 16 Afghans...
View ArticleWhat malaria meds may be doing to our troops
by: Anna Berlinrut, Mid-Atlantic MFSO Board Representative Nine days after Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly massacred 17 unarmed civilians in Afghanistan, including young children, a top-level...
View ArticleHow Many U.S. Troops Have Been Targeted by ANA Troops?
When a NATO troop is killed by an Afghan in uniform, that death is reported. But The Associated Press has learned from a U.S. official granted anonymity in order to give a fuller picture of the...
View ArticleMay News Round-Up
**Click here to receive this monthly news round-up in your inbox!** 4,486 American Troops killed in Iraq; 1,957 American Troops killed in Afghanistan In the News: Security Pact...
View ArticleMy Thoughts on Veterans Day AKA Armistice Day
I feel like a zombie. I don’t look dead or crave human brains for my next meal. I must look like my former self because people still recognize me …maybe just older and somewhat detached. I get up each...
View ArticleMFSO Leader from West Virginia Loses Son To Suicide
We were extremely saddened to learn that Marcia Westbrook’s youngest son, Tyler, died by suicide Thursday morning. Tyler Milam Westbrook, a member of the Special Forces in the Army, was stationed at...
View ArticleFirst American Killed in 4 Years in Ground Combat in Iraq
We are very sad to hear that that since the recent influx of troops and airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the first US soldier was killed today. This soldier’s is the first American to die in combat in...
View ArticleMy Thoughts On Veterans Day 2015
11/11/2015 Last year I wrote about feeling like a zombie because I was living the life of a three Blue Star mother with my baby deployed. Today I write to you as a mother who has had one of those Blue...
View ArticleA Note from our New MFSO Office in Long Beach, CA
After months of planning, organizing and working with the previous MFSO staff, we are proud to announce that the national organization of Military Families Speak Out is up and running once again! We...
View ArticleMFSO Member 5K Fundraiser
MFSO member Marcia Westbrook is asking for support for this 5K event! This 5k and kids’ race will raise money toward THE MATTHEW RAIRDON SCHOLARSHIP FUND – When preparing to go to college, Matt was...
View ArticleEmpty Boots
By Rosemarie Slavenas His boots are empty now, the hopeful one who wore them ground beneath the juggernaut of war. Where we laid him, a stone will stay, flags flutter, and flowers sway, watered by...
View ArticleAnother Gold Star Fernando Suarez del Solar Speaks Out
(Open Letter to Mr. Trump) Mr. Trump: In the past few days, you have disrespected the father of a soldier who died in combat in Iraq. You not only disrespected him but you disrespected his wife, a...
View ArticleMFSO Continues Work, Despite Uncertain Times
Military Families Speak Out members are concerned after the Presidential election. There is great uncertainty around a Trump presidency and what it will mean for military members, veterans, and their...
View ArticlePresident Obama Issues Condolence Letter
Military Families Speak Out’s (MFSO) last meeting at the White House was August 27th 2015. We discussed ending our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the high rate of military suicides and...
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