Mother's Day Speech By a Military Mother


Consider this speech on mother's day by Military Families Speak Out member Connie Moss. From the Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) website: MFSO is "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."

From Connie Moss:

Thank you all for being here on this Mother's Day Sunday.  I'm happy to be here and to represent Military Families Speak Out and the 500 some families who have loved ones who have or will be ordered to the Persian Gulf.

Two families who have sons in the United States military founded MFSO at the end of November 2002 following a chance meeting at the march on Washington in October.  Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessin, with a son in the Marines, and Jeff McKenzie, who has a son in the Army founded, MFSO. Nancy, Charley and Jeff realized military families who are opposed to war and the politics of the Bush regime, possessed unique needs for understanding and support.

MFSO members represent every branch of the armed services. Membership includes Latino/latina families, Arab-American families, African-American families, Asian-American families, and others.

Military family members have spoken out against Bush's imperialism on web boards, in newspapers and magazines, at local and national rallies and co-led marches with Veterans for Peace.  I have to admit that when one has a loved one in the military yet is against the Bush regime's yearning for world domination, it takes certain courage to speak publicly about our stand. While MFSO members have received many letters of support and encouragement from across the nation and around the globe, some have received hate mail, been threatened and assaulted.  There happens to be a woman, a stranger to me, somewhere in the Richmond area who, by mail, told that she was praying for my soul.  But I don't have to return the favor because we all know that this woman is going to make it in to Heaven simply by virtue of her flag decal.

As I sat thinking of what I wanted most to convey to you, I thought of the many other military families, the moms and dads, the spouses, the brothers and sisters, who have shared their fears and their anger with one another.  I reached out, via the web board, asking for those who might be willing, to share some of the feelings they've experienced over the past months, many knowing that they may never again see their loved one. 

I received replies from many, eager to share, not just with me, but eager to share their thoughts with you on this Mother's Day for Peace.   As I read each of the stories from these families, I knew that I could never communicate to you, in my own words, the emotions, the fears, and the strength.

More here.


Posted: Sat - May 8, 2004 at 10:54 AM          

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