Swords to Plowshares Memorial Bell Tower: Info
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“Swords to Plowshares Belltower - Washington D.C. or Bust! May 14-27, 2015 “Info: Urgent Request
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https://www.facebook.com/STPBelltower
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2014 - Memorial Day - NCSU Memorial Bell Tower
Nov 8th, 2014: Roger has secured a permit to erect the Swords to Plowshares Bell Tower on the Capitol Grounds this coming weekend for Veterans/Armistice Day events. We plan to meet on the south side of the Capitol at 9:30am Friday, Nov 7 to unload and set up the tower, which will take 4--5 hours, with a press conference at 5:00pm featuring Marine Corps vets Sam Winstead, Matthew Hoh, and Ray Buchanan. Ray, a Vietnam vet who lives in Virginia, is also a United Methodist Church minister and founder of Stop Hunger Now. We are launching a pledge drive to raise funds for unexploded ordnance and Agent Orange remediation in Vietnam. The Bell Tower permit runs through Tuesday, Nov 11. We will hold simultaneous bell ringing ceremonies starting at 10:30am on Tuesday at the Bell Tower in Raleigh and at Long Memorial Methodist Church on Main Street in Roxboro. Cary artist's exhibit reminds us of the cost of war By Bob Geary ---------- Group wants to end war, not glorify it, with traveling memorial in Raleigh BY MARTHA QUILLIN photo1 photo2 photo3 photo4
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Aug 23rd We plan to set up the mobile Swords to Plowshares Memorial Belltower at the NCSU Bell Tower early in the morning on the day of the event, Sat, August 23th, starting around 6 a.m., the event goes until 10 p.m. and we can use help staffing the VFP tent and STP Belltower throughout the festival, setting-up and taking-down!
The most important time for VFP folks to plan to be there is at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday the 23th to be ready for the 2 p.m. formal opening ceremony (proudly wearing their VFP shirts and hats and carrying the VFP flags of course.) "Parade of Flags" down Hillsborough St is 2:30- 3:00 p.m. Directions and parking information are at weblink below. The whole event should be fun even for those who aren't crazed pack fans, but folks should allow extra time for parking .http://packapalooza.ncsu.edu/
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Veterans For Peace national convention in Asheville
Barbara Blake, bblake@citzen-times.com 6:27 p.m. EDT July 26, 2014
(Photo: Bill Sanders , wsanders@citizen-times.com )
ASHEVILLE – Since 1985, U.S. military veterans who served their country with honor have worked collectively through the nonprofit Veterans for Peace to change the way Americans view wars and their physical, mental and financial costs.
Several hundred veterans and nonveteran allies from across the country have been in Asheville this week for the grassroots organization’s 29th national convention, based at UNC Asheville and including some 40 workshops and a variety of speakers, panel discussions, documentary film screenings and other events.
These veterans, whose service ranges from World War II and Vietnam to modern-day Iraq, defy the image of stoic soldiers saluting authority without question. Following their own military experiences, members of VFP now work to educate the public, advocate for a dismantling of the war economy, provide services that assist veterans and victims of war and, most significantly, work toward an end to all wars.
The display tables in the lobby of Lipinsky Auditorium were packed with literature about drones, nuclear warfare, corporate personhood, the military industrial complex and the lasting effects of Agent Orange, along with a vast array of T-shirts with somber messages and books ranging from Vonnegut’s “A Man Without a Country” to Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience.”
Veterans for Peace member Jim Ryerson, who served six years in the Air Force and is now a documentary filmmaker in Los Angeles, said it was only after working for years as a professional journalist that he began to see “how a lot of lies were being told, and that started me getting more and more interested in the information blockade in this country.”
“All of these people have given part of their lives for the government. We had Vietnam, then suddenly we see ourselves involved in Iraq and Afghanistan, and these young people had no idea … so many went in and lost their lives for something that was a lie.”
Albert Penta, now retired and living in Seattle, served 10 years in the Navy before leaving as a conscientious objector in 1969 “because I didn’t want to be part of the war machine any longer.”
As the two men sat on the quad during a break in Saturday’s activities, they noted that many veterans in the VFP organization have a particular area of interest, “but there is an overall connection among all of us around the basic issue of war and peace, and the truthfulness of the government and the truthfulness of the media,” Penta said.
“It feels horrible to see these young people pulled off into the same garbage (in Iraq) as in Vietnam, and the membership of this group wants to reach out to young people and say we’re with you and we know you were lied to,” Ryerson said.
Penta referred to the saying, “Speak truth to power,” and said Veterans for Peace is “holding up an alternate vision” in which members work to restrain the U.S. government from intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, to end the arms race and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy.
Marie Combs, of Asheville, who served eight years in the Navy and is the mother of two young children, said she feels sadness and even guilt sometimes that, unlike mothers in war-torn countries, she can count on waking up each day, having breakfast and going to work without worrying about her family’s home being bombed in the night.
Volunteering at the convention, Combs said, was one small way she could contribute to the overall goal of peace in the world. She added that work of Veterans for Peace serves to “help dismiss the idea that veterans are just ‘yes men’ and ‘yes women’ who all believe whatever we’re told.”
“Many of us have our eyes open,” she said, “and we see what’s going on.”
VETERANS FOR PEACE
The 29th national convention of Veterans For Peace concludes Sunday with veterans serving breakfast to the poor and homeless in Pritchard Park from 8:30-9:30 a.m., followed by a Peace Walk at 9:30 a.m. and speakers and a closing ceremony downtown from 9:45 a.m.-noon.
Contact Asheville Chapter 99 of Veterans For Peace at 258-1800.
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Armistice Bells/Swords to Plowshares Centennial Tour
The goal of the project is to strategically deploy a mobile Armistice Bell Tower and 'Swords to Plowshares' Peoples History Exhibit as part of publicity and organizing efforts leading up to the November 11, 2018 Centennial of the Armistice.
The components of the tower and exhibit will be designed so that they can be assembled in no more than a day by a few volunteers, be left outside for days on end, and be stored and transported on a trailer that can be pulled by a medium-size truck or SUV. The tower will be covered with over 1000 shimmering aluminum 'bricks' suspended from wires stretched across a light metal framework. Four four-sided nestable tiers will reach a height of about 34 feet when assembled. The shape will be roughly reminiscent of the iconic World War I-era belltower located on the campus of NC State University, with a replica of the bronze door at its base inscribed with the words, “And They Shall Beat Swords into Plowshares”. Author and creator Roger Ehrlich.
Memorial Day Weekend Dedication
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES BELL TOWER
MAY 23- 26, 2014
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Have You or Your Family Been Affected by War?
Veterans For Peace invite the public to join them this Memorial Day weekend for the unveiling of a touring 'Swords to Plowshares Bell Tower1 which will be dedicated to ALL victims of war, regardless of race, faith, or nation.
Friday Dedication Ceremony: 5:00pm, May 23 - NCSU Bell Tower Memorial Day Ceremony: 5 pm Monday, May 26 - NCSU Memorial Bell Tower Memorial Evening Readings, Poetry and Song - 7pm, May 26 - Pullen Memorial Baptist Church
The 24-foot tall touring tower was inspired by the prophetic words on the bronze door of the WWI-era Memorial Bell Tower at NCSU, and is covered with shimmering aluminum leaves. The tour commemorates the 2014 Centennial of WWI, and 100 years of failure of "War To End All War". Wherever the tower appears, veterans and victims of war of different national origins will ring the bell and share stories of how their families have been traumatized by war. It is hoped that an honest dialogue about the costs of war may help victims heal and veterans recover from the "moral injury" which has been linked to an epidemic of veteran suicides.
Throughout a weekend vigil visitors will be encouraged to meditate, write and speak on two topical questions:
Please contact NCVeteransForPeace(a)gmail.com for further information on events and sharing of stories.
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Memorial Day Weekend Dedication
Josh Shaffer's excellent article in today's News and Observer at A different Memorial Day monument at NCSU
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