FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Military Families Available for
Interview

November 10, 2010
Contact: Samantha Miller
818-419-6994, Samantha@mfso.org

On Veteran’s Day, Military Families Remember the True
Costs of War

This Thursday, much of the country will commemorate Veterans Day with the usual mix of parades, ceremonies, and clearance sales. For families with loved in ones in the military, those caring for recently returned veterans, and those grieving for loved ones who died as a result of their military service, this day has a much more personal meaning. Members of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), the largest organization of military families to speak out against war in the history of the U.S., are asking that
this Veteran’s Day, Americans look at what the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing each and every one of us.

Military families pay the ultimate cost of the wars: their loved ones serving multiple deployments to efforts that are not making us safer, returning home to limited job prospects and inadequate care, or not
returning home at all Every American, however, is paying the costs of wars whether they realize it or not. In
fiscal year 2011, it is projected that American taxpayers will contribute $119.4 billion towards the war in Afghanistan.[i] While the Pentagon has submitted a proposal to increase their budget by $500 billion in the next 10 years, the Obama administration is proposing a 3 year freeze on “discretionary spending,” the money which goes towards things like transportation, education, and housing.

“For the countless Americans whose lives have not been touched by these wars, Veteran’s Day is a convenient once-a-year effort to express support and reverence for our troops. For us, a family who has borne the cost, Veteran’s Day is just another day of pain, grief, and anxiety,” said Adele Kubein of Corvallis, Oregon, “We had to fight for five years just to get complete medical care for my disabled veteran. Where is the support and reverence when we need it?”

Adele’s daughter served in Iraq with the Army National Guard and became disabled as a result of her service.

Oregon is one of 48 states currently experiencing a state budget crisis, and has undergone cuts in state money for education and wage cuts and furloughs for state employees[ii]. Meanwhile, taxpayers in Corvallis, Oregon will contribute $17 million towards the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2011[iii].

Members of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out are available for interviews about Veterans Day and the cost of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you are looking for a family with a specific story, please contact Samantha Miller, MFSO’s Communications Coordinator, for more information – Samantha@mfso.org, 818-419-6994

MFSO is a national organization of thousands of military families working to bring all U.S. troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, secure the care that our troops, veterans, and military families need, and support a foreign policy that will not lead us into such wars again. Gold Star Families Speak
Out is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out made up of families whose loved ones died as a result of these wars.

MFSO has just launched a new national campaign, The True Costs of War, highlighting the human and financial costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Using online tools, local events, media outreach and grassroots lobbying, we will be working to strengthen the voices of military families and build alliances with other organizations who agree that our troops and tax dollars belong at home.

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit: http://www.mfso.org

For more information about Gold Star Families Speak Out, please visit http://www.gsfso.org