[act-ma] Fri. 3/27 - Veterans Speak Out: We Need Jobs & Schools, Not War!

[Chris Gonsalves]

 ***please forward widely***

*Veterans Speak Out: We Need Jobs & Schools, Not War!
*

*Featuring:*
James Circello, Sergeant, U.S. Army, 2001-2007, AWOL April-November 2007,
“Operation: Iraqi Freedom” veteran
Priscilla Lounds, Specialist, U.S. Army, 1986-1989

*Friday, March 27th - 7:00 PM
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston St. - Copley Square
Green Line to Copley Sq., Orange Line to Back Bay, #8, 39 bus to Copley Sq*

Facebook Event<http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/event.php?eid=70818966517&ref=mf>|
Boston.com
Listing<http://calendar.boston.com/boston-ma/events/show/86623604-veterans-speak-out-we-need-jobs-schools-not-war>

Just last month alone, 5,000 jobs were lost across the state of
Massachusetts. The unemployment and home foreclosure rates in Roxbury and
Dorchester are five times higher than the city average. Several Boston
public schools are closing and college students face skyrocketing costs. In
too many neighborhoods, military recruiters outnumber college recruiters.

Thousands in Boston, and millions across the country, are struggling daily.
All the while, nearly $1 billion is spent yearly on prisons and the police
in the Boston area, and the Pentagon war budget exceeds $1 trillion dollars
annually.
*
Please join us to hear from veterans their perspective on the continuing
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the struggle of working people in the U.S. and
discuss how we can fight back and win real change.*

*Meet James:*
James enlisted in the Army in September 2001 and was deployed with the 173rd
Airborne Brigade during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His experience there
strengthened his occupation to the so-called “War on Terror”. In 2007,
rather than accept deployment to Afghanistan, James went AWOL for 8 months,
speaking out against the war along the Gulf Coast to Hurricane Katrina
survivors.

Of his experience in Iraq, James writes: “...the truth about what the United
States government has done to the country of Iraq became more apparent. Open
waste water flowed through neighborhood streets where children played
soccer. Families were thrown out of their homes with simple accusations from
others. Vehicles were taken on sight by the military if individuals couldn't
provide proper documents claiming they own the vehicle.”

James is active with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and the Veterans
and Service Members Task Force of the A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition<http://www.march21vets.org/>,
in Washington D.C.

*Meet Priscilla:*
Priscilla joined the army at 22 because she had a dead-end job and no money
for college. After three years of experiencing widespread racism and sexism,
she refused to continue in the army and received an honorable discharge.

Of her time in the Army, Priscilla says: “I experienced firsthand how the
command strategically pits one soldier against the other based on race,
nationality, religion and gender.“

Today, Priscilla is active with the Veterans and Service Members Task Force
of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition <http://www.march21vets.org/>, in Connecticut.

*Hosted by:* The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) - Boston.  The PSL
is a member group of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.

*For more information:* 857.334.5084 |
Boston at SocialismandLiberation.org | PSLWeb.org
<http://www.pslweb.org/>
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