Please read this letter received May 22, 2020 from Rev. Shawna Foster, IVAW/About Face Member since 2006 and then visit the beautiful memorial website.

Two days of the year are very difficult for me: Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. Like many military-connected families and communities, I feel the pain of regret and loss about the people we’ve lost – both the people I knew who have died and the people overseas. As a Veteran of wars since 9/11, the pain is compounded by the knowledge that these wars were a sham.

These wars should have never started; they should not still be going on.

Memorial Day is so hard because this is the day when I hear many people talk about how we have to honor the war dead and what they fought for – and I think to myself – didn’t they want the wars to end? Didn’t they want peace? What about the families and communities that continue to be destroyed by our actions?

In this pain, I remember the ones who have died speaking bravely against the wars after serving in them. Those who turned the spotlight away from themselves as veterans to the innocent people who are the most impacted by these wars- the Black, Brown, Indigenous Peoples all over the world, including on this land. I honor all those who have died, and I lift the stories of those our society never dares to talk about – the stories of the anti-war troops and veterans.

We know that these wars are not endless by accident and neither is the erasure of those willing to tell the truth about them. Telling the truth – that the deaths we mourn (and don’t mourn) on Memorial Day, were for greed and power, not freedom – is one of the most powerful things we can do to unravel the lies and ignite the power we hold as the anti-war majority.

This Memorial Day, take a moment to learn and share about the lives, quotes, and stories of fallen About Face: Veterans Against the War members in a special online memorial. Share stories about those that have inspired you and paste this link on your social media so that others can be inspired as well.

Thank you for being part of this special community that can remember our people and don’t use death as a reason to justify more death through the oppressive powers of imperialism, colonialism, racism, militarism, violence, and war. On Memorial Day, share the stories of the people who fought against a culture of death and despair; who made art, music, spoke truth to power, and turned us towards life. In their memory, I choose to work for peace, especially for the people who have been the most impacted by endless war. On this somber holiday, I’m grateful to do this work with you.