Texas Labor Against the War

This month we lost a great friend and a longtime supporter of Under the Hood.  Nel LeBar passed away on January 30, 2011 surrounded by her family after losing a battle with cancer. In the words of Nel’s granddaughter:  ”Nel lived a life of grace and love. Her absence will leave no small hole for those who called her friend, which includes her family. Those who knew her were changed by her, and those who met her were inspired. Her legacy will live on in the memories and hearts that carry her spirit always. She didn’t waste one moment here on Earth and demonstrated love in everything that she did. Her gentle soul that longed for peace has finally found it.”

Under the Hood has teamed up with IVAW in support of Operation Recovery.   Join Iraq Veterans Against the War and Under the Hood in our effort to stop the deployment of troops suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Military Sexual Trauma.  By signing our pledge, you agree to do what you can to defend our right to heal and to hold accountable those responsible for the deployment of traumatized troops.  We need your help to build the Operation Recovery Campaign.  You can take the pledge at www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery.

Your continued support of Under the Hood allows us to continue our important work in Killeen. Whether you are making a one-time donation or want to sign up as a sustainer, it’s easy to contribute through PayPal.  

 January, 2011

Staff and volunteers with Under the Hood are starting off the year with renewed energy!

As the wars drag on in Afghanistan and Iraq, the new year reminds us that we must renew our commitment to peace, so we are starting off the year with a busy schedule.  In coordination with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), here are a few things that we have on our calendar for January and February:

 IVAW/Veterans for Peace Joint Meeting, January 22nd 1p.m. at Under the Hood Cafe: Bringing together the pro-soldier anti-war veteran community in Central Texas.  Opportunities to get to know one another, discuss upcoming events and dates, and to discuss active duty outreach. Consider getting involved at the start to help make history at Fort Hood this year.

Those interested in this training should RSVP Kyle at [email protected].

 

Outreach Action – From the 24th of January through the middle of February IVAW Fort Hood and Under the Hood Cafe are going to be heavily focused on outreach to the 1st Cavalry Division that will be deploying 3,500 soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq. This mobilization is part of a deployment of 23,000 soldiers from across the country to Afghanistan to replace the 101st Airborne that are set to return in February.

This outreach will conclude with a highly visible action that will include “harass the brass” tactics and messages that include:

We know that the command of the 1st Cav. is deploying wounded soldiers.

We know that this is a violation of these soldiers’ right to heal.

We want you to know that you are not alone.

You have a right to heal and you do not have to deploy with PTSD. 

 

In addition to these upcoming activities, here are a couple of things that have already happened so far this month:

 Cindy Thomas, Manager with Under the Hood, talks about the suicide rates at Fort Hood and the lack of support that soldiers receive when suffering with PTSD.  Check out her interview with Channel 10 News (KWTX) in Waco here.

 

Under the Hood recently hosted a slam poetry night.  It was a success, and now staff and volunteers are considering some writing workshops!

Your continued support of Under the Hood allows us to continue our important work in Killeen. Whether you are making a one-time donation or want to sign up as a sustainer, it’s easy to contribute through PayPal. 

The Fort Hood Support Network (FHSN) operates Under the Hood Café and Outreach Center. FHSN is a Texas non-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Donations may be treated as tax-deductible.

Fort Hood Support Network is proud to inform its supporters that Under the Hood recently received a $300 grant from RESIST Inc. In addition, Under the Hood is working with the War Resisters League who recently received funding to provide support to GI coffeehouses across the U.S. If you know of other grant opportunities, please feel free to contact us. We are always looking for opportunities to increase our base of support.

Interested in sharing some of your time and talents with Under the Hood?  We are always happy for support in any form.  Along with monetary support to keep our doors open, we can always use other forms of assistance.  If you believe that you can provide support in some way, please feel free to contact us.  We’d be happy to put you to work!

Under the Hood Update is on Facebook.  Become a fan!  You can find archived issues and connect with other fans of Under the Hood.  Visit our Facebook page by clicking here.

Hoodstock Flashback to benefit Under the Hood
6-11 p.m., Sunday, November 14, 2010 at Jovita’s, 1617 South 1st St., Austin, Texas. $10 requested.

Featuring Barbara K., Karen Abrahams, Sugar Bayou, Thom Moon 10, Andrew Crosby, Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, Sally Allen, Chris Van Loan, Daniel Cioper, Will T. Massey, Beth Galiger, and Richard Bowden!

In the spirit of the Oleo Strut, Under The Hood is a place for soldiers to gather, relax and speak freely about the wars and the military. Support services for soldiers include referrals for counseling, legal advice and information on GI rights.

In Killeen, near Fort Hood, Under The Hood needs your donations and support!

http://www.underthehoodcafe.org/

Fort Hood suicide rate four times the national average?  Austin activist and Under the Hood Cafe volunteer Jim Turpin takes another look at the escalating crisis of GI suicides and PTSD.

Under the Hood Café near Ft. Hood in Killeen Texas is a place where active duty GIs and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan can discuss the debilitating effects of war. Photo from Under the Hood / Flickr.

Texas’ Fort Hood sets the pace:

PTSD and suicides in the military
are at an all-time high

By Jim Turpin / The Rag Blog / October 27, 2010

KILLEEN, Texas — Even with the spin from the current administration that the “war is over” in Iraq, it is well known that 50,000 combat-ready troops remain in the country. Add to that a recent deployment of 2,000 troops from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood in Texas. At present almost 100,000 troops remain in Afghanistan.

With the total number of U.S. military personnel cycling through both Afghanistan and Iraq at almost 1.8 million, and with the RAND corporation estimating that 18% have PTSD (which is deemed low by some experts), this would put the returning numbers with PTSD at 324,000.

A recent article in The New York Times confirms what the organizers of the Killeen-based GI coffeehouse Under the Hood Café have been battling at Fort Hood for the last year and a half: suicides are at the highest point since 2008, with 14 confirmed suicides since the beginning of 2010. In one recent weekend, there were three suicides and one murder-suicide at Fort Hood.

With the population at Fort Hood ranging from 46,000 to 50,000 soldiers at any given time, the rate of suicide is four times the national average, based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates of 11.5 suicides per 100,000 people.

The repeated deployment of military personnel who suffer from both physical and psychological wounds has led to these all-time high suicide rates. A recent article in the American Journal of Public Health studied 2,500 New Jersey National Guardsmen and determined “deployed soldiers were more than three times as likely as soldiers with no previous deployments to screen positive for post traumatic stress disorder.”

Despite these staggering statistics, the Fort Hood command continues to find ways to deny soldiers their right to receive necessary mental health services. Several soldiers have come forward recently with reports of harassment, undue punishment, and interference when seeking these necessary services.

A number of examples include:

• The imprisonment of SPC. Eric Jasinski in March 2010. Jasinski, who was suffering from PTSD, refused redeployment to Iraq based on this condition. It was feared that Jasinski’s confinement could interfere with his ability to receive his prescribed medications. Eric’s attorney James Branum stated, “He was seeing a psychiatrist for his condition and prescribed Zoloft for depression and Trazadone to get to sleep, and they handed him his gun and told him to go back to Iraq.”
• The deployment of 50 soldiers from Ft. Hood with physical (knee, back, and shoulder issues due to bomb blasts) and psychological (PTSD/TBI) issues in June 2010 to the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California. Combat training for those soldiers with verified PTSD and other anxiety disorders runs counterintuitive to generally accepted psychiatric practices.
• Recent reports from soldiers at Ft. Hood suffering from PTSD and substance abuse who are being given extra work loads or are being kept from dealing with additional personal crises at home. Issues they are confronted with include being given medication only (instead of counseling) or being ignored by the chain of command when they request assistance.

Veteran deaths also surge after discharge from the military and are often the result of vehicle accidents, motorcycle crashes, drug overdoses, or other causes. An article this month in The New York Times discusses the huge number of veteran deaths attributed to destructive, risky, and lethal behaviors:

“The data show that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were two and a half times as likely to commit suicide as Californians of the same age with no military service. They were twice as likely to die in a vehicle accident and five and a half times as likely to die in a motorcycle accident. These numbers are truly alarming and should wake up the whole country,” said United States Representative Bob Filner, Democrat of San Diego, who is the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“They show a failure of our policy.”

The Under the Hood Café and Outreach Center, the GI coffeehouse located near Ft. Hood, Texas, the largest military base in the U.S., offers GIs a free speech zone. It provides a non-military environment that allows active duty GIs and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to discuss the debilitating effects of war. Under the Hood offers free referrals for medical and psychological services and legal assistance for those soldiers who are resisting redeployment to war zones.

To benefit its ongoing efforts in support of GIs, veterans, and military families, Under the Hood is having a “Hoodstock Flashback” concert (see graphic below) on Sunday, November 14, from 6-11 p.m. at Jovita’s in Austin. Admission is $10 at the door and includes such artists as Barbara K, Karen Abrahams, Will T. Massey, and Richard Bowden.

[Jim Turpin is a native Austinite and member of CodePink Austin. He also volunteers for the GI coffeehouse Under the Hood Café at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas.]

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/alice-embree-war-is-over.html

Texas Labor Against the War joined other groups in a press conference highlighted by Texas State Representative Lon Burnam of Fort Worth and Iraqi-American Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, at Under the Hood Outreach Center and Cafe on Monday, August 30, 2010.  For the full Killeen Daily Herald story, go to http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=44003

RALLY FOR PEACE

By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald
August 30, 2010

Peace activists gathered in Killeen Monday morning to speak out against U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The event, which was hosted at Killeen’s Under the Hood Café, focused on Iraq and the president’s recent announcement that U.S. combat operations ended there today. Speakers also questioned the deployment of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment to Iraq. The final of several thousand of the regiment’s troopers departed Fort Hood for the Middle East Friday in what military officials call an advise-and-assist mission. Those soldiers will assist Provincial Reconstruction Teams and help prepare Iraqi security forces to care for and protect their own nation.

The 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team will deploy soon for the same mission.

Central Texas activists were in town Aug. 23 to protest the regiment’s deployment. As buses carried soldiers from main post to West Fort Hood’s Robert Gray Army Airfield, demonstrators waited on the overpass with their headlights turned off, according to information from Fort Hood and videos posted on YouTube by participants.

As the buses drove south on Clarke Road Gate at about 3:40 a.m., the demonstrators held up banners and chanted. Several blocked the buses’ path for a short time.

“Acting to protect Department of Defense personnel and equipment, Fort Hood police moved the demonstrators away from the intersection to the sidewalk,” read a statement from Fort Hood.
Individuals were released without incident and the bus convoy continued to the airfield, it went on to read.

Post officials did have advance knowledge about the demonstration, they said.

Monday’s speakers included Cynthia Thomas, Under the Hood manager; Rep. Lon Burnam, a Democrat from Fort Worth and former director of the Dallas Peace Center; Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, a peace activist of Muslim and Jewish heritage; Larry Egly, of the Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA; and Leslie Cunningham, of Texas Labor Against the War.

CodePink Austin, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace were also represented.

Monday’s event was just one of two in Central Texas “aimed at peeling back the mass deception surrounding ‘the end of combat operations,’” according to information from Under the Hood. The first was a talk in Austin Sunday featuring Wasfi.

Most Americans are lulled to sleep because they think the war is over, Burnam said. He attacked Presidents Bush and Obama, saying the “expansionist” war was an illegal and immoral occupation — something that was fiscally wrong to start seven years ago.

Burnam heavily criticized the Iraq war’s financial burden on the country, saying it was wrong for Bush to start two “outrageous” wars while providing tax cuts. Burnam said he was tired of officials using the “financial back of us working folks” to fund conflicts, and quoted a 1953 speech by President Dwight Eisenhower: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

It is time for Obama to end the occupation, end tax cuts for the rich and cure a deficit that will hurt “our children and grandchildren,” Burnam went on to say.

Thomas said Under the Hood started a telephone campaign to make sure non-deployable soldiers were not deployed. The organization has previously worked with soldiers and families from the regiment who said they were not fit to deploy.

The administration and command know there aren’t enough soldiers to cover two wars, Thomas said, and they continue to ignore family members and soldiers instead of focusing on their well-being.

“This community is not going to be able to survive it much longer,” she said.

The 1 percent of the U.S. population in uniform are the ones fighting and paying the most, Thomas said.

If people really wanted to support the troops, they would be fighting for them to come home, she added.

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at [email protected] or (254) 501-7547. Follow her on Twitter at KDHmilitary or www.facebook.com/astairrett.

For more information

Under the Hood is located at 17 S. College St. It is open daily from 5 to 10 p.m. Visit the café online at www.underthehoodcafe.org.

For more information about Texas Labor Against the War, visit www.txlaboragainstwar.org or call (512) 470-8485.

Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA can be found online at http://peace.mennolink.org.

RIVETING VIDEO!!! by Jeff Zavala:  Direct action at Fort Hood and resistence against deployment of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment to Iraq, by veterans and military family members, Aug. 22, 2010.

Fort Hood resistance against deployment of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment to Iraq

see Jeff on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ZGraphix?v=wall&story_fbid=148285151858699#!/ZGraphix?v=wall and at http://www.zgraphix.org/

more info on this action:  http://txlaboragainstwar.org/2010/08/23/501/