Join MFSO, Veterans for Peace, and many others in demonstrating to prevent escalation and to bring our troops home.

As the nation was stunned by the horrific tragedies that left 13 dead and 30 wounded on Ft. Hood yesterday, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) and Gold Star Families Speak Out (GSFSO) would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to our fellow Military Families and those who love them. Upon first hearing about such attacks, our stress as military families intensifies, and we experience a range of emotions: the panic that it is our loved one who has been attacked, the guilty relief if our loved one escaped the bullet this time, the sorrow for those of us who suffer and face the incalculable loss of losing forever those we nurture and love.

As the facts unfold, military families on Ft. Hood and across the nation are experiencing the fear, pain, and loss that many of us thought were only associated with the battlefield, not time at home. One month before Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, he said, “The bombs in Vietnam explode at home….”

The boots arranged on the Ellipse October 3, 2009

Military Families Speak Out and our allies, the American Friends Service Committee, Veterans for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against the War, mounted an exhibit of 856 pairs of boots to represent each US soldier killed in Afghanistan, plus a spiral of civilian shoes to represent the Afghan civilians who have lost their lives in the eight years since the war began. Thousands of visitors viewed the exhibition on October 3 and 4, 2009. Barack Obama's convoy roared past as well. Please see photos and a TV news clip about the story.

On the heels of a very successful National Assembly we have more exciting news to share with you!

Last Friday, August 21, 2009, a delegation from Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) was invited to the White House for what we hope will be the very important first step to a deepening relationship with the Obama Administration and the opportunity to share our voices as Military Families and to bring our families’ realities of these wars to light.

The delegation of MFSO members met with Tina Tchen, Director of the Office of Public Engagement, and two other officials from that office. The meeting, in the West Wing of the White House, had been swiftly pulled together by MFSO member and chapter leader Paula Rogovin, working with her Congressman Steve Rothman (NJ).

Click here to read more about this exciting meeting at The White House

Online social networking continues to grow and so does Military Families Speak Out!  If you haven’t visited our Facebook page lately check it out.  Become a friend of MFSO to receive action alerts, view photos of MFSO members in action and connect with other Military families online!