Veterans For Peace Chapter 74, located in the Metro Detroit area (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Monroe Counties), is named in honor is named in honor of Michael Gramlich and Steve Saelzler, two local VFP members. Michael was a southeast Michigan veteran who for over 40 yeas was a leading-edge peace activist. Michael's quest for peace began in earnest following his experiences with atomic bomb tests in Nevada.  Likewise, Steve was also a local peace advocate and a Vietnam Veteran who lived to make a more peaceful world. 

 

Veterans For Peace itself seeks to increasing public awareness of the costs of war, restrain our government from intervening in the affairs of other nations, reduce the arms race as well as eliminating nuclear weapons, and to abolish war as an instrument of international policy.

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Meetings & Events

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Veterans For Peace Chapter 74 Online Meeting – Monday, June 12th, 2023 – 7:30pm

The Monday, June 12th Veterans For Peace Chapter 74 meeting will be by Zoom teleconference only starting at 7:30pm. There will be no face-to-face meeting. To participate, five minutes before the 7:30pm meeting start time, click on this link...

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84588652985?pwd=UTVtN2NXOUUwYllNRldrVXNCMUZXZz09

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To join the meeting by telephone only, call 312-626-6799 and when prompted, enter a Meeting ID of 845 8865 2985 and a passcode (if prompted) of 215189. Anyone can participate in this meeting, or any other VFP Chapter 74 event, be they veteran or not. Please consider attending this online meeting and help our VFP Chapter grow and become more active! The meeting agenda will be published here by May 2nd. The meeting agenda is below...​

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June 12 VFP Chapter 74 Meeting Agenda

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Current VFP Chapter 74 Newsletter

The May 2023  VFP 74 Newsletter can be downloaded and viewed online in both a PDF and Word format. (click link to download a newsletter document). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Memorial Day VFP Arlington Michigan Display In Downtown Detroit

Veterans For Peace (VFP) Chapters 74 (www.vfp74.org) and 93 (www.vfp93.org) have again joined forces to set up the VFP Arlington Michigan display of one marker for all the 230 Michigan soldiers killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29th, at downtown Detroit’s Grand Circus Park from 11am to 5pm.  

 

Each marker displayed has the photo, name, age, rank, and unit of the 68 Michigan soldiers killed in Afghanistan and 162 killed in Iraq. The purpose of the display is to honor those who have fallen, provide a place to grieve, educate the public about the costs of war as well as the needs of those returning from war.

 

The Grand Circus Park display location is at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and East Adams Avenue (map link at https://goo.gl/maps/MjhWcB4ospmmwwFu6). And being a federal holiday, on-street parking is free in the city of Detroit.

 

For photos of previous Veterans For Peace Arlington Michigan Memorial Day displays, visit www.vfp74.org/gallery. For more on the Arlington Michigan project visit https://www.vfp93.org/arlington-michigan.

 

​Memorial Day Moment Of Remembrance At 3pm – Please Take Part!

The National Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, (May 29, 2023), to pause for a duration of one minute to remember those who have died in military service to the United States. This will be held at the Arlington Michigan display and if you can’t attend, have your own silent moment.

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This Is What Memorial Day Is About 

We were going to put some thought-provoking opinions about Memorial Day but then came across this article from The War Horse (https://thewarhorse.org/about/), an award-winning nonprofit newsroom and the most trusted source for bulletproof reporting

on the human impact of, and true cost of military service.

 

Please take a few minutes reading this as this is what really Memorial Day is about…

https://thewarhorse.org/waking-up-as-the-gold-star-child-of-an-american-soldier/

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Update - Golden Rule Sailboat Visit To Detroit Update

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Plans are coming together for the VFP sail/peace-boat “Golden Rule”, which in 1958 set sail to stop nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands is currently travelling in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. and expects to be docking at the downtown Detroit Milliken State Park marina on August 13th and departing August 17th.  

 

During its stay in Detroit, the Golden Rule will be on display at the Milliken marina during daylight hours with evenings dedicated to crewmembers giving presentations about the history, and the reason for the current cruise…   to advance Veterans For Peace opposition to nuclear weapons and war, and to do so in a dramatic fashion.

 

The Metro Detroit VFP Chapter 74 is teaming with Chapter 93 (south central Michigan) to sponsor, and help staff, activities surrounding the visit to Detroit. Anyone interested in planning this Detroit event should attend our Chapter online  meetings or contact Bruce Baran at bpbaran@gmail.com. Also, there will be a real need of donations to keep the Golden Rule operating and also pay for expenses associated with the Detroit stop (lodging, local transportation, meals, etc.). Specific ways to make donations will be posted in a Golden Rule update on VFP Chapter 74 & 93’s web and Facebook pages in late April as well as special edition Chapter newsletters.

 

For more information on the Golden Rule, along with an interactive map, visit https://vfpgoldenruleproject.org. Their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GoldenRulePeaceBoat

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Saelzler Memorial Donations

If you would like to make a donation in honor of Steve Saelzler, the deceased Chair of Veterans For Peace Chapter 74, please consider supporting the Wayne State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies - https://cpcs.wayne.edu. The goal of the Center is to develop and implement projects, programs, curricula, research, and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social justice, arms control, globalization, multicultural awareness, and constructive conflict resolution. Steve made a number of visits to peace and conflict resolution classes, talking about his experiences in the military, why he joined Veterans For Peace and urging students to apply for Peace Studies Scholarships offered by Michigan VFP Chapter 93 (https://www.vfp93.org/peace-scholarship). Donations can be sent to Wayne State University, PO Box 674602, Detroit, MI 48267-4602. Also, please make the check out to Wayne State Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and put in the memo "deposit into index 225476." Thank you!

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​Ideas For Non-Violent Action

​​​​In these difficult times, these 198 methods of nonviolent action have all been used in historical instances of nonviolent struggle - http://www.mapm.org/documents/198_nonviolent_methods_2007.pdf

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​Vietnam War - Full Disclosure

​The Full Disclosure campaign is a Veterans For Peace effort to speak truth to power and keep alive the antiwar perspective on the American war in Vietnam -- which is now approaching a series of 50th anniversary events. It represents a clear alternative to the Pentagon's current efforts to sanitize and mythologize the Vietnam war and to thereby legitimize further unnecessary and destructive wars. The Full Disclosure web site - www.vietnamfulldisclosure.org - has sections on the Vietnam War Chronology, Educational Resources, Advocacy and more.

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​If you are a veteran, or know of a veteran that needs help...

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