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.

​

Meetings & Events

​

Veterans For Peace Chapter 74 Online August/September Meeting – Thursday, August 30th, 2023 – 7:30pm

This will be a combination August and September Chapter 74 meeting and 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/86046115171

 

To join the meeting by telephone only, call 312-626-6799 and when prompted, enter a Meeting ID of ID: 860 4611 5171.  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 is as follows…

 

1. Introductions and welcome

   1. Members and guests present

2. General business

   1. Membership report

   2. Chapter reorganization & outreach

   3. Other

3. Old Business

   1. VFP Golden Rule sailboat visit to Detroit

   2. VFP climate change actions

   3. Other

4. New Business

   1. Other

5. Upcoming events

6. Next meeting date

7. Adjournment

​

​Current VFP Chapter 74 Newsletter

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

​

VFP Golden Rule Visit Detroit/Southeast Michigan Report

On a very pleasant Detroit Sunday afternoon of August 13th, the Golden Rule arrived at the Milliken State Park and Harbor marina at 5:30pm and was met with VFP members, peace & justice activists and also the Detroit Party Marching Band - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Party_Marching_Band.

 

For Monday and Tuesday, August 14th and 15th the crew of the Golden Rule gave tours of the sailboat from 11am to 4pm and then gave evening presentations in Ann Arbor and Lansing on the history of the boat, it restoration and 2nd life spreading the word of the need for nuclear weapon banishment.

 

While the original plan was to have the Golden Rule to overnight in Detroit on Wednesday, August 16th, the crew had been reviewing deteriorating weather reports for their journey north to Mackinaw City and Traverse City and determined the best course of action was to leave Detroit early to avoid encountering the worst of the weather. However, a Golden Rule planned reception and presentation at Detroit’s Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery still took place with Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon, two of the Golder Rule “ground crew” (who use a travel trailer and drive to each stop of the Golder Rule to make sure everything goes as planned when the boat arrives), stayed an extra night in Detroit.

 

While the Golden Rule nears the end of it’s journey in a few more weeks in Minneapolis, Minnesota, there is still a real need for donations to keep the Golden Rule operating and also pay for expenses associated with the Detroit stop (lodging, local transportation, meals, etc.). Tax deductible donations can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/veterans-for-peace-golden-rule-in-detroit. Every dollar you donate will go directly to support the Golden Rule's trip and mission. The last day for the “gofundme” donations will be 11:5pm, 9/15/2023.

 

For more information on the Golden Rule, along with an interactive map, visit https://vfpgoldenruleproject.org. or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GoldenRulePeaceBoat. Also, a huge “THANK YOU” goes out to all the volunteers who helped locally with the Golden Rule visit, and especially Jim Rine who really made this visit happen locally.

​

​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

​

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

​

​

​

​​