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, April 10th, 2023 – 7:30pm

The Monday, April 10th 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/82944996394?pwd=SU5nRHV2S1JoM01teDArS3hOQXFxQT09

 

To join the meeting by telephone only, call 312-626-6799 and when prompted, enter a Meeting ID of 829 4499 6394 and a passcode (if prompted) of 443932. 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 April 2nd. 

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Current VFP Chapter 74 Newsletter

The March 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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VFP Golden Rule Sailboat Visit To Detroit Update

The VFP sailboat “Golden Rule”, which in 1958 set sail to stop nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands is currently travelling up the intercoastal waterway and expected to dock in the Norfolk Virginia area in mid-March, the metro Washington DC region from April 2nd and New York City on May 20th. For a complete listing of all the cities the Golden Rule will visit, go to https://bit.ly/GRGLSched. Currently, the Golden Rule is scheduled to head west on the Great Lakes, stopping at Toledo on August 10 to the 13th and in Detroit on August 13th through the 17th. Please note, however, that all dates are still tentative.

 

The Metro Detroit VFP Chapter 74 is teaming with Chapter 93 (south central Michigan) to sponsor activities surrounding the visit to Detroit. Anyone interested in planning this Detroit event should attend our monthly Chapter meetings or contact Bruce Baran at bpbaran@gmail.com. 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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VFP Chapter 74 – Help Needed To Keep & Grow The Chapter

After the much-too-soon passing of Chapter Chair Steve Saelzler, the greatest tribute to him was thought to be the continuation, and growth of the Metro Detroit (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Monroe Counties) Veterans For Peace Chapter. Quite frankly we need members who can be active and give a younger perspective to the organization. We would also gladly welcome people of color reflecting the diversity of southeastern Michigan.

 

As far as actual needs for the Chapter, we need a Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary which are collectively known as the Chapter “officers”. Right now we have an acting Vice Chair (Jim Rime) and acting Secretary (Bob Krzewinski), but both those individuals would like to pass the jobs on to others. We also have a Treasurer position that Stan Beattie has volunteered for but we currently have no treasury funds.

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What are the job descriptions and duties? They would be…

• Chair – Overall, the job involves keeping a “pulse” on the Chapter (in other words, know what is going on and helping when needed), conduct Chapter meetings (including setting up the meeting agenda) and being a spokesperson for the Chapter.

• Vice Chair – Assist the Chair with their duties when needed.

• Secretary – Take minutes of Chapter meetings (this isn’t as hard as it sounds) and assist the Chair in setting the meeting agenda.

 

On officer terms, there is no formal term of office in Chapter 74 but in other VFP Chapters it is pretty common to have one-year terms. Not interested in a Chapter officer positions but still want to help out? Other volunteer help is needed in such areas as…

 

Communications - Help with the Chapter web page (especially if you can build web pages) and Facebook pages, send out press releases by email (i.e. Arlington Michigan display at Grand Circus Park.

 

Potential Chapter Committees/Working Groups - Consider working on projects like...

• Worried about climate change? If so, join the VFP Climate Crisis & Militarism Project @ https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/climatecrisis. If you are not worried, you should be.

• Mayors For Peace Michigan - http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/ - The Mayors For Peace Program has the Mayor of a city make a proclamation that  means they support the commencement of negotiations towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.

• Ban Assault Weapon Sales To Civilians - Support legislation to reach this goal, start a boycott of sporting goods stores that sell assault weapons. Veterans who actually used assault weapons in combat have tremendous “credentials” in such work.  

• Martin Luther King (MLK) Day Program – One option is having a MLK Day talk with a title “What they did not want Martin talking about... militarism” (MLKs view that militarism was directly tied to poverty and racism).

• School Visits by VFP - Both high school and college level (i.e. Wayne State University Peace Studies program classes).

• Peace Poles Project - Set up more Poles in SE Michigan counties

• Concert to support WSU Peace Studies program (i.e. at the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center).

• Any project that supports the Veterans For Peace Statement of Purpose - https://www.veteransforpeace.org/who-we-are

 

How to become more involved with the Metro Detroit Chapter of VFP? First, contact by email, text or phone call to acting Vice Chair Jim Rine (jimrine22@gmail.com,  281-414-1386 cell/text) –  and/or acting Secretary Bob Krzewinski (wolverbob@gmail.com, 734-218-3307 cell/text). Also, attend one of the Chapter 74 Zoom online meetings. Meeting Zoom login information is listed online on the Chapter web page (www.vfp74.org), the Chapter Facebook page (www.facebook.com/VFP74), or on the Chapter newsletter (to sign up for the email newsletter send a message to wolverbob@gmail.com).

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Steve 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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