Documentary video explores the hidden wounds of war

Date: Wednesday, 7/21
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th, OKC

The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline invite you to a screening of the film “PTSD: Invisible Wounds of War” on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30 pm at Joy Mennonite Church in Oklahoma City. After the film, there will be a discussion led by Nathanial Batchelder, a medic in Vietnam and director of Oklahoma City Peace House, Phyllis Byerly, a retired psychologist, and James Branum, a lawyer specializing in military law and supervising attorney for the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline.

The film presents information about the vast scope of the problem, the potentially severe consequences, and the necessity to seek help. Veterans, elected officials and therapists who specialize in PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) explain the condition and discuss what resources are available and what needs to be improved in treatment and public policy.

The event is free and open to the public. Joy Mennonite is located at 504 NE 16th Street, on the corner of Lincoln.

For more information, email info@centerforconscience.org or call 405-236-4938, ext. 2.

Introductory training session for anyone seeking to help GIs know their legal options

Sunday, June 21, 4:30-6:30
Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th, OKC

A workshop entitled AWOL No More: (Relatively) Painless Processing Out of the Army will be offered on Sunday June 21 at 4:30 pm. The program will help volunteers learn about the regulations concerning AWOL soldiers and how to help them return to civilian life by turning themselves in and, when eligible, being processed through the Army’s PCF at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. The Ft. Sill facility is one of only two in the U.S. where “absent without leave” service members who meet certain requirements can surrender and be discharged.

Leading the workshop will be James M. Branum, an attorney with a private practice specializing in military law who has worked with hundreds of soldiers to facilitate their surrender to and separation from the Army. Branum is the supervising attorney with the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline, serves on the board of the National Lawyers Guild’s Military Law Task Force and is a co-founder of the Oklahoma Center for Conscience.

”No special experience or knowledge is required for the workshop,” Branum said, “and it can serve as an introductory level training for anyone interested in going on to become a volunteer counselor with the Oklahoma hotline.” He added that the session also would be useful for family and friends of AWOL servicemembers who are concerned about the repercussions of being absent without leave.

The Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline, which is not affiliated with the military, provides free, confidential, and accurate information on US military regulations and practices to servicemembers, veterans, potential recruits, and their families.

Because of Ft. Sill’s status as a PCF base, Oklahoma-based volunteers are in increasing demand in both counseling and non-counseling positions, to provide information, assistance, and in some cases to transport and/or accompany GI’s to the facility.
The event is free and refreshments will be provided. Donations for the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline will be gratefully accepted.

For more information, call the Oklahoma Center for Conscience at 405-236-4938 ext. 2.

[And please pass this info on if you have time in the short time frame.]

Date/time: 10-11 AM, 6/3/09
Place: Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th, Oklahoma City (just a few blocks south of Capitol on Lincoln)

There will be an event for Joshua in Toronto tomorrow, and we decided to do a solidarity event here in Oklahoma. Here’s details from the event organizer, James M. Branum, one of Joshua Key’s attorneys.

Josh grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma. After joining the Army, he later deployed to Iraq where he had a horrific time (as detailed in his book “The Deserter’s Tale”).

He then came back to the US and while on leave, left his unit and hid out for some time before making his way to Canada.

Josh is now fighting it out in the court-system in Canada to get to stay and on June 3rd he will be facing one of the most significant fights of this struggle.

Our friends in Canada are holding a vigil tomorrow in Toronto outside the Immigration and Refugee Board while the hearing is taking place, so I would like for us to have a similar demonstration here.

So starting at 10 a.m., I’m asking participants to meet at the Peace Pole on the grounds of Joy Mennonite Church, We’ll have a time of quiet meditation and/or prayers (for those so inclined) and then we’ll walk a few blocks north to the state capitol, where we will deliver a statement in support of Joshua Key to the Governor’s office, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the state legislature and to the press.

Participants are welcome to bring small signs and banners for the walk but know that they probably won’t let you take them into the state capitol building.

And if you can’t come to the walk, please write a letter of encouragement to Josh and send it to:

Joshua Key
c/o Joy Mennonite Church
504 NE 16th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73104

You can also email letters to me at girightslawyer@gmail.com

We’ll then forward the letters to Josh by way of his attorney in Canada.

Lastly, I’ll post more information soon on other ways we in Oklahoma can support Josh from a-far.

–*– end of message from James

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is preparing to alert eight National Guard units that they should be ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan beginning late next summer, The Associated Press learned Wednesday.

The U.S. military is reaching out to more Guard units in an effort to maintain needed troop levels, ease some of the strain on the active duty Army and provide security for ports, convoys and other installations.

The article provides some context:

There are now 171,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, largely because several units are overlapping as some move in and others move out of the country. Once those transitions are complete and the drawdown begins, the level of troops in Iraq could drop to as low as 135,000.
[...]

All together, the Guard announcement would involve about 13,000 soldiers.

Here’s the kicker:

Specific brigades were not identified, but they will include units from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Illinois and Hawaii, according to officials. Some of those being alerted this week have done tours in the war zone already, and others would be going for the first time.

Emphasis added.

This is especially heart wrenching because tomorrow, 2,400 soldiers of Oklahoma’s 45th Infantry Brigade will be feted at a gala ceremony at the Lloyd Noble Center as they leave for Ft. Bliss in preparation for going to Iraq. This is the OK National Guard’s “largest deployment since the Korean War.”

This recent development will keep the phones at the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline busy well into next year, no doubt.

Volunteers are needed for the next training, so if you can help, please call (405)231-1138.