Over the past year, the Board of Directors has worked hard trying to keep Military Families Speak Out running as an all-volunteer organization while facing a number of serious obstacles. After much consideration and in consultation with past and current leaders and allies, we have no choice but to close down the organization. This was a very difficult and emotional decision for all of us, as MFSO has represented a source of strength, support,...
This summer MFSO will launch the Military Families Speak Out Oral History & Archiving Project, and we want you to be part of it! The MFSO Oral History & Archiving Project will record and preserve the story of MFSO: the experiences of the families, allies, and staff that were a part of it and the lessons learned in the only organization in U.S. history in which military families spoke out against a war. From...
Military Families Speak Out is deeply saddened by the death of co-founder Charley Richardson, who passed away Saturday, May 4th. Charley has been a beacon of hope and inspiration, a mentor and teacher, and a shoulder to cry on for so many of us in this movement and beyond. The seeds of MFSO were sown in the summer of 2002 when Charley’s son, a U.S. Marine, was being deployed and it became clear he...
How often in our lives have we heard the phrase ‘sick and tired’ either from the mouth of our mothers or from our own mouths for our children? I remember a comedy routine by Bill Cosby when he was referencing his childhood and his mother was scolding him with the beginning of the phrase ‘sick’ and he finished the ‘and tired’ and said he doesn’t remember anything after that. It is a phrase uttered...
On December 19, the day chosen by the Obama administration as the official end of the Iraq War, Brian Arredondo took his own life. His older brother, Alex, who “always wanted to be a Marine” was killed during his second combat tour, in Najaf, Iraq, on August 25, 2004, the day of his father’s 44th birthday. Alex and Brian’s parents, Carlos and Melida Arredondo, have been longtime active members of Gold Star Families Speak Out....