Membership
The membership is composed of American military veterans, active-duty service personnel from all branches of the military, and U.S. National Guard members and reservists who have served since September 11, 2001. Prospective members are required to provide proof of military service. Proof of military service became a requirement in order to preserve the integrity of the organization. A former member, proven military imposter Jesse MacBeth, who was later punished under the Stolen Valor Act, was briefly part of the group before it was discovered he had fabricated his military past. IVAW promptly expelled him and instituted a verification policy. However, in 2009, it was determined that another member by the name Rick Duncan had lied about being in the military. In 2009,Kristofer Goldsmith,a member at that time, exposed James Morriss as another fake Veteran. James had claimed to be a member of the 101st with a deployment to Afghanistan. In a video he is heard saying that his was ordered by his Commanding Officer to shoot an unarmed child.
The group was founded in July 2004, at the annual Veterans for Peace convention in Boston by seven veterans: former Executive Director Kelly Dougherty (U.S. Army), Tim Goodrich (U.S. Air Force), Mike Hoffman (U.S. Marine Corps), Alex Ryabov (USMC), Jimmy Massey (USMC), Isaiah Pallos (USMC), and Diana Morrison (U.S. Army). In August 2007 the group elected Camilo Mejia chairperson of its board of directors. but is no longer on the Board.
IVAW currently has 61 chapters around the United States; one in Toronto, Canada, made up of war resisters; and a chapter in Germany, five of which are on active duty military bases. The six active duty chapters are on Fort Drum, New York; Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort Lewis, Washington; Fort Hood, Texas; Lawton-Fort Sill, Oklahoma; and Camp Lejeune and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. Members of the organization reside in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Canada, Europe, and on numerous bases overseas, including bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Membership is currently over 1,800 persons.
Read more about this topic: Iraq Veterans Against The War
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)