War Resister, Benji Lewis, Speaks Out
Courage, 30.04.2009 00:00
Benjamin (Benji) Lewis was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps in spring 2007 after serving two tours of combat duty in Iraq during his four years on active duty. After he was discharged he moved to Corvallis, enrolled at Linn-Benton Community College and got a part-time job at a local restaurant.
In October 2008, Benji received notification that he was being involuntarily recalled to active duty. On May 18, 2009, Benji is supposed to report to Camp Pendleton—instead, he will be holding a press conference in Corvallis to publicly resist reactivation.
Leading up to the press conference Lewis is touring the state of Oregon, making public appearances to explain why he is refusing involuntary recall. As part of the tour he'll be making the following appearances in the Rogue Valley:
Friday, May 1, at 1 pm at the monthly meeting of Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, Ashland Public Library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland.
Saturday, May 2, at 3 pm, Medford Central Library, 205 South Central Av, Medford.
Sunday, May 3, at 2 pm, 747 NW Kinney St, Grants Pass, 97526 (a private residence but the public is welcome).
Benji Lewis, photo by Allen Hallmark
It's not every day that somebody in our community makes an enormous personal sacrifice in order to stand up for their beliefs.
That's why the Rural Organizing Project has decided to co-sponsor a Speakers Tour featuring war resister Benji Lewis from Corvallis.
Benji served 4 years on active duty in the Marine Corps, including two combat tours in Iraq. He was given an honorable discharge, moved to Corvallis, got a part-time job, and enrolled at LBCC. Last October he got a letter notifying him that he was being involuntarily recalled to active duty, and would be sent back to Iraq again. Instead of just ignoring the notification, Benji reported to the screening muster as directed to document that he was fit for recall. He now has orders to report to Camp Pendleton on May 18th. He wants to make a political point by going through the process to show that he could serve, but that he is going to refuse to serve. On May 18th, instead of reporting for duty, he will be holding a press conference at the Corvallis Library at noon to publicly announce his resistance.
Until that time, Benji would like to speak to as many groups as possible across Oregon to educate them about the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) system that allows for involuntary reactivation, GI rights, and resistance in general, and to gather support and attention for his resistance. 10,000 members of the Marine Corps alone, are being recalled to active duty every year. Benji wants to let people know about this.
Many of you have already responded with interest in hosting the tour, and ROP member and friend Leah Bolger has been hard at work coordinating. So far, these are the tentative stops that she has set up:
Apr 16—Olympia Washington, Evergreen College
Apr 24—Portland, Meek High School, afternoon
Apr 25—St Helens, Columbia County Citizens for Human Dignity
Apr 26—Corvallis (Peace Jam workshop), 1:00 pm
Apr 26—Forest Grove, Propstra Creamery Bldg, 2017 21st Ave, 7:00 pm
Contact: Ellen Hastaye, Washington County Citizens for Human Dignity, 
hastaye@pacificu.edu
April 27—Eugene, Cozmic Pizza, 8th and Charnelton, 5:30pm
Contact: Carol Van Houten, Counter Military Recruitment Committee, ckvanhouten@comcast.net
Apr 30—Albany, noon
May 1—Ashland, Ashland Library, 1:00 pm
Contact: Pam Vavra, Peace House, pam@nv.net
May 2—Medford, Medford Library, 3:00 pm
Contact: Allen Hallmark, Citizens for Peace and Justice, hallmark@mind.net
May 3—Grant’s Pass, 747 NW Kinney St, 2:00 pm
Contact: Hal Anthony, Veterans for Peace #156, threepines@jeffnet.org
May 5—Corvallis, Noon
Contact: Joseph Orosco, OSU Studies Program, joseph.orosco@oregonstate.edu
May 6 and 7—McMinnville Events
Contact: Ellie Gunn, Yamhill Valley Peacemakers, elliegunn@gmail.com (May 6)
Contact: Justin O'Connell, Linfield College, joconne@linfield.edu (May 7)
May 8—Seattle Washington
Contact: Gerry Condon, Project Safe Haven, projectsafehaven@hotmail.com
May 9—Fort Lewis Washington
Contact: Gerry Condon, Project Safe Haven, projectsafehaven@hotmail.com
May 12—Bay City, Tillamook Library, 6:30pm
Contact: Andrea Goss, Till County Citizens for Human Dignity, andreagoss@vanirmail.com
May 13—Portland
Contact: Katie Heald, PDX Peace, katieh@riseup.net
Contact: Megan Brooker, PDX Peace/Military Families Speak Out, moonshineharmony@yahoo.com
May 14—Portland
May 17—Corvallis—7:30 pm
May 18—Corvallis—Noon
May 25—Portland (Memorial Day)
May 26—Portland, Portland Community College, 12pm
Contact: Michael Sonnleitner, Portland Community College, soulom2u@hotmail.com
May 29—Eugene, Lane Community College (Peace Conference)
Contact: Stan Taylor, Lane Community College Peace Program, taylors@lcc.edu
If you don't see your town on this list, and your group might be interested in hosting a stop on Benji's tour, please get in touch with amanda@rop.org as soon as possible, so we can talk about what support ROP can offer your group and get you in touch with Leah. Also get in touch with ROP if your town is on this list and you want to know how to help organize the event.
To learn more about Benji visit the Courage to Resist website 
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
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Some Good News for War Resisters 24.04.2009 - 02:24 Resisting Soldier Mattis Chiroux wins honorable discharge Watch the clip mentioned in the email below. http://www.fox2now. com/ktvi- ap-soldier- on-trial- 042109,0, 1094348.story Mattis is a real tough activist. watch the Fox interview link provided here. Today at 10:28pm Today, I stood before the Army. I looked a board of officers in the eyes, and I told them I thought they were sending people off to participate in war crimes. And what did they say? Get out of here, Sergeant, and keep your damn G.I. Bill!!! Indeed, folks! The Army awarded me a recommendation for a general discharge under honorable conditions from the Individual Ready Reserve for my refusal to deploy to Iraq last summer. This landmark decision means not only am I a free man, I’m free to continue school this fall with the "new" G.I. Bill that I earned while on active duty. Though this discharge is identical to the one I refused in exchange for having this hearing, I can now rest easy knowing I never submitted, I never backed down and the Army has heard my story. And not just my story, but the stories of those brave veterans at Winter Soldier and those who’ve participated in IVAW’s Warrior Writers’ program. Full texts of both books were submitted to the Army this morning, and I can only imagine the fun they’re having transcribing them into the record. I testified, Marjorie Conn, the president of the National Lawyers’ Guild, testified, and my mother Patricia testified as to why my refusal to deploy was quite legitimate and not deserving of attack by the military. Though Maj. Laws, the prosecution, did everything he could to keep my legal arguments from the ears of the board (he even prevented me from reading to them from my Constitution calling the document irrelevant), our voices were heard loud and clear by a board of gentlemen who’ve given me a new respect and hope for our nation and servicemembers world-wide. The hearing, which lasted around four-and-a-half hours, cemented in my mind that not only is military resistance to our illegal occupations righteous, it is finding new breath amongst troops who are fed up with the status quo. This all came after a provocative appearance this morning on the local Fox News Channel (http://www. fox2now.com/ ktvi-ap-soldier- on-trial- 042109,0, 1094348.story) in which I wore a patriotic symbol of distress (an upside-down flag) on my uniform. During the hearing, my girlfriend Alexandra among others were present in the board room to offer moral support. Having them there made all the difference as I squared off with the military over human slaughter that we’ve all been forced to bow down to. So what does this mean for the military? RESIST!!!! Now’s the time, ladies and gentleman. The flood-gates are open. Your leaders are listening, and more and more, they are agreeing. Resisters are moving away from being the exception, and slowly becoming the norm. If I can refuse to go to Iraq, climb monuments, march into presidential debates, lobby congress, face the military, not go to jail and not even loose my G.I. Bill, we just don’t have any excuses anymore! Resistance is rising, and IVAW will stand firm underneath it. My story is now history, and I humbly pass the torch. More to follow soon on my testimony at Winter Soldier and the juicy details of my hearing. Now, I’m going to sleep like I haven’t in a year! Peace and Solidarity, Matthis Chiroux Matthisresists. us courage>  Homepage:: http://
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