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Celeste Zappala, the mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker who was killed in action in Iraq in 2004 and was the first member of the Pennsylvania National Guard to die in combat since World War II, declares, "It serves no purpose to have more service members and civilians die in Afghanistan, where the military occupation is part of the problem, not part of the solution. There wasn't a clear mission in Iraq, and there certainly isn't a clear mission in Afghanistan. A surge of troops is exactly the wrong approach and will just ensure that more families will experience the unbearable and unending pain that my family has experienced. It will be no honor to my son or family to have more troops deployed and killed." For over five years, Celeste and her family have spoken up for nonviolent solutions to conflicts as members of Gold Star Families Speak Out..

Military Families Speak Out members Larry and Judy Syverson, of Richmond Virginia, urge us to remember the origins of the Veterans Day holiday, "On the 91st anniversary of Armistice Day, we are disappointed that the President is considering sending an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan. As the parents of three active duty sons, including one serving in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, we feel the best way to honor our troops on this Veterans' Day is for the President, in the true spirit of Armistice Day, to end both wars and bring all our troops home now."

MFSO is a national organization of thousands of military families working to bring all U.S. troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, secure the care that our troops, veterans, and military families need, and support a foreign policy that will not lead us into such wars again. Gold Star Families Speak Out is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out made up of families whose loved ones died as a result of these wars.

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit: http://www.mfso.org.

For more information about Gold Star Families Speak Out visit http://www.gsfso.org.