Download a .pdf flyer for the Sept. 23 event

Other Oregon/SW Washington events on weekend of Sept. 23-26, 2005

For Immediate Release                  August 20, 2004

Friday Rally to Bring the Troops Home in Portland in Solidarity with National March
will Bring Attention to Military Families' Rally in Albany, OR the Next Day
Friday, September 23, 2005, 5 PM, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Porltand

Portland area peace groups will be cosponsoring an expanded weekly Friday Rally on September 23, 2005 at 5 PM in Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW Broadway and Yamhill in solidarity with a national march on Washington to bring the troops home and in anticipation of a rally in Albany, Oregon the next day. The Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group is among those cosponsoring the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition's weekly event, which has been going for nearly 4 years since November, 2001. The main focus will be the war in Iraq and the dead and wounded both on the U.S. and Iraqi sides of the conflict.

In addition to a huge national march in D.C. being co- sponsored by United for Peace and Justice and the ANSWER Coalition, military families whose loved ones are serving overseas or who have died or were wounded in the conflict in Iraq, will rally in Albany, Oregon's Monteith Park, 489 Water St, on Saturday, September 24 at 1 PM. The rally will include speakers working on an ongoing Campaign to Bring Oregon's Troops Home, music, and more. Among the participants Saturday will be Adele Kubein, whose daughter was wounded in Iraq, and who travelled to Crawford, Texas in August to be part of "Camp Casey" outside of President Bush's ranch there. Kubein is a member of Military Families Speak Out of Oregon, which is working with Gold Star Families for Peace and other groups to organize the day's events.

Veterans, peace activists, and other concerned Oregonians will be in attendance and everyone is encouraged to be part of both events. The boost in energy to the movement with national attention focused on Crawford needs to be translated into ongoing organizing, particularly highlighting the military families and veterans who know first hand the costs of war.

The Friday rally is being endorsed by Northwest Veterans for Peace, Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, Cross Border Labor Organizing Coaliton, and others.

For more information, to get involved, or to offer transportation to Albany on the 24th, please contact the Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group at 503-236-3065 or iraq@pjw.info. Information on Portland Peaceful Response can be found at http://www.pprc-news.org, or by emailing pprcnews@yahoo.com or calling (503) 344-5078.