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Vets Say NO to the Iran War
Over 150 veterans and military families occupied the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building on April 20, 2026 to protest the war in Iran. This webinar acknowledges and explores the resistance of enlisted soldiers and veterans to this illegal war. The webinar also takes up the war crimes committed by the US military involving the destruction of Iranian culture and the murder of Iranian people and the psychological impact of these crimes on soldiers.
About Face is a group of active duty soldiers and veterans organizing to end the US foreign policy of permanent war. Originally formed in 2004 as Iraq Veterans Against the War, they have been speaking out out against US wars based on lies and advocating for active duty and returning veterans since then.
Speakers:
Kevin Benderman is a Board Member of About Face and served ten years in the US Army. First deployed to Iraq in March 2003, he refused to return for a second deployment because of the lies that preceded the invasion, the harm being done to the Iraqi people, and because it went against everything he thought it meant to be a soldier. Denied conscientious objector status, he was court-martialed, confined for 15 months, dishonorably discharged and lost all benefits.
Jeff Parente is a graduate of Penn State University and an Iraq War, Marine Corps veteran. He has been a member of Veterans for Peace for ten years and About Face: Veterans Against the War for almost 3 years as well as working with multiple other organizations. A committed peace activist, he is a critic of the military industrial complex ad advocates for cutting defense spending to fund human needs.
Bahar Sharafi is an Iranian-American activist born in Tehran with family there. Now living in Dorchester, she is a MAPA board member and co-chair of the MAPA-initiated Stop the US War on Iran committee. She is a volunteer leader with the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Iranian American Council, and a co-founder of CD8 for Palestine. She will show her video “A Glimpse of Iran” during her presentation.
John Schuchardt, J.D.. is co-director of The House of Peace together with his wife Carrie Schuchardt. As a 1stLt., he resigned his commission from the US Marine Corps in 1965 after the marines’ landing at DaNang. For 50 years, he has been active with Plowshares direct disarmament actions, trials, and imprisonments; A member of AFSC, MAPA, and Veterans for Peace, he helped realize the construction of four Peace Pagodas with Japanese Buddhist Order Nipponzan Myohoji. In 2010, he participated in a citizen diplomacy delegation to Iran. In 2019 he was part of a Global Network delegation to Russia.
Mike Prysner is Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War. He joined the US Army ust before 9/11 and took part in the invasion of Iraq. When he returned home he got involved in the struggle against the war, leading civil disobedience against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the active duty soldiers who accessed the media he has produced, including the podcast Eyes Left, have become war resisters.
Nancy Goldner, LICSW, has been an anti-war activist since the Vietnam War. She has supported the emotional recovery of veterans from the trauma of America’s endless wars since founding the Returning Veterans Response Network in 2007. She is a member of the Racial Justice Action Group of Mass Peace Action.
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