"Gold Star Families and MFSO families to Travel to Pentagon..."

Gold Star Families to Travel to Pentagon, Seek Meeting With Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Jan. 19th

1/18/2005 1:42:00 PM

To: Assignment Desk and Daybook Editor

Contact: Ryan Fletcher, 202-641-0277, Nancy Lessin, 617-320-5301, both of Minwood Media Collective

News Advisory:

Gold Star Families from California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts, whose loved ones died as a result of the war in Iraq, will meet with the press near the Pentagon before going to the Pentagon in their quest to meet with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

These families, joined by Gold Star Families from Washington and Oregon, all members of Military Families Speak Out, have been writing to Ssecretar Rumsfeld since Jan. 5, 2005 requesting a meeting. To date, there has been no response from the Secretary or his office. Their letters to Secretary Rumsfeld can be viewed at http://www.mfso.org

Families will be seeking answers from Secretary Rumsfeld to questions that include:

-- Why were our loved ones sent to war in the first place, given that there was no threat to the U.S. from Iraq?

-- When they were sent, why were they not supplied with proper training, planning, armor or equipment?

-- How did our loved ones die?

-- Why are there troops in Iraq who still lack the proper training, armor and equipment; and what are the plans for immediately furnishing them with these items?

-- What are the plans for ending the war and bringing the troops home?

When: Wednesday Jan. 19 at 12 noon

Where: LBJ Memorial Grove Park, Arlington, Virginia (Next to the Pentagon)

What: Press conference with Gold Star Families prior to their going to the Pentagon; followed by report-back to the press after their meeting (or a refusal of a meeting)

The following Gold Star Families will be available for interview:

-- Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., whose son Spc. Casey Sheehan was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004.

-- Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia, Pa., whose son Sgt. Sherwood Baker was killed in Baghdad on April 26, 2004 when he was sent into Baghdad to search for weapons of mass destruction.

-- Sue Niederer of Pennington, N.J., whose son Lt. Seth Dvorin was killed near Iskandariyah, Iraq on Feb. 3, 2004.

-- Bill Mitchell of Atascadero, Calif., whose son Sgt. Michael Mitchell was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004.

-- Debra Lucey of Belchertown, Mass., whose brother Corporal Jeffrey Lucey took his own life on June 22, 2004 because of what he did and saw while deployed to Iraq in spring and summer, 2003.
U.S. Newswire : Releases : "Gold Star Families to Travel to Pentagon..."