Military Families Mourn 3,000th Troop Death

Participate in Nationwide Vigils and Call on Congress to End the Iraq War

Family Members of Fallen Soldiers and Families of Troops Currently Deployed in Iraq Available for Interview

WASHINGTON - January 2 - Nationwide – Military Families across the country and around the world are filled with grief and sadness from the continuing, needless loss of the lives of U.S. troops and Iraqi children, women and men in a war that should never have started. On the tragic occasion of the 3000th US troop death, Military Families Speak Out, an organization of over 3,100 military families opposed to the war in Iraq call on the incoming 110th Congress to honor the fallen and prevent further deaths by taking immediate action to end funding for the Iraq war.

“We mourn the 3,000th troop death as we have mourned all the tragic and needless deaths that have come before, and cry with the families who, like mine, will now know the un-ending pain of losing a loved one to a war that should never have happened,” said Gilda Carbonaro of Bethesda, Maryland, whose son and only child Sergeant Alessandro Carbonaro, died on May 10, 2006 from wounds he suffered from an IED explosion six weeks into his second deployment to Iraq. “Through our tears, pain and grief we say ‘No More!’ It is past time to end a war that should never have started.”

“We weep with each passing day, as three or more U.S. troops and countless Iraqi children, women and men lose their lives in a war based on lies,” said Anne Chay of Andover, Massachusetts, whose 19-year-old son is currently serving with the Army in Baghdad.

“President Bush talks about sending more troops – we know that strategy will only mean more lives lost. It is now up to Congress to use their power of the purse and cut off the funds that allow this war to continue. There is enough money already appropriated to bring my son and all of our troops out quickly and safely, with the gear, equipment and supplies they will need for this redeployment.”

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of over 3,100 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones in the military. Gold Star Families Speak Out (GSFSO) is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out, made up of families whose loved ones died as a result of the war in Iraq.

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

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