An American colonel who worked under Colin Powell and resigned in protest of the Iraq war is expected to be the keynote speaker at an event honouring women war resisters on Sunday.
Col. Ann Wright will speak at the event, which starts tomorrow at the Harbour Centre, provided she’s allowed to cross the border, said Isaac Romano, organizer of the Our Way Home Vancouver Peace Event And Reunion Program.
Romano said when war resisters desert their country they give up more than their citizenship — they lose their family, friends and the lives they’ve always known.
He said half of all deserters during the Vietnam War were women, who came to Canada on their own, with their soldier husbands or to keep their children out of the military.
“This event will recognize them and honour their contribution to Canadian lives,” Romano said. “They face being arrested and imprisoned if they return.”
Anti-war activist Medea Benjamin, as well as writer Naomi Klein’s father, Michael Klein, a Vietnam War resister, and her filmmaker mother, Bonnie Sherr Klein, are also participating.
