The woman behind this e mail is a true patriot, her name is Beverly. I'm passing this on with hopes our future leader might use it to expose Obama for what he is. And to bring awareness......it's tragic.

Our Soldiers in Leavenworth Need Your Help: WHITEHOUSE.GOV PETITION - PARDONS OR CLEMENCY FOR SOLDIERS CONVICTED OF WAR CRIMES


Beverly Perlson (bevperl@sbcglobal.net)

To all of you patriotic Americans out there who have supported our efforts to see our Sons in Leavenworth returned to their families, please read the email below from attorney Colby Vokey, LT COL USMC (Ret). Colby lays out all the reasons we have expressed (with rage!) over the years regarding the imprisonment of our Sons in Leavenworth.


I will spare you all my rage as you have heard it over and over again for what seems like a lifetime. Rather, I will quote Colby:


"What matters is that it's time to bring our warriors all the way home."


Please sign the petition (link contained in Colby's email below) and please, and this is so important, please pass this to ALL your lists. As the terrorists are released from Gitmo, so should America's Sons be released from Leavenworth. Please help us bring our Sons all the way home!


With A Mother's Heart,
Beverly Perlson
The Band of Mothers
www.thebandofmothers.com


Friends,
Soldiers need your help. We have just posted a whitehouse.gov petition to have the President review and respond to 7 clemency applications (pardons or sentence commutations) for soldiers who have been convicted of war crimes for combat actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The seven are: Michael Williams, Corey Clagett, Derrick Miller, Franklin Dunn, Clint Lorance, Calvin Gibbs and Robert Bales. These seven soldiers put their lives on the line for us only to be convicted of murder for killing those they perceived to be the enemy in combat. There is no question that these soldiers killed or ordered the killing of either Iraqis or Afghans. But the killings were done in violation of restrictive rules of engagement, in the fog of war, or under extreme conditions of stress.

Signing the petition is really easy. Just go to the link and provide your name and email address. An email will be sent back to you for you to verify your signature. That's it. It takes about 30 seconds. But those 30 seconds will help send a strong message to our President. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. And we've been at war long enough. We have been returning Guantanamo Bay detainees to their homes. It's time to bring our boys home too.

Here's the "short" link: http://wh.gov/ioajn
Here's the full link: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...-health-reform

Our service members have had to fight in a complex war environment. The battlefield environment is unique. Our fighting men and women are trained to kill the enemy. They wake up every day in combat with the lawful intent to kill. That's why we've sent them there. They often had to fight in horrendous conditions. They operated with little rest and few comforts. They were asked to make life and death decisions in the blink of an eye and hope that the decision was the right one. They were exposed to death and destruction and killing and suffering. They have experienced situations in which most Americans only experience in nightmares. Some never came home. Many who did return came back wounded. And many came back with PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury or other mental health issues. The seven soldiers in this petition have seen a great deal of combat. Some have had physical injuries. All have been affected by PTSD, TBI or combat stress. And no wonder. They have done or witnessed horrible things in war. That's the nature of war. They have received conflicting messages and signs while in combat. They were fighting a disguised enemy who used innocent people to accomplish their goals. An enemy who hid among the masses. An enemy not identifiable by dress or uniforms. And our soldiers had to decide each day who was the enemy. And whether those who supported the fighters were the enemy. Their killings were often accompanied by some amount of doubt and guilt as to how "bad" the person was that they killed. Combine that with incredibly restrictive rules of engagement and a COIN (counter insurgency) strategy in which our soldiers are supposed to win the hearts and minds of the people yet kill the "bad guys". The result is an incredibly complex combat environment where the lines of good and bad, right and wrong are always moving and often indistinguishable.

Pardon or clemency applications have already been submitted separately to the White House and the Army for the seven soldiers in this petition. We are not asking for a reversal of the convictions. We are asking that the President take into account the circumstances surrounding the convictions and grant some mercy and forgiveness. The "fog of war" plays a strong role in each of these cases and these pardon and sentence commutations requests are a way to recognize the difficulties our soldiers have had to endure. None of these seven are simply psychopaths who enjoy killing. Each was a healthy individual who voluntarily joined the Army and willingly entered into a combat environment full of fear, death and horror. We asked them to lay it on the line for us. As a result, they were convicted of murder for killing in a combat zone. This is not a partisan politics issue. Most of the convictions occurred during President George W. Bush's presidency. Some during President Obama's terms. What matters is that it's time to bring our warriors all the way home.

Please help by signing the whitehouse.gov petition now. And then forward this email and the link to as many others as you can. Post it on websites and list serves. We need to get 100,000 signatures in 30 days to guarantee that the President will give these requests a thorough review. It's our turn to truly support the troops. Please join me, the United American Patriots and the University of Chicago Law School in getting these soldiers back to their families.

Respectfully,

Colby C. Vokey

LtCol USMC (Ret.)

Law Firm of Colby Vokey PC

6924 Spanky Branch Court

Dallas, Texas 75248