Letter from Stephen Funk to celebrate and support international war resisters
15 May 2003

On May 15th people all over the world will be celebrating the efforts made by war resisters worldwide. I am from San Francisco and there will be a major event there and in many other American cities.

You may know me from recent articles in the news. My name is Stephen Funk, a United States Marine who has refused to be involved with this war. I declared myself a Conscientious Objector in April and have been working to spread knowledge of Conscientious Objection as a legal option out of the military. I also went public to try and dissuade young people from making the mistake I did by getting them more information. American youth are especially vulnerable to enlistment since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed and military spending on deceptive advertizing has increased sharply.

I am unable to make the rally in San Francisco because I am being held in New Orleans and being threatened with a court martial. I have no doubt that the charges being brought against me will be dropped because the military itself knows that the claims are unfounded. But when they proceed with the court martial the only definite outcome will be that it will have cost me a lot of time and money. To help there was a fund set up for me, you can send support to:

The Stephen Funk Legal Defense Fund
1230 Market St. #111
San Francisco, CA 94102
you can email supportive letters to stephenfunk@objector.org
Any little bit helps, Thank you.

I am proud to be a part of the war resisters movement and have been in touch with refusniks from Israel, Greece, Palestine, and others worldwide. Unfortunately as the only public American war resister, the US military plans on making an example out of me. But even so my case pales in comparison to some of the things being brought against international refusniks. We need to show these brave young men and women that their acts of defiance are appreciated and honored. Please support them by participating in the International Consientious Objector Day May 15th.

Stephen Funk
Conscientious Objector