On this International Day of Peace, September 21, we join UN Secretary-General António Guterres in calling on world leaders to invest in a peaceful future for all people.
Since September, 2025, the Trump administration has ordered more than 60 attacks on foreign boats operating in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. That brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military to more than 210 people since the administration began targeting those that it calls “narco-terrorists”. If a president can kill civilians at sea from sovereign nations and keep the legal justifications secret, we should all be concerned. The harm is even worse when basic factual evidence, including videos and orders from the Pentagon, is hidden from U.S. citizens.
In response to these actions, members of the Easton Veterans for Peace, Chapter 185, condemn the use of our military for carrying out these boat strikes and the extrajudicial killing of citizens of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago whom the Trump administration has labeled as drug traffickers without evidence, due process, or accountability to Congress. We further denounce President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for failing to explain to all U.S. citizens how their actions keep our nation safe and secure. As veterans of all uniformed services, we call for our current members of Congress to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. warships, fighter jets, and thousands of U.S. troops now menacing the coast of Venezuela.
Jack Harrald, a member of Easton’s chapter of Veterans for Peace, and a retired Captain of the U.S. Coast Guard after 22 years of service, said the following about the legal and military authorities that have governed the Coast Guard’s actions from its beginning.
“The U.S. Coast Guard responds to threats against the homeland with a broad and unique foundation of legal and military authorities and capabilities. These authorities define lawful actions that can be taken during operational missions such as search, interdiction, seizure, and arrest. These have been Coast Guard missions since its parent organization, the Revenue Cutter Service, was founded in 1789. Coast Guardsmen and women who serve on its cutters and aircraft, and those who ensure the safety of our ports and waterways, are all professionals who must maintain a high state of preparedness. SEMPER PARATUS is not just a Coast Guard slogan; it defines the Coast Guard’s core values and dedication to the rule of law.”
As members of Easton Veterans for Peace, we recognize this administration, in conducting these boat strikes, is killing people who should not be killed, is betraying core values of the U.S. military, and in misusing the military, is inflicting active duty service members and veterans like us with moral anguish. We stand strong in our support for veterans such as Jack Harrald and organizations and members of Congress that have made statements in opposition to the boat strikes caused by this administration and our military.
John Harrald, CAPT(USCG), RET
Jim Richardson
Chris J. Antal
Gary Honeman
Tom Arnold
Daniel Palanza
Bruce Butler
Members of Veterans for Peace, Easton Chapter 185
4 Responses
Illegal strikes by a corrupt president constitute murder!
Thank you Veterans for Peace for speaking up for transparency, and for questioning the legality and justness of much that has and is transpiring under the current regime.
So sick that Cadet Bone Spurs, a draft dodger, exercises his stolen valor sitting on this flabby butt in the White House directing that others commit warcrimes. And chicken hawk Andy Harris supports everything the Orange Coward does.
I support every word of this letter. I am also a veteran having served from 1988-2009 in the USAF. I have stated elsewhere that the officers who gave these orders MUST be held accountable and if appropriate brought before Courts Martial . Similarly, the pilots that flew the aircraft and released weapons on these boats, and particularly the one that was already irreparably damaged, should likewise be held to account. Every year my compatriots, enlisted men in the Air Force had to take training on the Law of Armed Conflict. If the enlisted were trained I know very well that officers were as well. The extrajudicial murder of those adrift at sea is a war crime, plain and simple. And the actions of those who committed them diminishes the service of EVERY current man and woman in uniform today and for generations of those who served in the past. Moreover, those actions, under a broader view, diminish the respect that the US Military has enjoyed since WWII. I am not just some bright eyed kid that thinks our military has never done wrong. There are plenty of accounts of atrocities such as My Lai. But those have been the exception and not the rule. This November, we get to vote for Congress and Senate. Let’s be sure that we put our votes behind people who will respect the service of our young men and women in uniform today…that our votes will be afforded to elected officials who REFUSE to kiss the ring of Dear Leader and work tirelessly to bring him and his minions to heel. Our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren are counting on us