Military Families Speak Out
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is an American group formed by two military families in November 2002 to oppose the planned invasion of Iraq. In August 2003, they held their first national press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., launching the "Bring Them Home Now" campaign. The event, organized by the Mintwood Media Collective, was broadcast on C-SPAN. Within a week, more than 100 military families joined the group.
That same month, MFSO members joined a national march with Veterans For Peace against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In February 2003, 15 MFSO members filed a lawsuit against President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to block the invasion without a Congressional declaration of war. The case reached the 1st Circuit twice and was rejected on March 18, 2003. The invasion began the next day, March 19, 2003. Within two weeks, MFSO membership grew to about 400 families.
The first MFSO chapters began in 2004. Since then, chapters have organized speaking programs, vigils, demonstrations, press conferences, meetings with elected officials, and other actions to oppose the war. They have connected with more families, helped get their voices into the media, and worked with local coalitions to mobilize people to oppose the war and take action.
By February 2007, MFSO included more than 3,200 military families speaking out to end the war, withdraw troops, care for them when they return, and change policies that allowed the war to happen. The group has members in every state, in Puerto Rico and American Samoa, and on U.S. military bases abroad. More than 130 families have lost loved ones in the war. Many others have relatives who have been wounded, and many members still have loved ones serving in Iraq, some for multiple deployments; most face the possibility of deployment or redeployment.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:12 (CET).