Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 401st Army Field Support Brigade test drive a Stryker medical evacuation variant on a test track outside the Stryker battle damage repair facility at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. (Official Army Photo/ Dustin Senger)

MEDIA RELEASE

Protest of Stryker and other live-fire training at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA)
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 Mauna Kea State Park

There will be a peaceful protest 10 a.m. Saturday Oct. 10th at Mauna Kea State park — 1 mile east of the Pohakuloa main gate on Saddle Road. (Car pools will leave 9 a.m. from the Hilo Bayfront parking lot at Pauahi and Kamehameha Ave.) The protest will begin at the park and then move to PTA’s main gate. The protest is over Stryker vehicle and other ongoing live-fire training at the base known to be contaminated with Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation from past weapons training. Live-fire and other activities that create dust, risk spreading the radiation off base into civilian areas. The Hawaii County Council passed a resolution 8-1 in July 2008 calling for a halt to all live-fire at PTA until there is a complete assessment of the radiation contamination and clean up of the DU present. The military continues to ignore the Council’s call to action.

Reports are that 100 Stryker 19 ton eight-wheeled vehicle (perhaps more) are currently doing training at PTA. These vehicles have recently returned from Iraq where their 105 mm cannons and 50 cal machine guns have fired DU munitions.

The protest is sponsored by Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action.
Jim Albertini of Malu ‘Aina said: It’s time to Stop Strykers! Stop all live-fire on Pohakuloa, and live-fire in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. The military needs to clean up its mess and end its occupations, not make more of a mess.”

Let a cry go out by all of us who are charged to be responsible stewards of this ‘aina: Stop Strykers! Stop all live-fire on Pohakuloa, and live-fire in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. But let us do more. Let us work to end the illegal U.S. occupation of Hawai’i as well as illegal occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. The people and the land are spiritually interconnected as one. So too are the issues of Justice & Peace. Join our non-violent protest, where hearts come together to help remove the obstacles to peace. Mahalo.

For more information please contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760. Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org
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Jim Albertini
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O.Box AB
Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760
phone: 808-966-7622
email: JA@interpac.net
Visit us on the web at: www.malu-aina.org