Veterans for Peace, Inc. Records

Veterans For Peace, Inc. (VFP) was incorporated in Portland, Maine in 1985 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational and humanitarian organization dedicated to the abolishment of war. The organization was located in Portland, Maine (1985-1996), in Washington D.C. (1997-2003) and in St. Louis, Missouri (2004- ). VFP iss comprised primarily of veterans of the United States military, but non-veterans may also join as associate members. VFP's statement of purpose (as of 2010) states that their mission is: "To increase public awareness of the costs of war; to restrain the U.S. government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations; to end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons; to seek justice for veterans and victims of war; to abolish war as an instrument of national policy". VFP members pledge to use nonviolent, democratic means to achieve these aims. Veterans For Peace has over 120 chapters across the United States, and is an official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the United Nations. The organization Iraq Veterans Against the War was founded at a VFP convention in 2004, and is legally a subsidiary of the national group. Veterans for Peace, Inc. is not the same group as Veterans for Peace in Vietnam, which was founded in 1965.