For Embargoed Release, May 28, 12:01 EST

May 28, 2001

Retired Senior Officers, Veterans, and Senator John Kerry Promote Landmine Ban on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, veterans of nearly every American-fought conflict since World War II are urging President Bush to remember the lives and limbs sacrificed to antipersonnel landmines by sending the Mine Ban Treaty to the United States Senate for ratification. Senators John Kerry (D-MA), a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, voiced his support the global ban on landmines. Eight retired senior officers, many former commanders of U.S. forces in Korea and Vietnam, sent a letter to the White House on Armed Forces Day. The decorated combat arms commanders urged the current administration to become party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty for military and humanitarian reasons (see attached letter).

"Our recommendation that you should send the treaty to the U.S. Senate for advice and consent is motivated by a deep concern for the welfare of the men and women of our armed services," the retired senior officers stated. "As you know, Pentagon casualty reports from Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf attest to the tremendous toll that antipersonnel landmines, many of them our own, have taken on our service men and women."

The veteran commanders supporting U.S. participation in the Mine Ban Treaty, a total prohibition on the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of antipersonnel landmines, include Lt. General Henry E. Emerson, USA-retired, former commander of the XVIII Corps; Lt. General James F. Hollingsworth, USA-retired, former commander of I-Corps (USA-ROK Group); Lt. General Harold Moore, USA-retired, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Department of the Army, author of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, and former commander of the Seventh Infantry Division in Korea; Lt. General Dave Palmer, USA-retired, former Superintendent of West Point; Lt. General DeWitt C. Smith Jr., USA-retired; and Lt. General Walter Ulmer, USA-retired, former commander of the III Corps.

"The United States should be a leader in the growing global effort to ban the use of all antipersonnel landmines," Senator John Kerry said today. "I will continue to work to persuade the Administration to endorse the global ban on landmines and take an important step toward eliminating the terrible suffering they continue to cause to innocent non-combatants around the world."

Local initiatives by veterans and civilians happening on this day of remembrance include petition drives outside theatres showing Pearl Harbor, letter writing campaigns, and speaches about the Mine Ban Treaty to neighborhood veterans groups.

"Because of what happened to me and my buddies, I want this weapon banned," said veteran Duane Robey from Bismarck, North Dakota, a man who lost his left leg to a landmine in World War II, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery. "I am lucky. I just lost my leg. Many of my buddies lost a lot more. They lost their lives."

Both U.S. and enemy landmines have continuously demonstrated the danger they pose to American soldiers and civilians in the regions where they have been deployed. In Vietnam, a third of U.S. casualties were caused by antipersonnel landmines; many of the weapons that caused those injuries and deaths came from the U.S. arsenal. Every NATO nation except the United States and Turkey has ratified the Mine Ban Treaty, demonstrating their ability to complete their missions and protect their troops without the use of this indiscriminate and horrific weapon. 140 nations have joined the treaty and 116 have ratified it. 

The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) is a coalition of over 500 medical, religious, human rights, veteran, and peace organizations. As a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines is a participant in international efforts to rid the world of landmines. The coordinating organization of the USCBL is Physicians for Human Rights.

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