About Us

Beginnings

A group of Detroit-based activists came together in the spring of 2005 to form Finding Alternatives to Military Enlistment, FAME. Of different ages, faiths and backgrounds, we agreed the U.S. war and subsequent occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan were being carried out under subterfuge. We formed FAME to challenge the military’s recruitment.

Young people join the military because they want to learn skills or get the college education that they feel is otherwise out of their reach. But risking one’s life to secure oil and natural gas lines for U.S.-based companies or in order to strengthen U.S. dominance in the region is an inappropriate bargain. We want to do all that we can so that young men and women are not forced into an “economic draft.”

FAME’s task is to talk to young people and parents about why the promises of the military recruiters are misleading. We identify other antiwar organizations–particularly Vets for Peace, Iraqi Vets for Peace and Military Families Speak Out–as specifically supporting antiwar GIs, and work with them to spread the word about how the false promises of a military life are hazardous to a democratic and productive society. By mid 2005 the majority of the American people oppose the occupation of Iraq, however as of March 15 2008, 3,987 U.S. soldiers are dead and several thousand have been severely injured. The number of Iraqi dead and wounded remains shrouded in secrecy. It is within this context that FAME is organizing.

Although we can’t compete with the Pentagon’s multimillion dollar advertising campaigns, we have some valuable tools on our side – our minds and hearts and commitment to the truth. We can’t let another generation be destroyed by a war without end.

Meetings

Please join us in this important mission. We usually meet every other week. Please contact us at famedetroit@gmail.com for location, time and place.VOLUNTEER TO SPEAK

To Students

Please help us educate our young people. We plan to go to the high schools to pass out the “opt out” forms and explain to the students how important it will be to get the forms signed and handed in to the school. We plan to speak to students in classes, in auditoriums, in schools where ever administrations or teachers will allow us in.

We plan to ask for “equal time” in cafeterias, setting up “Counter Recruitment” booths next to the military’s recruitment booths and giving information to the potential recruits about what to really expect if they join the service.

We plan to work with National GI Hotlines to make sure there is a hotline in our area to answer questions from those who have signed up and are not getting what they were promised.

These will be ALL VOLUNTEER efforts, and we need your help. You and your friends and neighbors are the best people to talk to the young people in your area. This information will be heard much more clearly if it is a message from the community to the community.

Fund Raising

All of our efforts are conducted by volunteers. But it still requires funds to produce materials to compete with the slick advertising of the military organizations. Even the web site isn’t free (we didn’t want it filled with unwelcome advertising). We are asking you to help our efforts through a donation, anything you can contribute is appreciated, please consider giving $100 if you can, otherwise we will gladly accept smaller amounts. No one gets paid for their time. All donations go to expenses, primarily printing.
We are a non-profit group. Because of government restrictions on registered non-profit groups against lobbying for or against legislation, we are not a “registered” non-profit. If you choose to donate, you will not be able to take a tax deduction. Too many young people are being duped into the military – especially those from economically disadvantaged communities. We want them to be fully informed before making such a drastic decision. With your help, we can do it. Please consider supporting our efforts by making a donation.

Please send your donation to F.A.M.E., P.O. Box 40686, Redford, MI 48239-9998

Resources

Test Your GIQ Flyer, front, in a PDF format click here to download
Test Your GIQ Flyer, back, in a PDF format click here to download

Opt out form for parents to complete, in a MS Word Doc click here to download

Opt out form for students to complete, in a MS Word Doc click here to download

Opt out form in a PDF form for both parents and students click here to download

The Military Recruitment contract in a PDF form. click here to download

Free PDF creator at Google
Need to make a PDF and don’t have the full Adobe Acrobat program? No problem, Google now offers a free PDF option. Go to Google.com, click on “more” just over the search box on the far right, then click on “even more”. This will take you to a Google page showing all the online programs Google offers. On the right hand side look for ” Communicate, show & share”, then look under that heading for “Docs and Spreadsheets”. To use the free online document creator you will need to sign up for a free Google account (sorry). Then you create a document online in the free web based program, and you can save it as a Word doc or as a PDF document.

Another free PDF Creator program
If you are good at computer stuff you can download a free program to create PDF documents from this link You can then create PDF’s on your own computer.