Camp Wellstone alum Jim Ramelis served his country honorably during the Vietnam War, and now he's serving it once again by holding his elected officials in Michigan accountable to veterans and their families.
"It seemed like every time I turned on the TV, something worse was happening," says Jim, referring to the ongoing quagmire in Iraq. Rather than sit and despair, Jim decided to "challenge the paradigm" on the human cost of war. A Vietnam vet who served in an engineering unit and was disabled due to Agent Orange exposure, Jim got involved in Veterans for Peace, a national organization that doesn't even have a chapter in his corner of the country. Jim is now organizing vets against the war in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, an area representative of much of rural, conservative America. "When you're doing the right thing," he says, "one thing just leads to another".
And those things are making an impact. Jim has painstakingly built a network of veterans throughout his state that want to end the war. He seeks them out at educational events, such as movie showings and community talks, and asks them to join him in telling elected officials about the costs of war. He's submitted petitions from veterans to his members of Congress, and has had numerous letters to the editor published in local and regional newspapers, as well as in blogs that receive nationwide attention. Jim credits Camp Wellstone for providing him with the skills he needed to gain media attention and put public pressure to bear on his issue. You can read some of these letters by clicking here.
"Saying you're a vet, that you made a sacrifice, is very powerful," Jim says. While it's sometimes challenging to represent a whole constituency of veterans, he realized early on that a vet has more credibility to speak on the war, so he wants to take advantage of the doors that are open to him. Due to the noise he's been making locally, Jim received an invitation to a private event with Senator Carl Levin to discuss the community's feelings on the war and other issues.
What's next for Jim? He recently joined his local American Legion chapter and has become a District Chaplain, building trust and relationships with other vets who may not be drawn to a group like Veterans for Peace. He will soon attend Service Officer School, which will train him to help vets navigate the sometimes confusing Veteran's Administration system.
Jim plans to continue developing his leadership as an organizer and change-maker, and hopes to participate in the Center for Progressive Leadership's Michigan Political Leaders Fellowship program.
He also wants to create an official chapter of Veterans for Peace in his area, but is still three or four members short. If you're interesting in joining, please click here.