KPFA/ Pacifica to Highlight Groundbreaking Class Action Suit by US Veterans against the Department of Veterans Affairs
(Berkeley, CA – April 18, 2008) The first class action lawsuit brought by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans against the Department of Veterans Affairs will open next week in San Francisco. US veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are alleging a systemic crisis in the way the government treats injured US soldiers, in the case of Veterans for Common Sense et al vs. Peake.
On Tuesday, April 22nd, KPFA/Pacifica Radio will broadcast a three-hour live national special delving into the crisis in the VA health care system. The special broadcast will include live updates from the San Francisco Federal Courthouse, interviews with veterans' attorney Gordon Erspamer, advocates from Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for America, as well as interviews with veterans and their families, including Joyce and Kevin Lucey who are suing the VA claiming their son Jeffrey committed suicide after being turned away from the VA.
KPFA host and former Army medic Aimee Allison and award-winning journalist Aaron Glantz will anchor the broadcast and take calls from listeners. Listeners can also participate in a blog on KPFA's interactive warcomeshome.org website, which highlights the human costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations for those in the United States. The special airs on KPFA from 10am PDT (1pm EDT) to 1pm PDT (4pm EDT) on 94.1 FM in Northern California and online at kpfa.org and warcomeshome.org, as well as on Pacifica stations and affiliates around the country.
The broadcast comes on the heels of KPFA/ Pacifica's broadcast of the Winter Soldier hearings last month in Silver Springs, Maryland, where scores of US veterans spoke out about war crimes perpetrated by the US government in Iraq and Afghanistan, including crimes they had witnessed or participated in.
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Founded in 1949, KPFA is the United States' first listener-sponsored radio station and the flagship station in the Pacifica Radio Network. Broadcasting on 94.1 FM in Berkeley, CA, and 88.1 FM on KFCF in Fresno, KPFA's signal reaches one third of the state of California. KPFA's website, kpfa.org, serves thousands of listeners all over the world. KPFA's innovative news, arts, public affairs, and music programs have won numerous awards and have helped define radio in America.
Contact:
Sasha Lilley, KPFA Interim Program Director
510-848-6767 ext 209
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