Online 

This is a discussion group held on the first and third Fridays of each month covering local, national, and world news. The discussion provides an opportunity to share your observations and opinions on the news and to learn from other participants. Articles of interest are distributed among the group by email in the week prior to each meeting, and topics to discuss are selected by the group at the beginning of each meeting.

Paul Mullin is the facilitator for this discussion group.

Starts at 10 am.

October 20

November 3, 17

December 1, 15

January 5, 19

February 2 

In-Person

In August 2023, Doug returned to Vietnam after a 53-year absence, to attend a conference (14th annual "Engaging With Vietnam"). He was part of a panel discussing the G.I. resistance to the war and also read his poems. Doug's son traveled with him. After the conference, they traveled by car to the DMZ, to Khe Sanh, to Danang, and to Dong Ha.  Their journey took them to the VFP programs RENEW (designed to remove unexploded ordnance from villages) and the Friendship Village (designed to assist Vietnamese families impacted by Agent Orange).  Doug's talk will recount this journey.

10 am - 12 pm

January 17, 2023

North Dining Hall West End A

Doug is a Co-founder of Veterans For Peace. Drafted in 1968 and sent to Vietnam from July 1969 to August 1970. Much of his poetry is political in nature and much of it comes from his experience as a soldier and veteran.

In-Person

Attendees will discuss Lena Nelson's recently released book AMERICA'S YOUNGEST AMBASSADOR: THE COLD WAR STORY OF SAMANTHA SMITH'S LASTING MESSAGE OF PEACE.

January 24, 2024

10 am-12 pm

North Dining Hall West End A

As a member of Veterans For Peace, Doug was involved in the June 2023 dedication of a South Portland Highway in Samantha Smith's honor. During that process, he became aware of the power of Samantha's words and short life. This book is written from the perspective of one of Samantha Smith's peers -- she was a fourth grader in 1985 when Samantha died. She was a resident of the Soviet Union. She has dedicated much of her life to re-creating Samantha's message of peace activism.

In-Person

The Golden Rule is Veteran For Peace's official "peace boat."  It originally sailed into the Marshall Islands in 1958 to stop nuclear bomb testing. It was resurrected by VFP's Northern California chapter in 2010 and has since sailed up and down the west coast, to Hawaii, down the Mississippi River, up and down the Florida coast, to Cuba, and in the summer of 2023 to Portland, Maine. Its mission is to educate people about the horrors of nuclear war and to advocate for eliminating nuclear weapons. This class will focus on the five days the boat and its crew spent in Portland, South Portland, and Bath.

February 7, 2024

10 am-12 pm

North Dining Hall West End A

Doug is a Co-founder of Veterans For Peace. Drafted in 1968 and sent to Vietnam from July 1969 to August 1970. Much of his poetry is political in nature and much of it comes from his experience as a soldier and veteran.