one woman - - and the National Guard

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http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/honors/136


Michele Darr is This Week's Wings of Justice Honoree for Giving Her All to Bring Attention to National Guard Plight


In 1990, Michele Darr was a civilian living in Kuwait. Seeing the devastating effects of the American occupation firsthand, she says she vowed to make it her life's work to reach out to those in need of peace and healing.

Now a hospice caregiver and mother of six in Corvallis, OR, Darr continues to fulfill her pledge. She participated in a cross-country bicycle journey in 2007 with three of her youngest children to show how the world can begin to give up on oil.

Now Darr is taking it one huge step further. She's said she's willing to give up her life to bring attention to the way her state's National Guardsmen are being treated in U.S. foreign wars.

Darr has basically taken up residence in front of the Oregon statehouse since November 1, 2008. She's been fasting since then as well, holding a hunger strike until early December, when the governor begged her to eat something. Now she's living on vitamin supplements and water.

Darr and activists in nearly two dozen other states are challenging the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force, insisting that the federal government no longer has the right to deploy state-level troops.

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As Diana Greene, a BuzzFlash reader from Beaverton, OR, who brought our attention to Darr's story said, "Michele Darr deserves the Wings of Justice Award for putting her life on the line for peace."

We agree. Stay warm out there, Michele.
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