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Thank You to About Face, VVAW and Veterans for Peace for Joining This Fight

By Aimee Potter

I am a VA social worker, fighter, advocate, daughter, mother, child of civil rights parents, and grandchild of fighting grandparents. My grandfather, Harold Haber, was a union man, a father, a husband, and a fighter to the end.

He died at home from non-COVID-related congestive heart failure, failed by a government and health care system that deprived him of medical care or admission to a non-COVID hospital that could have saved his life. A Navy veteran, he was a casualty of a war at home.

Harry was well-loved and popular and affectionately known simply as Harry. He loved his family, especially his wife of 72 years, Miriam, whom he met during World War II while he was serving in the Navy and she was volunteering at the commissary. Harry worked long, hard hours in his parents' grocery stores in Boston and Williamsburg, New York. For most of his life, he worked two to three jobs at the same time.

In Astoria, my grandfather was the neighborhood clerk, cashier, and butcher at Dilbert's, later Bohack's, on Broadway. He later worked as a meat inspector for the New York State Department of Agriculture and, finally, as a court officer at the Brooklyn Supreme Court. He was always a proud union member and steward—first with the RSDWU and later with the New York State Court Officers' Union.

Harry was a Democrat, a poll watcher, and active in Jewish War Veterans, the Big 6 Self-Help Men's Group, and many other community efforts. He was determined to make a better world. Feisty and strong, he once walked five miles through the New York City cold during the blackout of 1965 just to make it home.

Since the beginning of Trump's second term, there has been a renewed war against labor. We had to think quickly and strategically about how to organize and connect labor with veteran groups to push back against this administration.

Vietnam Veterans Against the War was familiar to me from childhood. Barry Romo became a friend and later spoke in some of the mental health groups I ran at the VA. He shared how the work he did through VVAW helped him process his own PTSD—how advocacy itself became a form of healing. Barry and his close friend Bill Branson cooked for countless homeless standdowns across Chicago, always giving back to fellow veterans.

VVAW grew and evolved, giving rise to organizations such as About Face: Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace.

As stated on the About Face website: "Deeply informed by Vietnam Veterans Against the War before us, we are part of a legacy of service members organizing against the wars that we served in. We are Post-9/11 service members and veterans organizing to end a foreign policy of permanent war and the use of military weapons, tactics, and values in communities across the country."

Locally, we struggled to get more veterans involved in the fight against the decimation of the VA and the broader federal government. I began networking with Aaron Hughes of the About Face Midwest chapter. About Face helped us mobilize and rally alongside labor against constant cuts.

As a federal worker, the fight often felt lonely and defeating. During Trump's first term, we could barely mobilize members. In the midst of Trump's second term, we still struggled to get people to come out, speak out, or engage at a larger level. But we kept building our connections—and About Face, VVAW, and Veterans For Peace, took on that challenge with us.

They organized the Veterans Day march alongside the May Day Strong coalition, recruiting veterans and allied organizations to stand together, educate the public, and show what cuts to VA health care and the privatization of VA services mean for veterans and their families. About Face continues to mobilize not only for veterans, but for communities impacted by the terror of ICE and Border Patrol.

Like Barry, these coalitions gave me hope again—hope that we can and will come back from these attacks on people of color, veterans, immigrants, and working-class communities. They show up. They organize. They listen. They act. They have real goals to continue mobilizing communities against the dismantling of our social services.

The Veterans Day rally, organized by About Face: Veterans Against the War and the May Day Strong coalition, was a call to action from veterans and allies in response to the Trump administration's "Midway Blitz" and "At Large" operations targeting undocumented people throughout Chicago and its suburbs.

Special recognition is due to Daniel Lakemacher, a US Navy veteran and member of About Face, who has consistently shown up in the fight for veterans' care. Arti Walker-Peddakotla, Board Chair of About Face: Veterans Against the War, has also stood with us, spoken out, and remained present in resistance. Ken Nielsen of Veterans For Peace served in the US Army from 1991 to 1993 (4th Battalion, 9th Division, 1st Infantry Division). He is a member of VVAW and VFP. Ken has been a steady presence with us and is always a shining light at our rallies. Lastly, Aaron Hughes, my comrade and connection locally, and a brave soul that continues to think broadly and creatively, on furthering our collective resistance, turning it into actionable steps, maybe even some civil disobedience in the near future…

I thank my fellow fighters in this struggle. I thank Barry for the history he carried and shared. And I thank my family for grounding me early in the values, energy, and collective power it takes to fight together, in formation.

Aimee Potter is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and AFGE steward, Local 789.

Daniel Lakemacher and Aaron Hughes of About Face at Alex Pretti memorial at Jesse Brown VA in Chicago, January 27, 2026.