1. Mary Ann Wright was born on 1947 and is a retired United States Army colonel and retired US State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War.
31 Facts About Ann Wright
1. 2.
Ann Wright received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
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Ann Wright was a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
4.
Ann Wright grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas, in what she referred to as "just a normal childhood".
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Ann Wright attended the University of Arkansas, where she was recruited in the US Army.
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Ann Wright earned a master's degree from the Naval War College and a JD degree from the University of Arkansas while working for the US Army.
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Ann Wright participated in reconstruction efforts after US military actions in Grenada and Somalia.
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Ann Wright went on to serve 13 years in active duty in the US Army, and 16 years in the Army Reserves, rising to the rank of colonel.
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Ann Wright was placed in the Retired Ready Reserve, meaning the President could call her back to active duty in a time of need.
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In 1987, Ann Wright went to work for the Foreign Service within the US State Department.
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Ann Wright said that she repeatedly disagreed with policy on multiple occasions but continued her work at the State Department.
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Ann Wright submitted her resignation letter to then US Secretary of State Colin Powell on March 19,2003, the day before the onset of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
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Ann Wright's letter was published on the internet the following day.
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Ann Wright says that she did not know the other two, and had not read their resignation letters at the time she submitted her own.
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Since her retirement from the State Department, Ann Wright has become a prominent figure in the movement opposed to the occupation of Iraq.
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Ann Wright has attended many conferences and given numerous lectures on her political views and on her experiences before and after her resignation.
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Ann Wright volunteered at Camp Casey 3, started by Desert storm Veteran Dennis Kyne and Veterans for Peace days after Hurricane Katrina Ann Wright marched with Sheehan in 2006 with the Women Say No to War campaign, which was meant to deliver a petition with over 60,000 signatures of citizens against the war.
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Ann Wright has willingly been arrested while taking part in anti-war demonstrations, the first such arrest occurring in front of the White House on September 26,2005.
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Ann Wright has said in interviews that she does not remove the arrest bracelets attached to her wrists upon the processing of her arrest, but rather collects them.
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Ann Wright served as one of five judges at the January 2006 sessions of the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.
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Ann Wright was one of three recipients of the first annual Truthout Freedom and Democracy Awards.
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Ann Wright was one of three witnesses called to testify at an Article 32 hearing on behalf of US Army Lt.
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That evening, Ann Wright appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss the Geneva Conventions and how they applied to Iran in its taking of 15 British hostages.
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The discussion grew heated, and Ann Wright stated that she had served 29 years in the military.
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Ann Wright was ejected from the hearing room after speaking out of turn in response to comments made by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.
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On September 11,2007, Ann Wright was arrested, and later convicted, for disrupting a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at which US general David Petraeus and ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker were testifying.
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Ann Wright took part in a September 15,2007 protest march and die-in on the steps of the United States Capitol Building, organized by the ANSWER Coalition and Iraq Veterans Against the War.
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Ann Wright was arrested for stepping over the wall after several IVAW and Veterans for Peace members were arrested.
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In December 2008, Ann Wright has recently expressed her dissatisfaction with the current USforeign policy toward Palestine.
30.
In 2009 Ann Wright began work as a leading member of the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March.
31.
Ann Wright was one of five activists who offered themselves up for arrest in Rep.