Jim Janko has been a member of Veterans for Peace since 2002. In 1969, he was drafted into the Viet Nam War and served as a combat medic in an infantry battalion commanded by Colonel George Armstrong Custer III. His medals include the Bronze Star for Valor, which he returned to the U.S. government in 1986 to protest their military involvement in Central America. In 2008,
Janko gave his Purple Heart to Dang Hong Nhut, who suffered from cancer due to her exposure to Agent Orange. Nhut died in 2017.

After his time in the war, Janko studied ecology at UC Berkeley and received a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources. He is the author of three award-winning novels.

Janet Weil a longtime peace activist and military family member, serves as a Lifetime Associate member (since 2011) on the Climate Crisis and Militarism Project (CCMP) of Veterans For Peace. A retired ESL teacher and fired-up climate justice activist, Janet has also been involved for 5 years in the Extinction Rebellion movement. She recently moved from Portland, Oregon to Palm Desert, California.