Groups Fight To Save Veterans Memorials
By Wendy Griffith
CBN News
May 28, 2007
CBNNews.com - While Wiccan symbols have now been approved by the U.S. government for military tombstones, some traditional veterans' memorials are coming under attack.
A new national effort is underway to protect memorials to veterans from legal attacks by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars put up a cross in the Mojave Desert to honor World War I veterans. Today it is covered with a tarp.
A Federal court granted a motion filed by the ACLU, which resulted in an order to cover the cross.
Tom Bock is a former national commander of the American Legion. "I'm appalled," he said. "If you look at the heroes of this country, what these memorials recognize -- the heroes that have served and sacrificed for our freedoms and our liberties. To have people out there trying to destroy them and remove religious symbols, this takes away the real heart and soul of our soldiers."
The ACLU has not given up its fight to also have the cross removed at the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California. The organization claims the display of the cross on federally-owned land violates the constitution.
Members of the Alliance Defense Fund, American Legion and the Liberty Legal Institute are joining forces to protect veterans memorials like the one on Mt. Soledad.
"We will be identifying war memorials that are in danger," Senior ADF attorney Joseph Infranco told CBN News. "We will be cataloguing them. We will be offering a free analysis and legal defense to any municipality that is sued by a group like the ACLU," he continued. "We believe that as we call light to this and get involved in these cases that the American public will make their voice known as well."
Bock believes the monuments and memorials to American soldiers should be protected now and always. "To erase their memory, to destroy it, to change its entire meaning, it's wrong," he said. "That's not what our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines served our country for."
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