[Vision2020] [Spam] Wiccan Plaque Installed for Fallen Soldier

[Tom Hansen]

Exactly, Roger.

Pressure must be placed on the Department of Veterans Affairs to accept all
faith symbols when paying this final tribute.

This soldier's faith did not prevent him from entering the service.  The
least honorable thing we can do is allow his spirit solemn eternal slumber
by placing his faith's symbol on the memorial wall.  It's only right.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.

-----Original Message-----
From: lfalen [mailto:lfalen at turbonet.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 4:42 PM
To: Tom Hansen; Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Spam] [Vision2020] Wiccan Plaque Installed for Fallen Soldier

Tom
Some one should talk to Senators Crapo and Craig.  Veterans should be able
to have anything they want on their  tombstones.

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:17:52 -0800
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Spam] [Vision2020] Wiccan Plaque Installed for Fallen Soldier

> >From today's Roundup edition of the Army Times -
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Wiccan plaque installed for fallen soldier
> 
> FERNLEY, Nev. - The space on a memorial wall in Fernley for a fallen
Nevada
> soldier is empty no longer.
> 
> A plaque with the Wiccan religious symbol was installed Monday on the
> Veterans' Memorial Wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery for Sgt.
> Patrick Stewart.
> 
> The Nevada Army National Guardsman and four other soldiers died Sept. 25,
> 2005, when their Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan.
> 
> Since then, Stewart's widow, Roberta, has been fighting to have the
> Department of Veterans Affairs recognize the Wiccan pentacle - a
> five-pointed star enclosed in a circle - for plaques and headstones at
> veterans' cemeteries.
> 
> The Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration allows only
approved
> emblems of religious beliefs on government headstones. Over the years, it
> has approved 38, including symbols for the Tenrikyo Church, United
Moravian
> Church and Sikhs. There is also an emblem for atheists.
> 
> But leaders of the Wiccan faith say they've been trying for nine years to
> have their symbol recognized by the federal government.
> 
> This fall, the Nevada Office of Veterans Services decided it had the
> authority to put the Wiccan emblem on a plaque for Stewart because the
> Fernley memorial is at a state veterans' cemetery.
> 
> Roberta Stewart said she was pleased with the plaque but would continue
her
> struggle with the federal government.
> 
> Earlier this month, she and others filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the
> VA's failure to approve the Wiccan symbol amounts to constitutional
> violations of free speech, freedom of religion and due process.
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
> t hansen-moore
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the
tranquil
> and steady dedication of a lifetime." 
> 
> --Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
> 
> 
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