Wiccan Hero's Memorial STILL Without Marker

Today the Washington Post caught up with the story of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, awarded the Bronze Star for bravery and killed in Afghanistan last September. Sgt. Stewart's family still haven't succeeded in getting the Veterans Affairs dept. to agree to putting a Wiccan pentagram on his memorial plaque.

I blogged this just over a month ago (Memorial Day weekend) when it first hit the newswires. I'm a pagan myself and this story horrified me. My mesage to the VA would be simple - "can we please start honoring ALL our fallen heroes in the way they would wish instead of insulting them and their religion?"

NINE years since the request was first made by Wiccan servicemen and they still can't grant approval for these grave markers and memorials? When the religious groups that are approved include The Aaronic Order, The Native American Church, Baha'i, Konko-Kyo, Sufism, Tenrikyo, Seicho-no-ie, The Church of World Messianity, the Moravian Church and Enkankar? I think the WaPo is absolutely correct when it says the VA is afraid of upsetting extremist Christians.

I wonder if Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., have any comment to make for the public record? Tim Tetz, executive director of the Nevada Office of Veterans Services, has been trying to get them to pressure the VA. I see from the WaPo article that Nevada's congressional delegation, including Reid, are supporting Stewart's family but there are no actual statements from the politicos. A bit more bloggy buzz would certainly help.

Anyone who wishes to personally register their wish for this hero and others to have an appropriate memorial could always let the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs know too.

House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
335 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

or call:

(202) 225-3527

Update Earl drew my attention to the Chicago Sun-Times and it's "Quicktakes" page, which nicely boils the whole issue down to its basics:

Freedom of religion?

News Item: Army National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart is killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.

News Item: Stewart's widow requests that the symbol of his Wiccan religion be included on his plaque at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

News Item: Department of Veterans Affairs continues to block memorial plaque nine months later.

Not to put too fine a point on it. But what is the matter with us, anyway?