War Memorials
"O Beautiful for Heros (sic) Proved / In Liberating Strife / Who More Than Self Their Country Loved, / And Mercy More Than Life!" ~Fifth Stanza of America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates
About the issue:
Nearly every community nationwide has a war memorial of some sort. Sometimes it's a large display, such as the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C, but sometimes it's as small as a seven-foot-tall cross in the middle of the desert.
Americans put up these memorials to honor their family and friends that gave their lives to defend our freedoms. The tradition of erecting war memorials to honor the dead instead of monuments that celebrate a victory began after World War I, and many of the memorials erected were in the shape of a cross. The Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial was no exception.
Erected in 1934, the Mojave Desert War Memorial stands in the middle of the 1.6 million-acre Mojave National Preserve. It was erected by World War I veterans who moved to the desert after the War in search of physical and emotional healing. Riley Bembrey, one of the men who helped erect the memorial, looked after it until his death in 1984, and shortly before his passing, he asked his friend Henry Sandoz to care for the memorial. Since then, Henry and his wife Wanda have faithfully taken care of the memorial; that is, until a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and a professing Catholic forced the memorial into hiding.
As a result of rulings from a federal district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the memorial which served as a reminder of the price of freedom has been covered up, first with a bag, and currently with a plywood box. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case on October 7, and is expected to release a ruling soon.
However, there are more war memorials with religious imagery, and more battles to fight. An upcoming battle involves the Mount Soledad Memorial, a 29-foot-tall Latin cross erected as a veterans memorial and located in San Diego with religious symbols from other faiths surrounding.
It is outrageous to think that a memorial placed over 75 years ago by veterans could be the object of such anger, but this is worth fighting for. If even one memorial is torn down, it will mean that no memorial with any kind of religious imagery is safe.
What We're Doing:
Liberty Institute has partnered with The American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), and the Military Order of the Purple Heart, among others, to make these attacks stop. We launched the Don't Tear Me Down campaign, which has increased public awareness of the plight of the Mojave Desert War Memorial, and have filed legal briefings in this case, among others. Liberty Institute and the veterans groups will be involved in the case surrounding the Mount Soledad Memorial, and are committed to fighting to preserve any and all veterans memorials.
