Ww1 Veterans' Cross Restored

[BG45]

[url="http://news.msn.com/us/vets-restore-controversial-memorial-cross"]http://news.msn.com/us/vets-restore-controversial-memorial-cross[/url]

[quote]
A promise to a dying World War I vet was kept on Sunday as veterans gathered in the Mojave Desert to replace a memorial cross on a rocky hilltop.


A war memorial cross that once stood on a rocky hilltop in a national park before being deemed unconstitutional and ordered removed was resurrected on Veterans Day at the stunningly stark Mojave desert site, capping a landmark case for veterans fighting similar battles on public lands.

Henry Sandoz, who cared for the original 1930s cross as part of a promise to a dying World War I veteran, rededicated a new, 7-foot steel cross on the same hilltop before more than 100 people.

The site is now in private hands as part of a land swap with the National Park Service that ended the longstanding legal dispute, which had become entangled in the thorny issues of patriotism and religion.

"Judges and lawyers may have played their roles, but it was the veterans who earned this memorial, and it is for them it rises once more," said attorney Hiram Sasser of the Texas-based Liberty Institute, which represented veterans in the legal fight.

The settlement approved by a federal judge in April permitted the Park Service to turn over the acre of land known as Sunrise Rock to a Veteran of Foreign Wars post in Barstow and the Veterans Home of California-Barstow in exchange for five acres of donated property elsewhere in the 1.6 million acre preserve, about a four hour-drive east of Los Angeles.

The donated land was owned by Sandoz and his wife, Wanda, of Yucca Valley.

Sandoz, 73, has cared for the memorial as a promise to World War I veteran Riley Bembry, who with other shell-shocked vets went to the desert to help heal and erected a wooden cross on Sunrise
Rock in 1934. It was later replaced with a cross made of steel pipes.

Then Sunrise Rock became part of the Mojave National Preserve in 1994, putting the Christian symbol on public land.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in 2001 on behalf of a retired Park Service employee who argued the cross was unconstitutional on government property because of the separation of church and state, and federal courts ordered it removed.

Congress stepped in and ordered the land swap in 2003, but the courts rejected the transfer. The issue made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in April 2010 refused to order the cross removed. The high court directed a federal judge to review the congressional land transfer plan.
The decision was the latest on the issue by a Supreme Court that has signaled a greater willingness to allow religious symbols on public land amid a number of legal challenges in recent years by civil
liberty activists and atheists.

Weeks after the 2010 court decision, the cross — which had been covered up to comply with court injunctions — was stolen. The stolen cross turned up earlier this month in the San Francisco Bay area tied to a fence post. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department plans to return the cross.
But veterans decided to start fresh and dedicate its replacement in Sunday's ceremony, which included speeches, the Pledge of Allegiance and a bugler playing taps.

"It's there and it's going to stay there," Wanda Sandoz said. "With the land swap we don't have to worry about its fate anymore. We're happy to have it all resolved and back in place to honor the vets."

The Park Service has fenced the site, leaving entrances for visitors, and posted signs noting it is private land. A plaque stating that the cross is a memorial for U.S. war veterans now sits on the rock.[/quote]

Just a bit of morning good news.

[zabbazooey]

I am glad it gets to stay put. I remember the FFRF wanting to take down a similar war memorial (is it this one?) either that or they are in the process of a lawsuit to get it taken down. I am all for the separation of church and state, but come on, this is an old war memorial. I am sure if any veteran had a real issue with it, we would be hearing from them and not those cry babies lol.

[CatherineM]

I wonder when they are going to attack the crosses at Arlington?

[Brother Adam]

Since they are grave stones of individual soldiers, I can't imagine they would...but then...

[dominicansoul]

don't give them any ideas!

[Freedom]

Praise be to the Lord! Wow, people are unbelievable sometimes. This was a dying Veterans wish, a memorial cross for not just him, but all those who died in service for America.

For all those who go out of their way to fight the cross, are really keeping the memory of Jesus alive. It reminds me of Luke 2:34 - and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold this child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted."

[AnneLine]

Would have propped, BG, but I am out.

I remember a few years ago my husband nd I were in D.C. during the week between Christmas... and New Year, and we were ASTOUNDED to find a MANGER SCENE on the Washington Mall. We wondered if none of the atheists came out during cold, snowy weather.... or if this was the biggest secret in Washington... we loved it!

Edited November 13, 2012 by AnneLine