I betcha $20 that they put a fucking cross on that stone just to fuck his family over even more.
]]>A pentacle, let me assure you, is not the most “sacrilegious” symbol I’ve seen on a vet’s grave marker, which is why there are regulations in place.
]]>However, there are already 11 Wiccan soldiers interred in assorted military cemeteries across the country. So far, only Sgt. Stewart has his Pentacle — because he was interred in a state cemetery in Colorado, and the state decided to provide his plaque last year. I’m not sure about the status of the others, but I’m keeping my ear to the ground, listening for grumblings from fundagelical groups regarding the presence of Pentacles in “their” cemeteries.
On a personal note, I have yet to visit my parents gravesite in MA to see if my brother ever got around to applying for Dad’s marker. I should do that, huh? I wonder, though, which symbol your uncle would have chosen — if any. He was never especially religious. Must be a family thing. 😉
]]>National cemeteries are filled in order of application and the marker comes later.
The last time I dealt with the VA, I used forms that had been replaced by two newer forms since they were issued, but none of the current forms were actually available, so they faked it with the old versions. Progress occurs glacially in the VA, even before the Shrubbery took over.
]]>Quick work?
It took them 9 years of litigation and threatened litigation to get around to admitting that Wicca is a religion whose adherents deserve military honor. Sure, a Wiccan can serve, have a pentacle on his or her dogtag, and even be allowed to worship on military grounds (as long as they do so out of sight of the public), but if they give their lives, phht! — no longer worthy.
Of course, now those with Pentacles on their grave markers will probably have to be moved to special area of the cemeteries to keep those symbols from offending the families of good Christian soldiers (beside whom those Wiccans may have died…)
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