Veteran Affairs Pledges to Remove Swastika Gravestones from Military Cemeteries

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Newsweek

U.S.
Veteran Affairs Pledges to Remove Swastika Gravestones from Military Cemeteries
BY DANIEL VILLARREAL ON 6/2/20 AT 5:23 PM EDT

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Monday announced it will remove and replace three headstones bearing swastikas from military cemeteries in Texas and Utah. The decision comes two weeks after the VA initially said it wouldn't remove them.

The gravestones signify Nazi military officers who died as U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) during World War II. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining religious freedom in the armed forces, initially requested the VA to remove them after a retired U.S. military colonel saw the gravestones while visiting the grave of his grandfather, who fought Nazis during World War II.

The VA initially said it couldn't remove them under the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which directs federal agencies to protect historic resources, even ones recognizing divisive historical figures or events.

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Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/veteran-affairs-pledges-remove-swastika-gravestones-military-cemeteries-1508231

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I'M JUST GLAD NEWSWEEK FINALLY FOUND ITS CAPS LOCK KEY.

[iluvtennis]

1. Good. nt

[bigworld]

2. Honor them with a German flag

but not the Nazi insignia. I'm surprised they ever were approved.

[obamanut2012]

3. Yeah, agreed

The current German flag is a terrific replacement.

[Warren_Pointe]

4. Why not repatriate them?

They belong closer to their families. It's not a mass grave on a battlefield.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Maybe there was no one left of their family by the end of the war. NT

[Warren_Pointe]

6. That may be true,

but they still belong in their homeland.