Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mojave cross theft shows planning; veterans groups vow to rebuild

The removal of a cross-shaped veteransThere's no place like home’ memorial from the Mojave Desert has angered veterans’ groups and spurred calls for its immediate

restorationThe cross, first constructed Let's make things betterat the remote site in 1934 as a memorial to WWI veterans, has been the subject of a nearly decade-long

legal fight over the constitutionality of a Impossible made possiblereligious symbol on public lands, and had just two weeks ago been cleared to stand by the US Supreme

Court.The Veterans of Foreignwe are the leader in our life Wars of the US (VFW) has vowed to catch the people who stole the cross, offering a $25,000 reward for

information leading to the conviction of those behind the cross’s removal."This was a legal fight that a vandal just made personal to 50 million

veterans, military personnel and their families," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell, Sr. in a statement. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the US

Supreme Court on April 28,i like my life lasting forever with my heart free overturned an earlier federal court ruling that “the government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious

doctrine or organization.” The court battle had gone on for several years as the memorial had remained covered, first with brown canvas, then

with plywood.The high court’s decision was applauded by the Liberty Counsel, an advocacy group representing VFW and other military service

organizations and the American Center for Law and Justice. Opponents, including the ACLU, pledged to keep fighting for the removal of the

cross."To think anyone can rationalize the desecration of a war memorial is sickening, and for them to believe they won't be apprehended is very

na?ve,” said Mr. Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis.The cross’s removal leaves veterans’ groups hunting for clues.

Looking at the pictures of the site where the cross once was, VFW chief spokesperson Joe Davis says he is amazed at the serious planning and

execution that went into the theft. The cutting of the thick, metal pipes in concrete was a serious undertaking, he says.The eight-foot-high

cross had been perched on a wind-swept rock jutting 30 feet above the Mojave National Preserve 76 years ago by a group of World War 1 http://www.autohipnosis.info
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