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October 29, 2007
Flag folding ceremony nixed because of reference to God
One hundred twenty-five national cemeteries can no longer honor military veterans families with a flag-folding recitation ceremony because one person complained that the ritual mentions God.
Thousands of military families request the flag-folding recitation
ceremony for deceased loved ones. It’s unofficial, but especially
meaningful to families that want to honor a soldier’s sacrifice.
But the recitations were banned by the VA until further notice because, as Rees Lloyd with the Defense of Veterans Memorials Project of the American Legion puts it, one person was offended.
“One disgruntled narcissist has caused a complete ban affecting 300-million Americans honor our war-dead and our comrades, veterans and we think its an outrage and we intend to fight it.”
The complainer’s name isn’t known, the VA isn’t commenting, nor is it releasing language of the ban. Romey Kilgore with United We Serve calls it a slap in the face to our military.
“Our American veterans; they've fought and died for our beliefs and our right to express them and we owe them nothing less than that.”
If military families wish to continue the flag-folding recitation, Doug Napier with the Alliance Defense Fund is standing by. He says the sweeping policy change is on shaky legal ground
“Veterans and their families have First Amendment rights just like everyone else and they shouldn’t be curtailed because one person complains.”
The ceremonies are performed by voluntary Memorial Honor Detail teams.
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