Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The US Veterans Administration will not replace three tombstones of soldiers who fought for Nazi Germany inscribed with swastikas in its military cemeteries, calling them “historic resources.” A group that advocates for religious freedom in the military on Monday called on the VA to replace two World War II-era POW headstones in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, inscribed with swastikas inside a German cross, and the phrase, “He died far from his home for the Führer, people, and fatherland.”

President Trump has been in office for barely a month, but he already deserves credit for at least one major accomplishment: He’s gotten the New York Times to discover a new interest in intensively covering antisemitism. What am I talking about? Consider the following brief recent history of vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and their coverage, or lack of it, in the New York Times.January, 2008: In New Jersey, 499 gravestones are knocked over at a Jewish cemetery. The Times covered it with a news article that ran in New York-area copies of the paper and that made no connection to...

Banning the display of Confederate flags on the final resting places of Confederate soldiers is like plunging a rusty sword into the hearts of the great great grandchildren who remember their fallen with pride. The House having voted to ban the display of Confederate flags at historic federal cemeteries in the Deep South is the equivalent of robbing dead Confederate soldiers of their patriot status, condemning their memories forever in absentia and even desecrating their graves. It is akin to ruthlessly tearing out pages from the history book of time; bequeathing an unforgivable denial to up and coming generations born...

The Memphis City Council began the process Tuesday that could result in the removal of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue and body from a public park. The City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for the removal of the graves of Forrest and his wife from Health Sciences Park at Union and Manassas, and an ordinance to remove a statue of Forrest from the park received the first of three readings. The resolution about the graves still has to receive approval from Chancery Court and Forrest’s descendants, while the ordinance about the statue also requires approval from the Tennessee...

In honor of Memorial Day and the fallen. This is a moving tribute by the West Point Glee Club with pictures collected by John Langslov. Solos by Ronan Tynan and Sgt. McKenzie. If this does not bring a tear to your eye, you have no heart.

Founders of religious communities, prominent lay Catholics, philanthropists and church leaders are among the many Catholics whose final resting places are located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Many know that Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, is entombed beside other bishops in the crypt at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland is the final resting place for spiritual shepherds including Cardinal Lawrence Shehan and Archbishop William D. Borders. There are also lesser-known Catholics who have made an...

The Syfy TV channel wants to shoot an epsiode in a Savannah cemetery, but city officials won't approve the idea. Producers want to film an episode of "Fact or Faked," which would examine a tourist's 2008 claim that he filmed a ghostly image of a boy running through the cemetery. Acting City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and Jerry Flemming, director of cemeteries, say they're following city policy on the use of cemeteries. "The municipal cemeteries are not for sensational or entertainment purposes. Any tours or events marketed as haunted, paranormal, or involving ghosts, spiritualists or mediums are strictly prohibited from any...

How many Europeans are buried on American soil defending America from her enemies... The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289 of American military dead. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329 of American military dead. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410 of American military dead. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of American dead. Cambridge, England. 3812 of American military dead. Epinal, France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of American Military dead. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368 of American military dead. Florence, Italy. A total...

MADRID, Spain -- A new kind of silent hero has joined the fight against climate change. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a gritty, working-class town outside Barcelona, has placed a sea of solar panels atop mausoleums at its cemetery, transforming a place of perpetual rest into one buzzing with renewable energy. Flat, open and sun-drenched land is so scarce in Santa Coloma that the graveyard was about the only viable spot to move ahead with its solar energy program. The power the 462 panels produce, equivalent to the yearly use of 60 homes, flows into the local energy grid for normal...

The two old sailors stepped side by side toward the Tomb of the Unknowns, carrying a memorial wreath to their shipmates between them. The crowd stood hushed in the autumn sun while the pair, in ball caps and blazers, approached the white marble monument, left their wreath, stepped back and saluted. A bugler had just played taps, and as the breeze rustled a majestic elm nearby, the moment was almost perfect: Few seemed focused on the jagged crack that zigzagged through the 48-ton stone like a scar, or the dings and chips in its surface. But away from the scene...

Nobody wants to be pushing up daisies. But you kind of like to think that when you one day find yourself doing it, at least the daisies will be real. But not if you're six feet under Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Apple Valley, Calif. The Associated Press reported yesterday that the famous cemetery is giving up grass in favor of artificial turf. The owners of Sunset Hills Memorial Park say the switch will save as much as $180,000 in water and maintenance costs over the next three years. "I actually believe it will revolutionize the cemetery industry eventually," said...

Dearly departed find green peace Burials yield to Earth-friendly means Post / Jerry Cleveland John Horan of Horan & McConaty Funeral Service is building a 1-acre park where ashes can be scattered, buried or stored. By Christine Tatum, Denver Post Business Writer Environmentalists are breaking new ground to memorialize the dead. Alarmed by the amount of chemicals, concrete and metals buried in cemeteries and at the amount of water used each year to keep the grounds lush, nature lovers are looking for more Earth-friendly ways to rest in peace and scouting for burial grounds that respect the environment. And whether...

Link has photos SICK French yobs daubed a swastika and vile anti-war slurs at a cemetery for 11,000 British troops. The showpiece cenotaph at the graveyard in Northern France was smeared in red paint with the words: “Dig up your rubbish. It’s fouling our soil.” Other slogans at the Etaples cemetery near Boulogne included “Death to the Yankees” and “Saddam Hussein will win and spill your blood.” And the vandals wrote “Rosbeefs go home” — the French insult for Brits is roast-beefs. Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush were also branded war criminals. The graffiti was discovered...

 

French Mayor Bans Residents from Dying Thu Aug 22,10:25 AM ET LE LAVANDOU, France (Reuters) - The mayor of a French Mediterranean town, faced with a cemetery "full to bursting," has banned local residents from dying until he can find somewhere else to bury them. Gil Bernardi, mayor of Le Lavandou on the coast 15 miles west of Saint Tropez, introduced the ban after a court rejected his plans to build a cemetery in a tranquil setting by the sea. Bernardi said most locals had obeyed the edict so far, but he was desperately trying to find a resting place...

They say that the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. And, if the government could get away with taxing the dead, they would do so. Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) has made a request to the General Accounting Office to investigate the desecration of cemetaries nationwide. He says he believes that the government should regulate the funeral industry to try to protect cemetaries, since they regulate everything else. How is getting the federal government to regulate cemetaries and funeral homes going to help stop the desecration of graves? What are they going to do, unionize...