Wednesday Afternoon, June 3, 2020...Jun 03, 2020 · TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA...
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Wednesday Afternoon, June 3, 2020 VIRAL WORLDWIDE COVERAGE OF MRFF'S MAJOR VICTORY: VA SECRETARY WILKIE CAVES! NAZI HEADSTONES WILL BE REMOVED! Monday, 6/1/20, at 1:54PM EDT, MRFF was informed by an ABC News TV executive producer in Washington, D.C. that the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed they plan to remove the swastika headstones. Media outlets that have covered story from the start not buying that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, who for weeks vowed to preserve the Nazi headstones, just found out about them and is removing them happily and willingly. Lest we forget, MRFF was first to demand, in a 5/12/20 letter to VA Sec. Wilkie, that the swastika headstones be removed. MRFF was also first to expose the issue nationally and internationally in major media. BILD (GERMANY) COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY Europe's Largest Media Outlet Google translation of headline: Small war for Nazi tombstones in the USA US Minister did not want to remove swastika headstones Click to Read Article NEWSWEEK COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY Veteran Affairs Pledges to Remove Swastika Gravestones from Military Cemeteries By: Daniel Villareal Tuesday, June 2, 2020 (Excerpts from Newsweek/Emphasis Added by MRFF) 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. […] Click to Read Article SALON COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY Veterans Affairs will remove headstones engraved with swastikas after initial refusal to do so By: Roger Sollenberger Wednesday, June 3, 2020 (Excerpts from Salon/Emphasis Added by MRFF) After resisting calls from Congress and religious freedom activists, Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie has agreed to take down three headstones engraved with swastikas at the graves of German prisoners of war in national cemeteries in San Antonio and Utah, Salon has learned. […] Wilkie, who once held a membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, testified to the House Military Construction-VA Appropriations subcommittee last week that he would prefer to let the stones remain in the cemeteries under his jurisdiction, albeit reframed in proper "historical context." […] Wilkie was called to testify after a military religious freedom watchdog demanded that the VA remove two headstones bearing a swastika and a phrase honoring Adolf Hitler from the prisoner-of-war "Section Z" in Fort Sam, first reported nationally by Salon. " The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) welcomes the positive news," organization chair Mikey Weinstein , a Jewish former Air Force serviceman, told Salon in a statement. […] Click to Read Article TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA Officials Start Process Of Removing Swastika Gravestones In San Antonio Cemetery By: Carson Frame Tuesday, June 2, 2020 (Excerpts from Texas Public Radio/Emphasis Added by MRFF) The Department of Veterans Affairs has reversed course and agreed to remove three gravestones in veterans cemeteries that are engraved with swastikas and other Nazi references. […] The stones have been there more than 70 years, nestled among the white marble markers of American servicemembers. Though they have been the subject of occasional news stories, they went mostly unnoticed until May, when the Military Religious Freedom Foundation threatened legal action. "We want the de-Nazification," said Mikey Weinstein , an Air Force veteran and lawyer for the advocacy organization. "Get rid of the swastika. Get rid of the homages to Hitler, the Third Reich, and the German people that supported them." […] "Even if we have to provide them a burial with some sort of marker, that is light years, galaxies away from putting up the swastika symbol itself," he said. The VA initially resisted the change, citing precedent and restrictions under the National Historic Preservation Act. In May, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie told the House Armed Services Committee that he didn't want to erase the Holocaust from memory by removing the stones. […] Click to Read Article and Listen to Segment STARS AND STRIPES COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA relents, will replace Nazi gravestones in national cemeteries By: Nikki Wentling Monday, June 1, 2020 (Excerpts from Stars and Stripes/Emphasis Added by MRFF) WASHINGTON — In an about-face, the Department of Veterans Affairs decided Monday to remove three gravestones etched with swastikas from VA-operated cemeteries. The decision reverses what the VA said last week. After calls to remove the stones, the department first insisted it would continue to preserve them “like every past administration.” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie then told lawmakers Thursday he favored an approach that would keep the gravestones but would add historical context in an effort to educate Americans about the Holocaust. […] The gravestones were discovered recently by a retired colonel visiting his Jewish grandfather’s grave at the San Antonio cemetery. The finding prompted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which attempts to protect religious freedom for service members, to call for the VA to remove them. During a hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations on Thursday, Democrats and Republicans called on the VA to replace the three gravestones. When Wilkie argued that the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 would prevent the department from removing the stones, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., criticized Wilkie for “hiding behind” the policy. Now, the department says it will “begin taking the required steps” to legally replace the stones with others that don’t include swastikas or other Nazi inscriptions. The VA wants to preserve the headstones in the National Cemetery Administration’s history collection. Click to Read Article MILITARY.COM COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA Reverses Course, Will Remove Headstones with Nazi Symbols By: Richard Sisk Monday, June 1, 2020 (Excerpts from Military.com/Emphasis Added by MRFF) In a reversal, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced late Monday that it had begun the process removing the headstones of three German POWs from World War II bearing Nazi symbols from two VA national cemeteries. The VA had initially said it could not remove the headstones under the National Historic Preservation Act, but VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Monday acknowledged the unusual circumstances in this case. […] The presence of the headstones and demands for their removal were first made by Mikey Weinstein, chairman of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. On May 19, he told Military.com that the symbols and the inscriptions "must be eradicated and eradicated now. This is completely and totally wrong." […] Click to Read Article TASK & PURPOSE COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA secretary reverses course on removing Nazi headstones from veteran cemeteries By: David Roza Tuesday, June 2, 2020 (Excerpts from Task & Purpose/Emphasis Added by MRFF) The Department of Veterans Affairs will take down three headstones bearing Nazi insignia in veterans cemeteries, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie announced Monday. The announcement reverses course from the secretary’s earlier push to keep the headstones, which mark the graves of German prisoners of war who died in the U.S. during World War II. Wilkie’s previous decision was met with outrage by lawmakers in Congress, who said the headstones were an insult to the American veterans buried alongside them, some of whom died fighting Nazis themselves. […] The Military Religious Freedom Foundation first drew attention to the headstones in May, and MRFF director Mikey Weinstein was happy to hear about the VA’s change of heart. Click to Read Article THE JERUSALEM POST COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY Veteran Affairs: Nazis 'don't have a place' next to fallen American heroes By: Jerusalem Post Staff Tuesday, June 2, 2020 (Excerpts from The Jerusalem Post/Emphasis Added by MRFF) Following the discovery of three German POW tombstones found in military cemeteries across the United States, inscribed with Nazi symbols and sentiments - two at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in Texas and one at Fort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah - ABC News' Johnathan Elias decided to sit down with the Secretary of Veteran Affairs Robert Wilkie to discuss the matter. […] Mikey Weinstein, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder, who is Jewish, said his organization was alerted to the presence of the tombstones with the Nazi insignia by a retired senior military officer who in May visited the graves of his maternal grandfather, his uncle and his aunt. “Some of them are buried with our war dead, which is shocking enough,” Weinstein said of the POW. “There’s no way you’re going to put a swastika on that grave.” The retired officer, who spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution, said he was spurred to action knowing the stories of Jewish relatives who had suffered anti- Semitism in Europe. The mother of his grandfather, who is buried at the cemetery, was Jewish. […] Click to Read Article SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER STATEMENT ON HEADSTONE VICTORY Veterans Affairs to Take Steps to Remove Hate Symbols from National Cemeteries Tuesday, June 2, 2020 MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On May 14, 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) joined the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and other civil liberties groups to call for the removal of headstones bearing swastikas on the graves of Nazi soldiers buried in national veterans cemeteries in Texas and Utah. Yesterday evening, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs announced that it would begin the process of replacing the three headstones that bare Nazi symbols and text. The following statement is from SPLC Senior Fellow Eric Ward: “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announcement that it will remove symbols of hate from three headstones in Texas and Utah is a key milestone that grapples with one of the darkest parts of our collective history. “While it’s encouraging to see that the VA will propose a plan to place headstones with these symbols of hate in their proper historical context, it is also important to understand that their presence reinforced a culture and political movement motivated by hate. “This is another chance for the VA to emphasize its stance against bigotry. Active service members, veterans who fought to protect the U.S. and their families should not be subjected to offensive imagery and wording that represents antisemitism and intolerance. [...] Click to Read Full Statement MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein's Statement VA Finally Surrenders to MRFF's Demand to Remove Repulsive Swastika Headstones Monday, June 1, 2020 The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) welcomes the positive news from disgraced Nazi apologist and Confederate fetishist VA Secretary Robert Wilkie today that the VA will be removing the disgusting Nazi swastika- adorned headstones of the three deceased German POWs, which has been all over the worldwide media recently. These grave headstones, actually located in VA National cemeteries paid for and maintained by American tax dollars, shockingly include horrific German language homages to Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the German people who supported both. Let us remember that Wilkie (and his suddenly fabricated “zeal” to dispose of these Nazi headstones) has only made this capitulating decision while under intense media and Congressional pressure since MRFF made the news story of this shameful matter go viral multiple times. MRFF has been fighting and advocating since May 12, 2020, around-the- clock, for this removal order from VA Secretary Wilkie on behalf of its retired Jewish-American military officer (full Colonel) and military academy graduate client whose grandfather fought in World War I and is buried in the Fort Sam Houston VA National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. MRFF has been arduously preparing to sue Secretary Wilkie and the VA if these Nazi headstones were not expeditiously removed. MRFF moved swiftly to hammer together, encourage, influence, and spear- head a terrific coalition of fellow civil rights organizations and individuals to join this just cause and to buttress its drive to get these Nazi and Adolf Hitler-promoting headstones removed, to include the Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Faithful America, Vote Vets, B’nai B’rith International, Columbus Jewish Foundation, the American Jewish Committee, Veterans Service Organizations of the Commander’s Task Force, Department of Veterans Affairs, State of Minnesota, and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America. MRFF now repeats its demand to VA Secretary Wilkie that, besides quickly removing these repulsive Nazi headstones, which initially he so badly wanted to keep right in place, he must sincerely apologize in good faith to all United States veterans and their families. MRFF advocates moving these Nazi headstones to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where an appropriate educational display can be erected explaining the salient particulars as to how and why those Nazi headstones are on display there. Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq. Founder and President Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) 505-250-7727 Lest we forget, MRFF was first to demand that the Nazi swastika headstones be removed. MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein's Original May 12, 2020 Letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie Demanding Immediate Replacement of Nazi Soldiers' Swastika Headstones The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) hereby demands that V.A. Secretary Robert Wilkie IMMEDIATELY replace the gravestones of all German military personnel interred in V.A. National Cemeteries so that ABSOLUTELY NO Nazi-era symbols, such as the repulsive swastika, and no homages to Adolph Hitler, or the German people and the German fatherland he led as the evil Fuhrer of the Third Reich, will ever again be allowed to appear on such gravestones in V.A. National Cemeteries maintained by U.S. taxpayer dollars. Indeed, V.A. Secretary Wilkie must first timely explain WHY ANY such former enemy military personnel are even buried In V.A. National Cemeteries, in the first place, alongside our honored deceased American veterans? Lastly, in light of the shocking and inexcusable existence of these Nazi- adorned gravesites in V.A. National Cemeteries, MRFF demands that Secretary Wilkie issue an immediate and heartfelt apology to all United States veterans and their families Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq. Founder and President Military Religious Freedom Foundation 505-250-7727 CLICK TO READ PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF MRFF'S DEMAND TO REPLACE THE NAZI HEADSTONES, BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT,AND ULTIMATE VICTORY “Nazi headstones” Sir In my humble opinion before removing these headstones I think some research should be done to see who these men were and their background. As I am sure you know a lot of the career military men and scientists had no choice but to join the Nazi party. Werner von braun for,example the father of the atlas rocket that sent us to the moon. While like you I do not agree with Hitler or his ideology I think it is owed to history to at least see who they were before we erase them Sincerly (name withheld) To see responses from MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein, MRFF Advisory Board Members Mike Farrell and Marty France, and MRFF Board Member John Compere: Click to read in Inbox “WWII Era German Iron Cross” You might want to look up what the Iron Cross that was rewarded during WWII to German officers looked like. EXACTLY THE SAME AS IS ON THOSE HEADSTONES. It is an accurate, historically documented military reward, equivalent of our Congressional Medal of Honor. You would be the first to complain if a US service member has a head stone overseas has that engraved and some politically correct organization demanded it be removed. They died for their beliefs, whether they were right or wrong. The same as our soldiers. Your organization demanding their removal is an affront to THIS veteran and I know why I have never heard of this organization. Removing those headstones is OFFENSIVE to me. Leave them as they are historically accurate and correct. Give it a rest. (name withheld) To see responses from MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein and MRFF Board Member John Compere: Click to read in Inbox “What a god damn pos” hey jew bay,,ya you mikey, i hope that if you do get to remove those headstones of german soldiers from the grave yard, that one of them reach’s out from the grave and gets to take out one more pos jew fuck from this world, drop dead,,A Hitler JR.,,,,, have a nice day now! To see responses from MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein, MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell, and MRFF Board Member John Compere: Click to read in Inbox “Graves” You don’t speak for me Grave robbers, you need stop acting like we support your non honorable group. You ave no Honor and are a disgrace to all that have served and died! (name withheld) To see responses from MRFF Advisory Board Members Mike Farrell and Martin France, and MRFF Board Member John Compere: Click to read in Inbox MRFF Information/Contact: (505) 250-7727 SUPPORT MRFF! Your Generous Support Allows us to Continue our Fight in the Courts and in the Media Make a Donation Join MRFF's Constitution Society (Recurring Donation) Help Build the Wall : Donate a "Brick"!
Transcript of Wednesday Afternoon, June 3, 2020...Jun 03, 2020 · TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY VA...
6/3/20, 3:36 PMViral Worldwide Coverage of MRFF’s Major Victory: VA Sec. Wilkie Caves! Nazi Headstones Will Be Removed!
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Wednesday Afternoon, June 3, 2020
VIRAL WORLDWIDE COVERAGEOF MRFF'S MAJOR VICTORY:
VA SECRETARY WILKIE CAVES!NAZI HEADSTONES WILL BE REMOVED!
Monday, 6/1/20, at 1:54PM EDT, MRFF was informed byan ABC News TV executive producer in Washington, D.C.
that the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmedthey plan to remove the swastika headstones.
Media outlets that have covered story from the start not buyingthat VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, who for weeks vowed to
preserve the Nazi headstones, just found out aboutthem and is removing them happily and willingly.
Lest we forget,MRFF was first to demand, in a 5/12/20 letter to
VA Sec. Wilkie, that the swastika headstones be removed.MRFF was also first to expose the issue nationally
and internationally in major media.
BILD (GERMANY)COVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
Europe's Largest Media Outlet
Google translation of headline:Small war for Nazi tombstones in the USA
US Minister did not want to remove swastika headstones
Click to Read Article
NEWSWEEKCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
Veteran Affairs Pledges to Remove SwastikaGravestones from Military Cemeteries
By: Daniel Villareal
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
(Excerpts from Newsweek/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Monday announced it willremove and replace three headstones bearing swastikas from militarycemeteries in Texas and Utah. The decision comes two weeks after the VAinitially said it wouldn't remove them.
The gravestones signify Nazi military officers who died as U.S. prisoners ofwar (POWs) during World War II. The Military Religious FreedomFoundation (MRFF), a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining religious freedomin the armed forces, initially requested the VA to remove them after aretired U.S. military colonel saw the gravestones while visiting the grave ofhis grandfather, who fought Nazis during World War II.
The VA initially said it couldn't remove them under the 1966 NationalHistoric Preservation Act (NHPA), which directs federal agencies to protecthistoric resources, even ones recognizing divisive historical figures or events.
[…]
Click to Read Article
SALONCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
Veterans Affairs will remove headstones engravedwith swastikas after initial refusal to do so
By: Roger Sollenberger
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
(Excerpts from Salon/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
After resisting calls from Congress and religious freedom activists,Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie has agreed to take down threeheadstones engraved with swastikas at the graves of German prisoners of warin national cemeteries in San Antonio and Utah, Salon has learned.
[…]
Wilkie, who once held a membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans,testified to the House Military Construction-VA Appropriationssubcommittee last week that he would prefer to let the stones remain in thecemeteries under his jurisdiction, albeit reframed in proper "historicalcontext."
[…]
Wilkie was called to testify after a military religious freedom watchdogdemanded that the VA remove two headstones bearing a swastika and aphrase honoring Adolf Hitler from the prisoner-of-war "Section Z" in FortSam, first reported nationally by Salon.
" The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) welcomes thepositive news," organization chair Mikey Weinstein , a Jewish former AirForce serviceman, told Salon in a statement.
[…]
Click to Read Article
TEXAS PUBLIC RADIOCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
VA Officials Start Process Of Removing SwastikaGravestones In San Antonio Cemetery
By: Carson Frame
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
(Excerpts from Texas Public Radio/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reversed course and agreed toremove three gravestones in veterans cemeteries that are engraved withswastikas and other Nazi references.
[…]
The stones have been there more than 70 years, nestled among the whitemarble markers of American servicemembers. Though they have been thesubject of occasional news stories, they went mostly unnoticed until May,when the Military Religious Freedom Foundation threatened legal action.
"We want the de-Nazification," said Mikey Weinstein , an Air Force veteranand lawyer for the advocacy organization. "Get rid of the swastika. Get ridof the homages to Hitler, the Third Reich, and the German people thatsupported them."
[…]
"Even if we have to provide them a burial with some sort of marker, that islight years, galaxies away from putting up the swastika symbol itself," hesaid.
The VA initially resisted the change, citing precedent and restrictions underthe National Historic Preservation Act. In May, Secretary of Veterans AffairsRobert Wilkie told the House Armed Services Committee that he didn't wantto erase the Holocaust from memory by removing the stones.
[…]
Click to Read Article and Listen to Segment
STARS AND STRIPESCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
VA relents, will replace Nazi gravestonesin national cemeteries
By: Nikki Wentling
Monday, June 1, 2020
(Excerpts from Stars and Stripes/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
WASHINGTON — In an about-face, the Department of Veterans Affairsdecided Monday to remove three gravestones etched with swastikas fromVA-operated cemeteries.
The decision reverses what the VA said last week. After calls to remove thestones, the department first insisted it would continue to preserve them“like every past administration.” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie then toldlawmakers Thursday he favored an approach that would keep thegravestones but would add historical context in an effort to educateAmericans about the Holocaust.
[…]
The gravestones were discovered recently by a retired colonel visiting hisJewish grandfather’s grave at the San Antonio cemetery. The findingprompted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which attempts toprotect religious freedom for service members, to call for the VA to removethem.
During a hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations on Thursday,Democrats and Republicans called on the VA to replace the threegravestones. When Wilkie argued that the National Historic PreservationAct of 1966 would prevent the department from removing the stones,Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., criticized Wilkie for “hidingbehind” the policy.
Now, the department says it will “begin taking the required steps” to legallyreplace the stones with others that don’t include swastikas or other Naziinscriptions. The VA wants to preserve the headstones in the NationalCemetery Administration’s history collection.
Click to Read Article
MILITARY.COMCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
VA Reverses Course, Will RemoveHeadstones with Nazi Symbols
By: Richard Sisk
Monday, June 1, 2020
(Excerpts from Military.com/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
In a reversal, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced late Mondaythat it had begun the process removing the headstones of three GermanPOWs from World War II bearing Nazi symbols from two VA nationalcemeteries.
The VA had initially said it could not remove the headstones under theNational Historic Preservation Act, but VA Secretary Robert Wilkie onMonday acknowledged the unusual circumstances in this case.
[…]
The presence of the headstones and demands for their removal were firstmade by Mikey Weinstein, chairman of the Military Religious FreedomFoundation.
On May 19, he told Military.com that the symbols and the inscriptions "mustbe eradicated and eradicated now. This is completely and totally wrong."
[…]
Click to Read Article
TASK & PURPOSECOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
VA secretary reverses course on removing Naziheadstones from veteran cemeteries
By: David Roza
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
(Excerpts from Task & Purpose/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
The Department of Veterans Affairs will take down three headstones bearingNazi insignia in veterans cemeteries, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie announcedMonday.
The announcement reverses course from the secretary’s earlier push tokeep the headstones, which mark the graves of German prisoners of warwho died in the U.S. during World War II.
Wilkie’s previous decision was met with outrage by lawmakers inCongress, who said the headstones were an insult to the American veteransburied alongside them, some of whom died fighting Nazis themselves.
[…]
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation first drew attention to theheadstones in May, and MRFF director Mikey Weinstein was happy to hearabout the VA’s change of heart.
Click to Read Article
THE JERUSALEM POSTCOVERS MRFF'S VICTORY
Veteran Affairs: Nazis 'don't have a place'next to fallen American heroes
By: Jerusalem Post Staff
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
(Excerpts from The Jerusalem Post/Emphasis Added by MRFF)
Following the discovery of three German POW tombstones found in militarycemeteries across the United States, inscribed with Nazi symbols andsentiments - two at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in Texas and one atFort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah - ABC News' Johnathan Elias decidedto sit down with the Secretary of Veteran Affairs Robert Wilkie to discuss thematter.
[…]
Mikey Weinstein, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder,who is Jewish, said his organization was alerted to the presence of thetombstones with the Nazi insignia by a retired senior military officer whoin May visited the graves of his maternal grandfather, his uncle and his aunt.
“Some of them are buried with our war dead, which is shocking enough,”Weinstein said of the POW. “There’s no way you’re going to put a swastikaon that grave.”
The retired officer, who spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency oncondition of anonymity because he feared retribution, said he was spurred toaction knowing the stories of Jewish relatives who had suffered anti-Semitism in Europe. The mother of his grandfather, who is buried at thecemetery, was Jewish.
[…]
Click to Read Article
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTERSTATEMENT ON HEADSTONE VICTORY
Veterans Affairs to Take Steps to Remove HateSymbols from National Cemeteries
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On May 14, 2020, the Southern Poverty LawCenter (SPLC) joined the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and othercivil liberties groups to call for the removal of headstones bearing swastikason the graves of Nazi soldiers buried in national veterans cemeteries in Texasand Utah. Yesterday evening, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairsannounced that it would begin the process of replacing the three headstonesthat bare Nazi symbols and text.
The following statement is from SPLC Senior Fellow Eric Ward:
“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announcement that it will removesymbols of hate from three headstones in Texas and Utah is a key milestonethat grapples with one of the darkest parts of our collective history.
“While it’s encouraging to see that the VA will propose a plan to placeheadstones with these symbols of hate in their proper historical context, it isalso important to understand that their presence reinforced a culture andpolitical movement motivated by hate.
“This is another chance for the VA to emphasize its stance against bigotry.Active service members, veterans who fought to protect the U.S. and theirfamilies should not be subjected to offensive imagery and wording thatrepresents antisemitism and intolerance.
[...]
Click to Read Full Statement
MRFF Founder and PresidentMikey Weinstein's Statement
VA Finally Surrenders to MRFF's Demandto Remove Repulsive Swastika Headstones
Monday, June 1, 2020
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)welcomes the positive news from disgraced Nazi apologistand Confederate fetishist VA Secretary Robert Wilkie todaythat the VA will be removing the disgusting Nazi swastika-adorned headstones of the three deceased German POWs,which has been all over the worldwide media recently.These grave headstones, actually located in VA National
cemeteries paid for and maintained by American tax dollars, shockinglyinclude horrific German language homages to Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich,and the German people who supported both.
Let us remember that Wilkie (and his suddenly fabricated “zeal” to disposeof these Nazi headstones) has only made this capitulating decision whileunder intense media and Congressional pressure since MRFF made the newsstory of this shameful matter go viral multiple times.
MRFF has been fighting and advocating since May 12, 2020, around-the-clock, for this removal order from VA Secretary Wilkie on behalf of itsretired Jewish-American military officer (full Colonel) and military academygraduate client whose grandfather fought in World War I and is buried in theFort Sam Houston VA National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
MRFF has been arduously preparing to sue Secretary Wilkie and the VA ifthese Nazi headstones were not expeditiously removed.
MRFF moved swiftly to hammer together, encourage, influence, and spear-head a terrific coalition of fellow civil rights organizations and individuals tojoin this just cause and to buttress its drive to get these Nazi and AdolfHitler-promoting headstones removed, to include the Southern Poverty LawCenter, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, FaithfulAmerica, Vote Vets, B’nai B’rith International, Columbus Jewish Foundation,the American Jewish Committee, Veterans Service Organizations of theCommander’s Task Force, Department of Veterans Affairs, State ofMinnesota, and the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.
MRFF now repeats its demand to VA Secretary Wilkie that, besides quicklyremoving these repulsive Nazi headstones, which initially he so badly wantedto keep right in place, he must sincerely apologize in good faith to all UnitedStates veterans and their families.
MRFF advocates moving these Nazi headstones to the United StatesHolocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where an appropriate educationaldisplay can be erected explaining the salient particulars as to how and whythose Nazi headstones are on display there.
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.Founder and PresidentMilitary Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)505-250-7727
Lest we forget,MRFF was first to demand that the Nazi
swastika headstones be removed.
MRFF Founder and President Mikey Weinstein'sOriginal May 12, 2020 Letterto VA Secretary Robert Wilkie
Demanding Immediate Replacement ofNazi Soldiers' Swastika Headstones
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)hereby demands that V.A. Secretary Robert WilkieIMMEDIATELY replace the gravestones of all Germanmilitary personnel interred in V.A. National Cemeteries sothat ABSOLUTELY NO Nazi-era symbols, such as therepulsive swastika, and no homages to Adolph Hitler, or theGerman people and the German fatherland he led as the evil
Fuhrer of the Third Reich, will ever again be allowed to appear on suchgravestones in V.A. National Cemeteries maintained by U.S. taxpayerdollars.
Indeed, V.A. Secretary Wilkie must first timely explain WHY ANY suchformer enemy military personnel are even buried In V.A. NationalCemeteries, in the first place, alongside our honored deceasedAmerican veterans?
Lastly, in light of the shocking and inexcusable existence of these Nazi-adorned gravesites in V.A. National Cemeteries, MRFF demands thatSecretary Wilkie issue an immediate and heartfelt apology to all UnitedStates veterans and their families
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.Founder and PresidentMilitary Religious Freedom Foundation505-250-7727
CLICK TO READ PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF MRFF'SDEMAND TO REPLACE THE NAZI HEADSTONES,
BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT,AND ULTIMATEVICTORY
“Nazi headstones”
Sir
In my humble opinion before removing these headstones I think someresearch should be done to see who these men were and their background. AsI am sure you know a lot of the career military men and scientists had nochoice but to join the Nazi party. Werner von braun for,example the father ofthe atlas rocket that sent us to the moon. While like you I do not agree withHitler or his ideology I think it is owed to history to at least see who theywere before we erase them
Sincerly
(name withheld)
To see responses from MRFF Founder and PresidentMikey Weinstein, MRFF Advisory Board Members Mike Farrelland Marty France, and MRFF Board Member John Compere:
Click to read in Inbox
“WWII Era German Iron Cross”
You might want to look up what the Iron Cross that was rewarded duringWWII to German officers looked like.
EXACTLY THE SAME AS IS ON THOSE HEADSTONES.
It is an accurate, historically documented military reward, equivalent of ourCongressional Medal of Honor. You would be the first to complain if a USservice member has a head stone overseas has that engraved and somepolitically correct organization demanded it be removed.
They died for their beliefs, whether they were right or wrong. The same asour soldiers. Your organization demanding their removal is an affront toTHIS veteran and I know why I have never heard of this organization.
Removing those headstones is OFFENSIVE to me. Leave them as they arehistorically accurate and correct. Give it a rest.
(name withheld)
To see responses from MRFF Founder and PresidentMikey Weinstein and MRFF Board Member John Compere:
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“What a god damn pos”
hey jew bay,,ya you mikey, i hope that if you do get to remove thoseheadstones of german soldiers from the grave yard, that one of them reach’sout from the grave and gets to take out one more pos jew fuck from thisworld,
drop dead,,A Hitler JR.,,,,, have a nice day now!
To see responses from MRFF Founder and PresidentMikey Weinstein, MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell,
and MRFF Board Member John Compere:
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“Graves”
You don’t speak for me Grave robbers, you need stop acting like we supportyour non honorable group. You ave no Honor and are a disgrace to all thathave served and died!
(name withheld)
To see responses from MRFF Advisory Board MembersMike Farrell and Martin France,
and MRFF Board Member John Compere:
Click to read in Inbox
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