Yesterday, bipartisan leadership of the House Veterans Affairs and Appropriations Committees wrote the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (
full text of letter) demanding removal or alterations to the gravestones of three World War II German POW's in VA cemeteries. According to the
Military Times earlier this month:
At issue are three grave sites at two VA cemeteries: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in Texas and Fort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah. Both were used to inter dozens of unclaimed remains of enemy troops following World War II.
While most of the foreign troops’ grave markers list only names and dates of death, the three in question are also engraved with with a swastika in the center of an iron cross and in inscription in German which reads “He died far from his home for the Führer, people and fatherland.”...
Veteran Affairs officials in a statement said the headstones date back to the 1940s. Army officials oversaw both cemeteries at the time and approved the inscriptions and inclusion of the swastika.
“The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 assigns stewardship responsibilities to federal agencies, including VA and Army, to protect historic resources, including those that recognize divisive historical figures or events,” National Cemetery Administration spokesman Les' Melnyk said in response to questions about the graves.
“For this reason, VA will continue to preserve these headstones, like every past administration has.”
Military Religious Freedom Foundation which originally called attention to the gravestones has
background and further information.
