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Call for Additional Veteran Markers with Pentacles
URGENT CALL for Additional Veteran Markers with PentaclesIf you know of a deceased Wiccan/Pagan veteran in need of a VA-issued headstone, marker, or plaque with the Pentacle symbol, and would like assistance with expedited production of it, please contact Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary by Wednesday, MAY 16, 2007 for more details.
email: liberty@circlesanctuary.org
phone: (608) 924-2216 (leave message)
Under the terms of the settlement agreement of the federal lawsuit, Circle Sanctuary vs. Nicholson, negotiated by Americans United for Separation of Church and State with attorneys representing the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), those in need of a VA-issued memorial grave marker with Pentacle to honor a deceased Wiccan/Pagan veteran can get expedited treatment for marker production, if the completed marker application (VA form 40-1330) is submitted to the VA by the next of kin within 30 days of the settlement signing, which was on April 20.
After May 20, applications for veteran grave markers with Pentacles can still be submitted to the VA, but the production of those markers will revert to the customary timeframe, which usually takes one to two months.
Rev. Selena Fox, high priestess of Circle Sanctuary, is offering assistance to families of deceased Wiccan/Pagan veterans in need of VA-issued grave markers with the Pentacle. She is working directly with VA staff on requests.
Selena presently knows of twelve requests, five of which have already been fulfilled! As of May 1, two markers with Pentacles are at Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin and two are at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. As of May 2, one is at a cemetery in Tennessee. Other applications and markers are in process.
A copy of the VA's marker application, Form 40-1330, is on-line at the VA website, along with other information:
http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm_hm.asp
The Pentacle is emblem #37 on the VA's list of emblems of belief that can be included on federal government-issued markers, headstones, & plaques:
http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp
A PDF of the settlement agreement (Circle Sanctuary vs. Nicholson) and other information is at the Americans United for Separation of Church and State website:
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=legal_pentacle
For more information about the Veteran Pentacle Quest Success including media news links, celebrations, photos, and photos of some veteran markers with Pentacles:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle
press release issued by Lady Liberty League
Circle Sanctuary, PO Box 9, Barneveld, WI 53507 USA
email: liberty@circlesanctuary.org
phone: (608) 924-2216
fax: (608) 924-5961
web: http://www.circlesanctuary.org
Circle Times: Friday, May 11, 2007