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On this fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, join with many others in remembering Sgt. Stewart and the Veteran Pentacle Quest.
in FERNLEY, NEVADA
This morning, Roberta Stewart was among the special guests at the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in Fernley, Nevada. Journalist and veteran John Tyson was master of ceremonies, and in his words of dedication, he spoke in support of Roberta and her on-going efforts to get the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to approve the Pentacle and honor her husband with their emblem of belief as has been done for other veterans of other religions at the veterans cemetery.
Today's ceremony included the dedication of a memorial honoring Fernley citizens who have been killed in the line of duty since September 11, 2001. More than one hundred and fifty people, including many police and military personnel, attended.
Sgt. Stewart was the first of the three fallen heroes commemorated today at this new memorial at Out of Town Park in Fernley. His sacrifice was honored with a wreath and with a plaque on the memorial. Roberta, with military escort, cut the ribbon as part of the unveiling of the memorial today.
Following the service, Roberta took her husband's 9/11 memorial wreath to the nearby Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery. She also placed a red rose and a red carnation at the spot on Wall of Heroes there, which is still blank because the VA has still not approved the Pentacle for use on veteran memorial markers.
in MONTREAL, CANADA
Wiccan priestess Paula Johnson has begun networking and speaking about the Veteran Pentacle Quest at an international interfaith academic conference: World's Religions after September 11: A Global Congress (http://www.worldsreligionsafter911.com). This conference, which opens today and ends on Friday evening, is being held at the Montreal Convention Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At this 9/11 anniversary time, this Congress focuses on: "Can Religion be a Force for Good?" The Congress is being sponsored by McGill University and the Parliament of the World's Religions.
Paula, a national interfaith representative for Covenant of the Goddess, is also at the conference serving as Lady Liberty League's Veteran Pentacle Quest media liaison and as a special correspondent for CIRCLE Magazine. Paula already has begun networking with international press on the Veteran Pentacle Quest issue and will be doing so throughout the week. On Friday afternoon, she will be speaking as part of a session on Media and Religion.
Paula is associated with Lynn University where she is staff as well as finishing her Masters degree in Mass Communications. Lynn University mentioned Sgt. Stewart and the Quest in its recent press release about Paula at the Congress:
"Johnson will focus her presentation (entitled "A Pagan By Any Other Name: The Rhetoric of Nature Religion in the Media") on the high profile case of deceased U.S. Army Sergeant Patrick Stewart, a practicing Wiccan who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has refused to include Sgt. Stewart's religious symbol of affiliation on an outdoor memorial in his home state of Nevada. Johnson has closely studied the case and followed the rhetoric used by both the VA and major news outlets (including CNN, MSNBC and the Washington Post)."
The full text of this press release is now on-line:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/JohnsonAtCongress.htm
NETWORKING
Feel free to forward this report to lists, websites, blogs, media sources, and others you know who may be interested.
A recently updated and detailed account of the nine year history of the Veteran Pentacle Quest by Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary is now on-line:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/QuestStorySummary.htm
Other information about the Veteran Pentacle Quest is on-line:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle
Circle Times: Monday, September 11, 2006