March 13, 2006

Greetings,

Thank you for your phone call on March 2, 2006 telling me that Circle Sanctuary's request for the Pentacle to be added to the NCA emblem of belief list had moved to the next step in the approval process. We are glad that it has moved forward.

When we submitted the January 6, 2006 application from our church member for a marker for her deceased husband, a Korean War veteran, along with Circle Sanctuary's request to the VA for the Pentacle to be added to the NCA list of emblems of belief, I clearly indicated that we have an immediate and urgent need for the Pentacle to be approved in a timely fashion.

It has now been over two months since the VA has received the marker application with our Pentacle approval request.

We had hoped that the Pentacle would have been approved by now in order that the marker application could go forward and be produced within the sixty day time frame indicated on the VA website. We still would like to have a marker with a Pentacle on it produced, shipped, and in place in time for the May 4, 2006 memorial for this veteran, a long time church member, as requested in my January 6, 2006 letter which accompanied the application. The gravesite of our Korean War veteran continues to be without a memorial marker of any kind.

We are becoming increasingly concerned at the slow speed of the NCA's emblem of belief approval process. This is interfering with our being able to schedule memorials to honor our deceased veterans. This is causing anguish to widows and others who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. One church member, a widow from Nevada, is particularly stressed by the continued pending status of this request due to this week's homecoming of the troops who served with her husband who was killed in Afghanistan last September. Her husband's comrade who was killed at that time has had his memorial plaque on the veterans memorial wall since February 9. However, her husband does not have his plaque there because the Pentacle is not yet approved.

This weekend, Circle Sanctuary's immediate need and urgency to have the Pentacle approved now has increased further. This is due to the pressing need to plan and schedule a graveside memorial for another deceased veteran who is a member of our church. His widow is from Ohio, and she, along with relatives and church members from other states, will be coming to our church cemetery in Wisconsin for the memorial. They need to make travel plans, and we want to have the marker in place for the memorial which the widow wants held in early June 2006 to coincide with the anniversary of this veteran's death.

In order to expedite our planning process, I would like answers to the following questions and requests for information:

• In order for us to have that marker ordered in time to be present at this memorial, we need to have the Pentacle approved by the end of this month, by March 31, 2006. Can we expect a decision by then? Or, will we have to have the memorial service with an unmarked grave?
  
  
• When will Circle Sanctuary's request for the Pentacle to be added to the NCA list of emblems of belief be approved?
  
  
• We would like to have the names and contact information of the individuals who still need to review the application or be involved in the process of its approval.
  
  
• If you do not know, please advise us who in the VA can provide us that information.

I would appreciate your reply today, preferably by email.

Thank you.

Regards,

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