Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Freedom for All Faiths is an important issue this Memorial Day.

This year, in the small town of Fernley, Nevada there will be two Memorial Day services honoring deceased veterans.

The failure of the US Department of Veterans Affairs to give equal treatment to all religions of fallen US soldiers has led to an the addition of the second service.

The Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service is being held on Memorial Day, May 29, 2006 at the Out of Town Park in Fernley, Nevada at 9:30 am, which is an hour and a half before the start of the usual Memorial service at the nearby Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

This Freedom for All Faiths service honors the life, service, and ultimate sacrifice of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, a Nevada National guardsman who was killed in action by Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan last September.

Sgt. Stewart was Wiccan. His wife, Roberta Stewart, also Wiccan, requested the Pentacle, the emblem of belief of their religion, be inscribed on her husband's government-issued memorial plaque. One of the other Nevada National Guardsmen killed in the same incident as Sgt. Stewart was Christian and already has his memorial plaque with his emblem of belief, the Christian Cross, on the Memorial Wall of Heroes in the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada.

Presently there is only an empty space where Sgt. Stewart's plaque should be. Roberta Stewart is unable to have his plaque produced because the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has not yet approved the addition of the Pentacle to its National Cemetery Administration's (NCA) list of emblems of belief that are permitted to be inscribed on VA-issued headstones, markers, and plaques for deceased veterans.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has been considering the addition of the Pentacle to its NCA list for nearly 9 years. Several major Wiccan denominations, including Roberta Stewart's church, Circle Sanctuary, have made repeated requests for the addition of the Pentacle during this time. Although the VA has been provided all the required materials for Pentacle addition approval twice, under procedures adopted in 2001 and again in 2005, the VA thus far has consistently refused to approve the Pentacle, despite approving emblems of 6 other religions during this time.

At the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service, Sgt. Stewart's life, service, and ultimate sacrifice will be honored. Veterans and soldiers of all religions will be memorialized. The Service also will include a call to hold the United States Department of Veterans Affairs accountable for upholding the United States Constitution by providing equal treatment of all the religions of deceased veterans.

The Service will include a welcome by Sgt. Stewart's widow, Roberta, plus an invocation and remarks by Chaplain Bill Chrystal, United Church of Christ minister and retired US military chaplain. Sgt. Stan Smith of the Nevada National Guard - Mustang Unit will do introductions. The service also will include the raising of the American flag flown over Afghanistan and given to Sgt. Stewart, the Pledge of Allegiance, music, and remarks by Theresa Peacock, spiritual advisor; John Emerson, candidate for Nevada State Senate; and Dawn Gibbons, candidate for US Congress and wife of US Congressman Jim Gibbons.

The Service is free and open to the public.

For the latest details about the program, see: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/stewartmemorial.htm

Contact:
Rev. Selena Fox
Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary
selena@circlesanctuary.org
(608) 924-2216

Rev. Angela Buchanan
Public Relations Director, Circle Sanctuary
angie@circlesanctuary.org

[An earlier version of this press release was published on Friday, May 19, 2006.]