In 1934, World War I veterans erected a simple memorial in the shape of a cross to honor 53,000 Americans who died in battle.
See the Mojave Desert War Memorial Cross.
This year, the U.S. Supreme Court will determine whether the cross violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state. This is because the memorial resides on federal property in California's Mojave National Preserve.
More is at stake, however, than just the fate of a 7-foot-tall white cross currently covered with a plywood box by lower court order. The real issue behind Salazar v. Buono is whether the use of religious symbolism in veterans’ memorials on public property violates the Establishment Clause.
If the High Court rules in favor of the plaintiff,
every such memorial across the land could be torn down.
Sign the petition and let the Supreme Court know that veterans’ memorials deserve our protection!
Without memorials, our nation’s story cannot be told properly, and the service and sacrifice of more than one million Americans who have died in uniform will be forgotten.
