Memorial Cross Stolen

[TOMAHAWK9521]

Just saw this on Fox News website. Have no civil words to express my feelings on this.
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The 7-foot-tall metal cross that has stood in California's Mojave Desert for 75 years and withstood a hard-fought battle in the Supreme Court was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to state officials.

"This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves," said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. "It's a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed."

The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.

Veterans groups are outraged at the theft of the memorial symbol that was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor World War I dead.

"To think anyone can rationalize the desecration of a war memorial is sickening, and for them to believe they won't be apprehended is very naïve," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell Sr. in a written statement.

The 75-year-old monument was the target of a legal challenge from the ACLU, which charged the cross is a religious symbol that shouldn't be allowed on public land. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to order that it be torn down, as the land had already been sold to private owners.
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Looks like the liberal @#$%!s are following their doctrine to a T: "If we can't succeed by twisting and perverting the laws to suit our needs in destroying this country then we'll just flat out break the law to win."

[akv]

Cowardly and disgusting, at the end of the day this monument was a tribute to Americans who died in WW1, why does it matter if it's a cross?

[echoes]

Just saw this on Foxnews! Hope that those responsible are captured quickly, and suffer slowly!


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/11...ghttime-heist/

Updated May 11, 2010

Thieves Steal Mojave Desert Memorial Cross in Nighttime Heist

FOXNews.com

The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.
The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.

"This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves," said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. "It's a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed."

The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of the memorial's Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.
Authorities had no immediate motive for the theft but National Park Service officials are considering a range of ideas from scrap metal scavengers to people "with an interest in the case," said Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater.

Veterans groups were outraged by the theft.

"The American Legion expects whoever is responsible for this vile act to be brought to justice," said Clarence Hill, the group's national commander. "While the memorial has been attacked, the fight will continue to ensure that veterans memorials will remain sacrosanct."

The Veterans of Foreign Wars first placed a cross on the rock in 1934 to honor troops who died in World War I. The cross that stood at the memorial until this week was erected at a later date.
"To think anyone can rationalize the desecration of a war memorial is sickening, and for them to believe they won't be apprehended is very naïve," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell Sr.

The 75-year-old monument was the target of a legal challenge from the ACLU, which charged the cross is a religious symbol that shouldn't be allowed on public land. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to order that it be torn down in a 5-4 decision.

The Liberty Institute is now offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the case, and the National Park Service has established a tip hotline seeking information leading to the recovery of the cross. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Park Service at (760) 252-6120.

[Kyobanim]

I merged the 2 threads

[Utah Bob]

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=28830

[BrainStorm]

Makes you wonder if lawlessness as the answer to loosing in the courts becomes a template for some.

[echoes]

My appologies, my search-fu is weak.

Thanks Kyo and Bob!

[Utah Bob]

It takes a lot to piss me off.
This pisses me off.

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

It takes a lot to piss me off.
This pisses me off.

Very well said, Sir! Can only hope the scumbags that took this Memorial...SUFFER!!!

Holly

[LarryW]

Check the salvage yards in the area. Probably more an economic crime than one of politics. Regardless, track them down with all deliberation. Take the time and make the bastards pay. All of them.

[Gypsy]

Stolen to protect it? Not that I agree with the stealing...

It angers me, regardless.

[Ret10Echo]

Seems a bounty for the scalp of the cowards is in order....

I scrape things off my boot that deserve better than the perps on this one. I hope their world gets extremely small very very fast....


Run and hide

[edoo118]

Dunno if you guys have seen this yet:

http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/e...us-letter.html

Anonymous letter explaining cross theft sent to Desert Dispatch

May 11, 2010 5:27 PM
From Staff Reports

BARSTOW • An anonymous caller, claiming to know the details of the theft of the Mojave Cross, contacted the Desert Dispatch newsroom at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. He said he was not directly responsible for the cross’s theft, but knew who was. He told a reporter that the person responsible for the theft wrote up the following explanation and statement regarding the removal of the cross. He asked that the Desert Dispatch to print the statement in its entirety.

We make no claims to the validity of the origins of this statement. We concluded, however, that the short time between the reporting of the cross’s theft and the receipt of this lengthy statement signified at least a strong connection. We are passing along this information in the hopes of illuminating what might have happened:



"1. The cross in question was not vandalized. It was simply moved. This was done lovingly and with great care.

2. The cross has been carefully preserved. It has not been destroyed as many have assumed.

3. I am a Veteran.

4. A small non-sectarian monument was brought to place at the site but technical difficulties prevented this from happening at the time the cross was moved to its new location.

5. The cross was erected illegally on public land in 1998 by a private individual named Henry Sandoz. Since then the government has actively worked to promote the continued existence of the cross, even as it excluded other monuments from differing religions. This favoritism and exclusion clearly violates the establishment clause of the US Constitution.

6. Anthony Kennedy desecrated and marginalized the memory and sacrifice of all those non-Christians that died in WWI when he wrote: 'Here one Latin cross in the desert evokes far more than religion. It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles — battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten.' The irony and tragedy of that statement is unique.

7. Justice Kennedy’s words in particular and others like them from the other Justices caused me to act.

8. At the time of its removal there was nothing to identify the cross as a memorial of any kind, and the simple fact of the matter is that the only thing it represented was an oddly placed tribute to Christ. This cross evoked nothing of the sort that Justice Kennedy writes of, it was in the end simply a cross in the desert.

9. Discrimination in any form is intolerable, as is hatred.

10. Discrimination or hatred based upon religion should be despised by all Americans, and offering that this event was caused by hatred or malice is simply ignorance of the actual intent.

11. Despite what many people are saying, this act was definitively not anti-Christian. It was instead anti-discrimination. If this act was anti-Christian, the cross would not have been cared for so reverently. An anti-Christian response would have been to simply destroy the cross and leave the pieces in the desert.

12. We as a nation need to change the dialogue and stop pretending that this is about a war memorial. If it is a memorial, then we need to stop arguing about the cross and instead place a proper memorial on that site, one that respects Christians and non-Christians alike, and one that is actually recognizable as a war memorial.

13. If an appropriate and permanent non-sectarian memorial is placed at the site the cross will be immediately returned to Mr. Sandoz.

14. Alternatively, if a place can be found that memorializes the Christian Veterans of WWI that is not on public land the Cross will promptly be forwarded with care and reverence for installation at the private site.

15. In short this has happened because as Abraham Lincoln said: 'To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men.' Perhaps this was an inappropriate form of protest if so I humbly request your forgiveness and understanding for the actions that I have taken here."

[akv]

If this explanation is on the level, at best they have lost sight of the facts two wrongs don't make a right.

What's next tear down the Iwo Jima Memorial since it isn't representative of every type of veteran in that battle?

[The Reaper]

Sounds like the rambling screed you would expect from someone who would do something like this.

I would wager that the percentage of American soldiers killed in WW I who were Christian to be in excess of 90% of the casualties. Throw in a Star of David and you probably cover more than 95%.

Atheism and fringe religions are much more popular now than they were in among combat soldiers in 1918.

These vandals are idiots.

TR