Fighting for religious freedom

Richard A. Sokerka

Memorial Day is our nation’s most solemn holiday as we honor the men and women who gave their lives to guarantee our freedoms while they served our country in the U.S. military. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, from the days when many Americans observed the day by visiting cemeteries or memorials to war dead and decorated them with American flags or floral displays.

One of the most visited cemeteries where our war dead rest is the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission created in 1923 by Congress and attached to the executive branch of the U.S. government. It is situated on top of the cliff overlooking Omaha Beach, one of five beaches the Allied Forces landed on in Normandy on D-Day. The 75th anniversary of the start of the Allied invasion of Europe will be marked on June 6. American troops, including my father, landed on Omaha Beach, the one most secured by Nazi troops. Although my father survived the bloody battle, many of his fellow soldiers did not, as the number of casualties on Omaha Beach was much higher than at the other five landing points put together. On D-Day alone 2,499 Americans died on those beaches in an effort to help free Europe from the tyranny of the Nazis and to safeguard America’s freedom.

These brave men rest above the beach in the American cemetery. The Crosses and Stars of David, oriented westward toward America, attest to each soldier’s faith. At the crossing of the main paths laid in the form of a Latin Cross, the chapel shelters a black marble altar on which is the inscription: “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.”

We need to always remember those who rest there because they died fighting an enemy that rose to power by crushing the religious freedom of people.

Our religious liberty is sacrosanct and our memorials to our war dead must stand the test of time.

That is why the American Legion is currently fighting all the way to the Supreme Court in its battle with the American Humanist Association over whether a World War I memorial cross, known as the “Peace Cross,” in Bladensburg, Md., violates the First Amendment.

The federal appellate court ruled that the “Peace Cross,” originally on private land but now on land owned by the government, violated the establishment clause because it “endorsed” religion.

Would this court also rule to remove the Crosses and Stars of David from the American cemetery in France because they “endorsed religion?”

Our nation is blanketed with religious memorials from sea to shining sea in memory of our war dead. The First Amendment does not mention “endorsement” but it does guarantee freedom of religious expression. Monuments to our war dead reflect their faiths and the faiths of all Americans.

As Memorial Day nears, we fully support the American Legion as it appeals the appellate court ruling and continues its battle to safeguard our religious freedom and to honor the brave members of our military who have given their lives over the course of our nation’s history to protect our freedoms.