US VETERAN
AFGHANISTAN
On Memorial Day,(Monday, May 28, 2007) Patrick Stewart's grave and those of other military veterans will be dedicated with government-issued markers etched with a symbol of their religion -- the Wiccan pentacle.
Wiccans sued the government last year, arguing that it was unduly stalling a decision on whether to add the pentacle to the list of acceptable symbols for veterans' graves.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans added the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief."
Stewart's widow, Roberta of Fernley, NV, will be present for the dedication. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 when the Nevada Army National Guard helicopter he was in was shot down. His ashes were mostly scattered, but some are at the Wiccan cemetery.
"To me it shows that our Veterans Administration is hopefully going to think twice before they discriminate the next time," she said of the settlement. "They don't get to pick and choose our soldiers' faith."
Record contained at Ancestry.com
Patrick Dana Stewart
Service Info.: SGT US ARMY AFGHANISTAN
Birth Date: 21 Oct 1970
Death Date: 25 Sep 2005
Cemetery: Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 14 Veterans Way Fernley, NV 89408
Buried At: Section Wall Site 7676∼Sgt. Patrick Stewart served the USA and Freedom in life and death. He was married to Roberta Stewart on November 22, 2003 and they made their home in Fernley, Nevada. He was a Wiccan soldier in the US military, serving first in Desert Storm and later in Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was killed in action. After the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to honor his widow's request and issue his memorial marker with the symbol of their faith, the pentacle, on it, Roberta and her minister, Rev. Selena Fox, along with other members of Circle Sanctuary, engaged in an intensive and very public quest to correct this injustice. Their quest involved work with state and federal officials and journeys to Washington, DC. They had the support of US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada (now head of the US Senate) and US Congressman Jim Gibbons (now Governor of Nevada), and others including US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and then US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (now President of the United States). Their quest, which included trips to Capitol Hill, VA headquarters, and the National Press Club in Washington, DC was covered by national and international media for more than 2 years. With the help of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and others, they sued in two federal courts, and through legal settlement, finally succeeded in getting the VA to add the pentacle to its list of emblems of belief authorized on be included on grave markers it issues for deceased veterans. The VA issued grave markers with pentacles for Sgt. Stewart and other deceased Wiccan veterans. Sgt. Stewart's granite marker at Circle Cemetery was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. More details about Sgt. Stewart, his life, and the historic veteran pentacle quest and victory: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/AboutSgtStewart.htm
AFGHANISTAN
On Memorial Day,(Monday, May 28, 2007) Patrick Stewart's grave and those of other military veterans will be dedicated with government-issued markers etched with a symbol of their religion -- the Wiccan pentacle.
Wiccans sued the government last year, arguing that it was unduly stalling a decision on whether to add the pentacle to the list of acceptable symbols for veterans' graves.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans added the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief."
Stewart's widow, Roberta of Fernley, NV, will be present for the dedication. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 when the Nevada Army National Guard helicopter he was in was shot down. His ashes were mostly scattered, but some are at the Wiccan cemetery.
"To me it shows that our Veterans Administration is hopefully going to think twice before they discriminate the next time," she said of the settlement. "They don't get to pick and choose our soldiers' faith."
Record contained at Ancestry.com
Patrick Dana Stewart
Service Info.: SGT US ARMY AFGHANISTAN
Birth Date: 21 Oct 1970
Death Date: 25 Sep 2005
Cemetery: Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 14 Veterans Way Fernley, NV 89408
Buried At: Section Wall Site 7676∼Sgt. Patrick Stewart served the USA and Freedom in life and death. He was married to Roberta Stewart on November 22, 2003 and they made their home in Fernley, Nevada. He was a Wiccan soldier in the US military, serving first in Desert Storm and later in Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was killed in action. After the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to honor his widow's request and issue his memorial marker with the symbol of their faith, the pentacle, on it, Roberta and her minister, Rev. Selena Fox, along with other members of Circle Sanctuary, engaged in an intensive and very public quest to correct this injustice. Their quest involved work with state and federal officials and journeys to Washington, DC. They had the support of US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada (now head of the US Senate) and US Congressman Jim Gibbons (now Governor of Nevada), and others including US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and then US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (now President of the United States). Their quest, which included trips to Capitol Hill, VA headquarters, and the National Press Club in Washington, DC was covered by national and international media for more than 2 years. With the help of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and others, they sued in two federal courts, and through legal settlement, finally succeeded in getting the VA to add the pentacle to its list of emblems of belief authorized on be included on grave markers it issues for deceased veterans. The VA issued grave markers with pentacles for Sgt. Stewart and other deceased Wiccan veterans. Sgt. Stewart's granite marker at Circle Cemetery was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. More details about Sgt. Stewart, his life, and the historic veteran pentacle quest and victory: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/AboutSgtStewart.htm
US VETERAN
AFGHANISTAN
On Memorial Day,(Monday, May 28, 2007) Patrick Stewart's grave and those of other military veterans will be dedicated with government-issued markers etched with a symbol of their religion -- the Wiccan pentacle.
Wiccans sued the government last year, arguing that it was unduly stalling a decision on whether to add the pentacle to the list of acceptable symbols for veterans' graves.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans added the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief."
Stewart's widow, Roberta of Fernley, NV, will be present for the dedication. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 when the Nevada Army National Guard helicopter he was in was shot down. His ashes were mostly scattered, but some are at the Wiccan cemetery.
"To me it shows that our Veterans Administration is hopefully going to think twice before they discriminate the next time," she said of the settlement. "They don't get to pick and choose our soldiers' faith."
Record contained at Ancestry.com
Patrick Dana Stewart
Service Info.: SGT US ARMY AFGHANISTAN
Birth Date: 21 Oct 1970
Death Date: 25 Sep 2005
Cemetery: Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 14 Veterans Way Fernley, NV 89408
Buried At: Section Wall Site 7676∼Sgt. Patrick Stewart served the USA and Freedom in life and death. He was married to Roberta Stewart on November 22, 2003 and they made their home in Fernley, Nevada. He was a Wiccan soldier in the US military, serving first in Desert Storm and later in Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was killed in action. After the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to honor his widow's request and issue his memorial marker with the symbol of their faith, the pentacle, on it, Roberta and her minister, Rev. Selena Fox, along with other members of Circle Sanctuary, engaged in an intensive and very public quest to correct this injustice. Their quest involved work with state and federal officials and journeys to Washington, DC. They had the support of US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada (now head of the US Senate) and US Congressman Jim Gibbons (now Governor of Nevada), and others including US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and then US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (now President of the United States). Their quest, which included trips to Capitol Hill, VA headquarters, and the National Press Club in Washington, DC was covered by national and international media for more than 2 years. With the help of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and others, they sued in two federal courts, and through legal settlement, finally succeeded in getting the VA to add the pentacle to its list of emblems of belief authorized on be included on grave markers it issues for deceased veterans. The VA issued grave markers with pentacles for Sgt. Stewart and other deceased Wiccan veterans. Sgt. Stewart's granite marker at Circle Cemetery was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. More details about Sgt. Stewart, his life, and the historic veteran pentacle quest and victory: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/AboutSgtStewart.htm
AFGHANISTAN
On Memorial Day,(Monday, May 28, 2007) Patrick Stewart's grave and those of other military veterans will be dedicated with government-issued markers etched with a symbol of their religion -- the Wiccan pentacle.
Wiccans sued the government last year, arguing that it was unduly stalling a decision on whether to add the pentacle to the list of acceptable symbols for veterans' graves.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans added the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief."
Stewart's widow, Roberta of Fernley, NV, will be present for the dedication. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 when the Nevada Army National Guard helicopter he was in was shot down. His ashes were mostly scattered, but some are at the Wiccan cemetery.
"To me it shows that our Veterans Administration is hopefully going to think twice before they discriminate the next time," she said of the settlement. "They don't get to pick and choose our soldiers' faith."
Record contained at Ancestry.com
Patrick Dana Stewart
Service Info.: SGT US ARMY AFGHANISTAN
Birth Date: 21 Oct 1970
Death Date: 25 Sep 2005
Cemetery: Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 14 Veterans Way Fernley, NV 89408
Buried At: Section Wall Site 7676∼Sgt. Patrick Stewart served the USA and Freedom in life and death. He was married to Roberta Stewart on November 22, 2003 and they made their home in Fernley, Nevada. He was a Wiccan soldier in the US military, serving first in Desert Storm and later in Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was killed in action. After the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failed to honor his widow's request and issue his memorial marker with the symbol of their faith, the pentacle, on it, Roberta and her minister, Rev. Selena Fox, along with other members of Circle Sanctuary, engaged in an intensive and very public quest to correct this injustice. Their quest involved work with state and federal officials and journeys to Washington, DC. They had the support of US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada (now head of the US Senate) and US Congressman Jim Gibbons (now Governor of Nevada), and others including US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and then US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (now President of the United States). Their quest, which included trips to Capitol Hill, VA headquarters, and the National Press Club in Washington, DC was covered by national and international media for more than 2 years. With the help of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and others, they sued in two federal courts, and through legal settlement, finally succeeded in getting the VA to add the pentacle to its list of emblems of belief authorized on be included on grave markers it issues for deceased veterans. The VA issued grave markers with pentacles for Sgt. Stewart and other deceased Wiccan veterans. Sgt. Stewart's granite marker at Circle Cemetery was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. More details about Sgt. Stewart, his life, and the historic veteran pentacle quest and victory: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/AboutSgtStewart.htm
Inscription
Pentacle symbol
In Memory Of
Patrick Dana Stewart
Sgt US Army BSM PH AM
Operation Enduring Freedom
Oct. 21, 1970 - Sept. 25, 2005
Eternal Love
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