Veteran's Memorial Theft: An explanation?

Coming from the Desert Dispatch of Barstow, California is a report of this letter being delivered to them by a person who supposedly had nothing to do with the actual theft of the Veteran's Memorial from the Mojave National Preserve, but claimed to know who did steal it.  It sounds like it was written by the typical left-wing nut job who practices "situation ethics" and has no regard for Veterans, the rule of law, or the United States of America.  To me, if the person who wrote this turns out to be the person who stole the memorial, he or she is still simply a common thief.

This letter, so far, has not been authenticated, but I will present it in it's entirety:


"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."

Memorial to WWI Vets stolen.

A memorial to WWI vets, which has been standing on what was once public land since 1934 and has long been the subject of contention by anti-Christian activists because it is in the shape of a cross, was stolen last weekend.  This just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the memorial could stay.  It disappeared the night of May 9th, shortly after a wooden box covering the memorial had been removed.

The memorial had been covered with the wooden box for years, after ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) activists filed a lawsuit in an attempt have the memorial removed.  It is located inside what is now the Mojave National Preserve, but when erected, the land was administered by the General Land Office.  The land the memorial is on had recently been sold and transferred to private owners in order to lessen continued controversy.   It was originally erected by volunteers from the Veteran's of Foreign War as a tribute to veterans of World War One, but has come to memorialize all U.S. Veterans.  The memorial was constructed of concrete filled welded pipe, and was bolted to a concrete foundation.  People who cared for the memorial have said it was unlikely that one person would have been able to remove the memorial in the time available to do so.

It's sad that people should go to such great lengths to remove not only a memorial to our servicemen and women, but what is also legally considered an "artifact" under Federal law regarding items on public lands, not to mention what has recently been deemed private property. Apparently, some common thieves must have decided that not only is the military unsuitable for tribute, but that the Supreme Court ruling and private property laws mean nothing as well.  Such anti-American sentiment, unfortunately, is rampant in today's United States.

Looks like fodder for a future episode of "Liberals Gone Wild".

The National Park Service has a tip hotline for anyone with info about the theft: (760) 252-6120.  The Liberty Institute is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.