By BRITTANY SANFORD
For Word News
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (wordNews.org) April 29, 2012 — The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) and American United for Separation of Church and State plan to take legal action against the United States Marines Corps to remove two memorial crosses at California’s Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.
The two crosses peacefully stand the isolated hill, Mount Horno. The crosses are 13-feet tall with rocks and military memorabilia planted at their feet.
In 2003, they were erected by seven Marines. Tragically, four of the seven soldiers who carried the cross died in war. The site was reserved as a safe, public place for family members and soldiers to reflect and honor the lives of fallen soldiers of war. In 2007, the crosses were destroyed in a bush fire.
“This past year, on the Marine Corps birthday, (November 10, 2011), the new 13-foot wooden cross was carried up the 3,000-foot climb to the top of the hill. The next day, Veteran’s Day, the cross was mounted at the exact location of the original cross. The memorial cross is dedicated to the memory of the four marines who carried the original cross up the hill and were later killed in action,” TMLC, Thomas More Law Center, said in a press release.
The two crosses stood undisturbed for 10 years until MAAF and AU filed a complaint disagreeing with the representation of the crosses and wishing for another symbol to replace them. They say the site goes against the Constitutional mandate of separation of church and state. They would prefer for the crosses to be relocated on church grounds or private land.
“To Elina Zurheida, represented by the Thomas More Law Center, however, the 13 foot wooden memorial cross sitting atop the steep hill has nothing to do with the memory of her husband, Lance Corporal Robert P. Zurheide, who was killed in 2004 during the bloody fighting in Fallujah, Iraq. Their son Robert was born a month after his death,” said the Thomas More Law Center.
The Commandant of Camp Pendleton, Brig. Gen. Vincent A. Cogliancese, USMC, will have the final say on whether the crosses may remain. Citizens have an opportunity to take action. Citizens are asked to urge him to allow the crosses to remain.
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