Head stones
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This post was created on the previous version of the MRFF website, and may not be fully accessible to users of assistive technology. If you need help accessing this content, please reach out via email.Removing those head stones because they have the swastika is STUPID!
That’s the symbol Germany used in those times. The Iron Cross was a was a medal they won and they use the Iron Cross symbol today!
History repeats itself and if we remove everything there will be no evidence of what happened. We need those kind of things as a reminder!
This political correctness crap is getting ridiculous!! How petty…..
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Board Member John Compere
On May 25, 2020, at 4:13 PM, John Compere wrote:
Swastikas are symbols of horrible hatred & hideous holocaust of 6 million Jewish children, women & men by the psychopath Hitler & his Nazi henchmen. Swastikas also serve as rallying signs for neo-Nazis whose stated goal is to kill all American Jews. National data shows hate crimes against Jewish people & property have increased. Germany even bans public display of Swastikas & makes it a crime.
Swastikas & Aryan accolades have no place in American military cemeteries with Americans who fought (over 400,000 sacrificed their lives) to defeat the evil Third Reich whose leader was the Fuhrer, symbol the Swastika & criminal ideology to exterminate all human beings born of Jewish mothers (like Jesus).
The iron cross originated with the Prussians. The Nazis co-opted & desecrated it with their Swastika. Holocaust museums accurately preserve the history of the gruesome genocide.
No intelligent American adult should be surprised many fellow Americans of all races, religions & regions find the grave headstones offensive. They can be easily & economically replaced with appropriate identification of the deceased.
Brigadier General John Compere, US Army (Retired)
Disabled American Veteran (Vietnam Era)
Board Member, Military Religious Freedom Foundation (over 80% Christians)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
On May 25, 2020, at 4:37 PM, Mike wrote:
Hi (name withheld),Our position is not based on political correctness and to dismiss it as such is, to use your word, STUPID!Should we assume you’d like our government to continue flying the stars and bars because of their historic import? Willpeople forget what happened here because they’re being stricken from official public display? People can still use them,fly them and tattoo them on their bodies if they so choose, but our government does not and should not honor them. Todo so implies respect for and encourages the honoring of our slave-holding history and is hugely disrespectful to the peopleand the values of our nation.Need I point out that the same is true of the swastika and words of devotion to and adoration of Der Fuhrer? They are fine forhistory books and appropriate museums, but not U.S. military facilities. You may fly and/or honor them personally if that is yourwont.As to your suggestion that they deserve recognition as historic artifacts, you might want to talk to some of the recent demonstrators at the Michigan State Capitol about that.Mike Farrell(MRFF Board of Advisors)
Those Germans were soldiers too who fought and died for their country and that was their countries symbol at the time. If you don’t like if dig them up and send them back to Germany!
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
On May 25, 2020, at 6:25 PM, Mike wrote:
(name withheld),You seem to have an issue with understanding. We have no problem with German POWs being buried in the VA cemetery.Our problem is with the symbols and dedications on the headstones. Perhaps you missed the meaning of my reference tothe use of those hateful symbols in Michigan and other places in our country recently.Though it has been suggested that the remains of these men might be dug up and sent back to Germany, that is not ourposition. We simply want the hated symbols removed from a government facility.It might interest you to know, though, that if one were to send those soldiers’ remains back to Germany to be reburied ina German cemetery, the German Government WOULD NOT ALLOW the swastika and dedication to Hitler to be on theirheadstones.Mike Farrell(MRFF Board of Advisors)
Yes I know I’m German American and they do put the Iron Cross on the head stones I know my grandfather has one on his!
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Mike Farrell
On May 26, 2020, at 12:38 AM, Mike wrote:
Swastikas? Paeans to Hitler? I don’t think so.
Mike Farrell
(MRFF Board of Advisors)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Martin France
On May 26, 2020, at 6:48 AM, Martin France wrote:
(name withheld), I occasionally answer emails for Mikey as an Advisory Board Member of the MRFF. Thanks for the civil note–that’s fairly rare. So is the generally good grammar and punctuation.
While I agree that the swastika was a symbol of Germany at the time, that symbol has been banned in Germany itself. So, even though they fought for the swastika and the disgusting ideology it represented, WWII German soldiers in GERMANY don’t have a swastika on their graves. That’s true in other European countries with German was cemeteries like Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. I know because I’ve not only been there (I was born in Germany and was assigned in France for two years), but I’ve done the research. I haven’t looked into Russia, but I’d bet my bottom ruble that there aren’t swastikas on German soldier graves there or in Poland either.I get your point that it may help us remember the atrocities of the regime, but that’s not the point in this case. We have plenty of museums and landmarks that can do that. As an example, go to the Ghetto Uprising Museum in Warsaw–plenty of swastikas there and no move to get rid of them because it’s a historical display.But having swastikas in a VA cemetery alongside the graves of soldiers that fought against it is beyond the pale. The Iron Cross is another thing–that does not invoke or represent Nazi ideology. To me, having swastikas in a US VA Cemetery is akin to burying a dead 9/11 terrorist in a VA cemetery with an Al Qaeda symbol on his tombstone. They are viewed as enemy combatants as were the Germans, so why not?This isn’t about political correctness. It’s about respect for those that fought and died to defend our nation against the heinous Nazis. If my grandfather had fought the Nazis or my Great Uncles and Aunts had escaped Auschwitz to serve in the US military only to be buried next a swastika-engraved tombstone on hallowed American ground, I would be fighting to have that symbol banished from the site. Put yourself in the same boat. You may disagree, which is your right–but I wanted you to understand the MRFF’s position.Sincerely,M FranceBrigadier General, USAF (Retired)MRFF Advisory Board Member
Unsubscribe me! Please stop sending me your emails! This is a business email address.
(name withheld)
Response from MRFF Advisory Board Member Martin France
On May 31, 2020, at 2:44 PM, Martin France wrote:
(name withheld), you sent the email to Mikey from this account. Why would I NOT respond to the same address? Maybe you shouldn’t make stupid comments about things you don’t understand from your work or business e-mail. It might be embarrassing, huh? I won’t send you any more emails, especially to the address, presuming you promise to keep your ignorance to yourself. Cheers, Marty (Note: just obe safe — to vaccinate myself — I’ve now blocked your email address. This will save you some time since you needn’t reply)
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Mike. Get your head out of the sand. You’re willing to deface graves because the symbols on them make you uncomfortable. How disgusting and dishonorable. Not every German was complicit to the horrors of the holocaust. Some were just boys, sent to war. You’re willing to vilify but I’m sure you conviently forget America has plenty of blood on its hands.