|
Washington, DC -- Volunteers from groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion have been banned from reciting a time-honored flag-folding ceremony at America’s 125 national cemeteries during funerals. A single complaint led the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue a directive banning the recitation, which recounts the meaning of each of the flag’s 13 folds. The 11th and 12 folds honor God, and the last serves as a reminder of our national motto: “In God We Trust.”
Congressman David Davis has signed a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs requesting a reversal of the decision to remove the Flag Recitation Ceremony from military funerals and to preserve the rights of military families to request the ceremony at military funerals.
“One of the most important duties of Congress is to provide for our service members who have fought for our country and for their families,” Congressman David Davis said. “Recently I have learned that the Department of Veterans Affairs is preventing service members from having the kind of funeral their family members have requested for them in order to provide uniformity to funeral ceremonies.
“I believe Service Organizations that perform Funeral Honors and Memorial Honor Details should be allowed to recite the 13 steps to fold an American flag at any National Cemetery if requested by the family of the deceased.
“There is no more important time to stand by these families than when laying a veteran or military retiree to rest. The decisions surrounding what is said at the funeral should not in any way be dictated by Washington bureaucrats. During a time when our Nation is calling upon our Armed Forces to defend democracy and freedom, we must stand strong for these brave men and women, and let them know that our Government is ready to take care of those who make sacrifices for our Nation.”
|