By James L. Lambert
June 30, 2006

SAN DIEGO, CA (AgapePress) - A highly decorated war veteran and a California lawmaker have joined the ranks of concerned Americans in the battle to protect and preserve a huge cross that is part of a memorial to war veterans.

Former U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton has requested President Bush authorize the federal government to take over the site of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial and cross to prevent the city of San Diego from losing a historical landmark that has been a part of the community since 1913. In a letter recently delivered to the president, Denton requested that the federal government exercise its power of eminent domain in order to maintain the land as a national monument.

Despite the July 2005 approval by 76 percent of San Diego voters to authorize transfer of the site to the federal government, court decisions have given the city of San Diego until August 1 to remove the 29-foot cross integrated with the memorial or face fines of $5,000 a day thereafter. The city is in the midst of a 17-year legal battle with atheist Philip Paulson and his legal advisor over the cross and its presence on public land.

Denton is a retired Navy Rear Admiral who spend nearly eight years as a POW during the Vietnam War. He was the first POW to tip off Naval Intelligence on the status of prisoners there by blinking his eyes in Morse code -- spelling out "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" during a televised interview taped in North Vietnam. Since then, Denton has described how he clung to the only possession he had as a POW -- a cross woven of bamboo strips. The woven cross was given to him by a fellow prisoner in the camp.

Over the past month President Bush has received more than 450,000 e-mails from various conservative and faith-based organizations, urging him to save the cross. The White House has informed a source from a well-known pro-family organization, who wishes to remain anonymous, that it will respond to these requests soon.

Despite efforts to seek an executive order, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced this week HR 5683 to preserve the war memorial in its present form. In an issued statement Hunter said:

“The Mt. Soledad veteran's memorial has been a fixture of our local community for over 50 years, honoring veterans of all wars, including the global war on terrorism. Unfortunately, this memorial and its proud history has been identified as offensive and in violation of the California state constitution by liberal judges who have sided with a self-proclaimed atheist receiving legal and financial support from the ACLU. Despite its recognition as a national veterans memorial by Congress and the voters of San Diego, the city has been given until August to remove the memorial or face fines for each day it continues to stand. This ruling ignores the mandate delivered by the people of San Diego County and turns this beloved memorial into a political test case for liberal activists and their agenda.”

In concluding his remarks, Hunter says removal of the landmark would be an "insult" to those whose names are carved into the memorial's walls as well as to the "service and sacrifice of those who have worn a uniform in defense of our nation." Every possible option for preserving the memorial atop Mt. Soledad must be exercised, he adds. "As part of this process, this legislation [HR 5683] will supplement any administrative efforts to protect this memorial," the U.S. congressman states.