Agency previously had wanted to preserve post-World War II gravestones, arguing instead for added “historical context”
The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin a legal process that could remove three headstones containing swastikas and messages honoring Adolf Hitler from the graves of German prisoners of war.
Monday’s announcement follows a week of tense back-and-forth between the VA and a bipartisan group of senior lawmakers, who released a letter one week ago calling on the department to remove the gravestones from veterans’ cemeteries in Texas and Utah.
“It is understandably upsetting to our Veterans and their families to see Nazi inscriptions near those who gave their lives for this nation. That’s why VA will initiate the process required to replace these POW headstones,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement Monday. Continue reading.