Cemetary director Arleen Ocasio
Hmmmmm....
Posted on 07/26/2011 4:01:56 PM PDT by jazusamo
A Texas lawmaker is calling for a congressional investigation of the Houston National Cemetery after he went undercover and determined that cemetery officials are still preventing Christian prayers at the funerals of military veterans.
“The Obama administration continues to try to prevent the word ‘God’ from being used at the funerals of our heroes,” said. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas).
“It’s unacceptable and I’m going to put a stop to it as fast as humanly possible,” Culberson told Fox News Radio. He attended a burial service at the cemetery undercover on July 8, when he says he witnessed volunteer members of the honor guard from the Veterans of Foreign Wars being prohibited from using any references to God.
“The Obama administration had told the nation and me they were not interfering with the prayer said over the graves of veterans,” he said. “And I went undercover to personally verify that claim.” VA officials have strongly denied they’ve banned any religious speech – and have offered support for Arleen Ocasio, the cemetery’s director.
“The idea that invoking the name of God or Jesus is banned at VA national cemeteries is blatantly false,” said VA Press Secretary Josh Taylor in a written statement to Fox News Radio. “The truth is, VA’s policy protects veterans’ families’ rights to pray however they choose at our national cemeteries.”
Taylor declined to comment on the pending lawsuit or other ongoing legal proceedings, but did say, “No one should make judgments before all the facts are known.” Culberson said the commander of the honor guard was told by cemetery officials to approach a grieving widow to reconfirm that she wanted the word God mentioned at her husband’s graveside service.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
John really is a great guy. Wish we could clone him. Still waiting for CongressWOMAN Sheila to speak up... waiting, waiting, waiting....
Arleen Ocasio has caused considerable problems for grieving families and members of the VFW. This woman is a disgrace and should be ousted as quickly as possible. Grey Eagle
I’d go further than that: civil law suit. By all of the families affected.
What has transpired to make you vent on the VFW? Did they call up the spouse of a deceased veteran in your family, proposing to offer prayers at the service? I mean, if the spouse didn’t want it, all she had to do was hang up the phone.
Cemetary director Arleen Ocasio
Hmmmmm....
Please tell us, where you might be getting your info??
A very special military funeral ceremony is a right,for all eligible veterans of the USA DOD. As an eligible veteran, I sincerely hope my family will request this ceremony be enacted at my funeral.
Since I am not on active duty, nor a retired veteran, the ceremony will be small, but poignant. If I was active duty or a retired military member,the ceremony is much more extensive.
No prayers are said by the military Honor Guard ordered to perform the funeral ceremony.
I know that some veterans organizations volunteer their members Honor Guard, and are authorized by the VA, to perform this ceremony in their own communities, and I heartily applaud them for their efforts.
This ceremony is performed free of charge by the DOD.
Some organizations charge a fee....
This is not the first time this topic has come up.
Also, please see my post # 28.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.