The parents of Marine Captain Michael D. Martino who was killed in action in Iraq, have written a letter to President Bush asking him to save the cross at Mt. Soledad. [source]

There is no better place to honor our fallen heroes than under that cross, overlooking the country they fought and died to preserve.

On November 2, 2005, Captain Martino was killed when his Cobra helicopter was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. This past week, Captain Martino’s Camp Pendleton Unit—a Marine air squadron that had just recently returned from Iraq—dedicated plaques at Mt. Soledad to honor him and his fellow pilot, Major Jerry Bloomfield, for their heroic service. Over three hundred fellow Marines stood in line for over three hours to meet and pay their respects to Robert and Sybil Martino, the parents of Captain Martino.

The ACLU doesn’t seem to think Martino and other fallen soldiers deserve memorials of this type.

In bitter irony, the very freedoms Captain Martino and Major Jerry Bloomfield died to protect are being perverted by the ACLU and atheists to deprive them and their grieving families the honor and solace they deserve,” said Richard Thompson, President of the Thomas More Law Center, a public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has been working around the clock to save the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.

Law Center trial counsel Robert Muise, a former Marine officer and veteran of the first Persian Gulf War, commented from first hand experience, “I am deeply moved by the sacrifices made by men like Captain Martino and the thousands of others in our armed services. I have witnessed them myself. Unfortunately, while these brave men and women are heroically fighting to protect our Constitution, the ACLU and activist judges are taking it apart. For the sake of our fallen veterans, we must fight to keep this memorial intact. Our veterans deserve it.”

As a result of a lawsuit brought by atheist Philip Paulson, with the help of the ACLU, on May 3, 2006, Federal District Judge Gordon Thompson ordered the City of San Diego to remove the cross within 90 days or face fines of $5,000 per day. The removal of this cross and the concomitant destruction of this national veterans memorial will be a national tragedy and an affront to the many proud Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this Country. One grieving family’s story tells it like it is.

Don’t deny us the priviledge of memorials in honor of our fallen heros and veterans.

These kinds of actions by the ACLU are really getting old.

You can find out more at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

The Thomas More Law Center has posted a petition asking that the Mt. Soledad Monument be saved. This is a case in which eminent domain can be used for good.

Sign the petition here.

Other articles:

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Another link provided by Ann, San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial. www.savesoledad.com

Little Rock at the Cove has more information and photos.

Others following this story: Stop the ACLU and here, Cao’s Blog, Wizbang, Amboy Times, A Rose by Any Other Name, The Scratching Post,

Getting the word out: Conservative Cat, Sed Vitae, The Liberal Wrong Wing, TMH’s Bacon Bits, Third World County, Adam’s Blog, Woman Honor Thyself, Stop the ACLU, Stuck on Stupid