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Dear John,
We want to give you a critical update regarding one of our military cases.
Last week, a federal judge granted First Liberty Institute’s motion to intervene on behalf of our client—the Northeast POW/MIA Network—in a lawsuit filed against the inclusion of a donated Bible on a POW/MIA Remembrance Table at the Manchester VA Medical Center.
An anti-faith group more than 2,000 miles away complained to the VA facility demanding the removal of the Bible, even going so far as to call it “repugnant.”
Not only was our firm allowed to intervene but the judge also allowed the case to move forward—which is a very important action. This means we have an opportunity to continue fighting for the right of service members and veterans to take part in the longstanding practice of paying respect to their brothers and sisters through an item representative of their religious beliefs. To them, Bibles, religious literature and symbols are special reminders of how their faith served as a source of strength necessary to survive.
As you may know, in this particular case we are fighting to keep a Bible that was graciously donated by U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant (TSgt) Herman “Herk” Streitburger, a WWII veteran whose bomber was shot down and was imprisoned at a camp in northern Germany with several of his brothers-in-arms.
Allowing a radical group of activists to remove the Bible would be an insult to Herk's service, as well as a dishonor to countless, brave American heroes who’ve had to endure torture, imprisonment and cruelty in the hands of the enemy.
Herk and all service members sacrifice too much for our country to let some activists from thousands of miles away bully them—and those activists will have to go through us if they want to trample on the freedoms that our clients fought so ardently to defend.
Thank you for your faithful support of our military cases and for helping us continue to be First in the Fight for religious freedom in our armed forces. We will keep you updated on new developments in this case, which will have a profound impact on the constitutional right of all service members, as well as their families, to express and live out their faith.
Please visit our POW/MIA Remembrance Table page to learn more about Herk and this case.
Gratefully,
Kelly
Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute
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