Confederate Flags Are Now Restricted At U.S. National Cemeteries

A Confederate battle flag flies at the grave of L.S. Axson, a soldier in the Confederate States Army in the U.S. Civil War © Brian Snyder / Reuters

The Hill: House votes to restrict Confederate flag in national cemeteries

The House approved a Democratic proposal on Thursday to limit the display of the Confederate flag in national cemeteries.

The amendment to a spending bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and military construction projects passed 265-159. A total of 158 Republicans opposed the amendment from Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), while 84 Republicans joined all but one Democrat in supporting it.

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), a centrist who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, was the only Democrat to vote against the amendment. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) voted "present."

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed support for allowing the vote despite opposition from a majority of his conference.

"Last year it stopped the appropriations process in its tracks," he told reporters at a Capitol news conference after the vote.

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Update: House votes to bar Confederate flag from VA cemeteries (Politico)

WNU editor: The American Civil War continues

Another Day Another Barricade Crossed At the World War II Memorial

World War II Veterans Prove Unstoppable, Entering Memorial -- ABC News

Another day, another barricade crossed.

Following the example set on Tuesday by a group of fellow veterans from Mississippi, World War II "honor flights" from Missouri, Illinois and Michigan entered the closed World War II memorial on Wednesday, past a blockade erected because of the government shutdown.

The first busload of veterans arrived to a circus of media and members of Congress just after 11 a.m. Several members of Congress who were on hand opened the barricades, allowing the veterans access to the memorial. Since then, several hundred of them have passed through the gates.

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More News On The Closing of The World War II Memorial

National Park Service to keep WW II Memorial open to veterans -- Washington Post
Veterans Granted Access to Closed World War II Memorial -- NBC Washington
'Sneaking' into the WWII Memorial meant the world to these tourists -- PBS News Hour
Privately-funded WWII memorial barricaded at taxpayer’s expense -- Daily Caller
World War II Memorial Becomes Shutdown Central -- Wall Street Journal

My Comment: In a reversal .... veterans are now permitted to enter the park. This was clearly becoming a hot potato for everyone in the political class.

Update #1: How the First Amendment Is Defusing the World War II Memorial Battle -- Slate
Update #2: World War I Memorial Closed, 'Except for 1st Amendment Activities' -- Weekly Standard

24 Overseas U.S. Military Cemeteries Closed By U.S. Government Shutdown (Update)

Photo of graves at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial by Flickr user palbo

D-Day Memorial Among 24 Overseas Cemeteries Closed By U.S. Government Shutdown -- CBS

The partial shutdown of the U.S. government continues to claim victims - and some of the casualties are military cemeteries abroad.

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - the site overlooking the D-Day invasion beaches - is one of 24 U.S. military cemeteries overseas that have been shuttered. The closed cemeteries include 10 in France, and others throughout Europe as well as Mexico, Panama, Tunisia and the Philippines.

More than 9,000 military dead are buried at the Omaha Beach cemetery, which is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Nearly 125,000 U.S. servicemen and women are buried at its cemeteries, and 94,000 missing service members are honored on tablets.

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More News On 24 Overseas U.S. Military Cemeteries Closed By U.S. Government Shutdown

Visitors to D-Day cemetery in France among the victims of U.S. shutdown -- New York Daily News/AP
Military cemeteries overseas are closed -- USA Today
U.S. Military cemeteries close worldwide because of shutdown -- UPI
Shutdown closes historic US military cemeteries in Europe -- Voice of Russia/AFP
Shutdown felt all the way overseas -- at U.S. cemeteries -- PBS

Update: New wave of WWII veterans move barricades to access DC memorial -- FOX News

Due To Government Shutdown U.S. Military Cemeteries Are Closed Around The World

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. Wikipedia

Shutdown Closes US Military Cemeteries In Europe -- FOX News/AFP

Caen (France) (AFP) – Military cemeteries around the world housing American soldiers who died in key battles during the First and Second World Wars were temporarily closed from Tuesday due to the US government shutdown.

The move affects some 20 cemeteries in France, Belgium, Britain, Italy, Tunisia and Mexico which serve as the final resting place for troops who died in landmark campaigns such as the Normandy D-Day landings, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) said on its website.

"Due to a lack of funding for ABMC operations (US government shutdown), ABMC cemeteries and memorials are temporarily closed," it said.

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My Comment: Upkeep and taking care of a cemetery is a full time job. If this continues expect tall grass and the accumulation of garbage .... not exactly a fitting way to respect those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Germany Is Still Burying It's Eastern Front Dead

Russia's gigantic monument to the Battle of Stalingrad, the Mother Motherland statue. The German losses on the Eastern Front were enormous. But the number of Soviet military casualties was much higher. AFP

New Cemetery in Russia: Germany Still Burying Eastern Front Dead -- Spiegel Online

After spending two decades recovering almost 800,000 soldiers in Eastern Europe and Russia, Germany will open its last war cemetery in Russia on Saturday. The work isn't over, though, as the war graves commission has located a further 400,000 dead.

Germany will open its last big war cemetery in Russia on Saturday, marking the culmination of a huge effort to recover Wehrmacht soldiers killed on its Eastern Front in World War II.

By the end of this year, the German war graves commission will have found and reburied a total of 800,000 soldiers in Eastern Europe and Russia since 1992, when the former Eastern bloc countries began helping Germany retrieve the remains of missing soldiers following the end of the Cold War.

On Saturday, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière will hold a speech at the inauguration of the new war cemetery at the town of Dukhovschina, near the city of Smolensk in western Russia.

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My Comment: I have been to the World War I cemeteries in France. Normandy. Arlington Cemetery. The Vietnam Memorial. A few others. But nothing .... and I mean nothing .... has ever come close to the experience of visiting the war cemeteries of Russia .... the experience has always been overwhelming.