U.S. Senate passes Kansas lawmaker’s bill to correct grave markers of Jewish-American veterans

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, visits Normandy, France, in 2023 to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II and to pay respects to 9,386 American soldiers buried at Normandy American Cemetery. (Submitted)

TOPEKA — The U.S. Senate passed a bill introduced by Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran to establish a 10-year program to identify Jewish-American servicemembers interred in cemeteries overseas with markers that didn’t properly indicate the individual’s religious heritage.

The measure sent to the U.S. House would allocate $500,000 annually to the American Battle Monuments Commission for research on members of the armed forces who could have been mistakenly memorialized. The commission would be responsible for contacting surviving descendants to determine whether the family was able to confirm an error and, if so, decide whether to have the grave marker replaced.

Operation Benjamin, a nonprofit organization working to preserve memories of Jewish-American men and women who gave their lives in World War II, estimated at least 600 had been incorrectly buried overseas under a Latin cross rather than a Star of David.

“All veterans, especially Jewish-American veterans who have served and sacrificed for our nation’s freedoms, deserve to have their faith accurately represented at their final resting places,” Moran said. “This legislation makes certain that the religious heritage of those who have died for our country is rightfully represented at their gravesites and gives their families the lasting comfort of knowing their loved one’s faith is recognized and memorialized with dignity and truth.”

The legislation was introduced in April by Moran, chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada. The bill was cosponsored by 18 Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, but not U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican.

“I’m glad to see that our bipartisan legislation to make sure our servicemembers and their faith are correctly reflected at their gravesites has passed the Senate,” Rosen said.

Rosen said the nation should make certain fallen veterans were honored with “dignity and and accuracy at their final resting place.”

Under the Senate’s version of the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act, the battle monuments commission wouldn’t conduct a rededication ceremony and replace a marker without permission of a decedent’s next of kin.

During World War II, soldiers were given the option of having their religious affiliation noted on U.S. military dog tags. A soldier could have a “C” for Catholic, “P” for Protestant or “H” for Hebrew. In some instances, Jewish-American servicemembers misrepresented their religious faith when issued a dog tag or defaced the identification tag before combat because of concern German soldiers would treat captured Jewish troops harshly.

Another issue was injuries to deceased soldiers could be so significant that military personnel couldn’t be identified or their religious background was obscured.

In 2022, the American Battle Monuments Commission, in coordination with Operation Benjamin, engaged in the kind of remedy the Senate bill was designed to support. The commission and organization replaced Latin cross headstones marking graves of seven Jewish-American service members with Stars of David during services at Epinal American Cemetery in France and three other American cemeteries in Europe.

The commission said the group included Army Private Marvin Ashkenas, a Bloomfield, N.J., native killed in action Oct. 3, 1944. He was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants and enlisted in 1942. His tags were lost and he was placed in a temporary grave during a nondenominational ceremony. When he was moved to Epinal American Cemetery his religion was listed as “unknown” and his gravesite incorrectly marked with a Latin cross.