Renacci bill would allow Battlefield Crosses in national cemeteries

U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) on Thursday introduced legislation to allow the display of the memorial known as the Battlefield Cross in national cemeteries.

The Fallen Warrior Battlefield Cross Memorial Act would amend Title 38 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations to ensure the Secretary of Veterans Affairs permits the display of Battlefield Crosses in national cemeteries. H.R. 4312 has 15 bipartisan original cosponsors, including each of Renacci’s Ohio colleagues.

A distinctive formation of a soldier’s helmet placed on the stock of a downward-pointed rifle with a pair of boots in front is known as a Battlefield Cross and left as a memorial in the field or base camp to a fallen soldier.

A Battlefield Cross memorial had been removed from the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery last month after a complaint that it depicts a realistic gun, according to a report from Fox 8 in Cleveland. A National Cemetery Administration spokesperson later told the news outlet the monument had been removed due to a misinterpretation of policy guidance on monuments that depict weapons.

“My office learned of the removal of the Battlefield Cross from the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in my district and took action to ensure that the Battlefield Cross honoring our fallen soldiers was returned to its proper place,” Renacci said.

“I am happy to be able to play a part in bringing the Battlefield Cross back to its place, but it has come to my attention that the Battlefield Cross memorial will no longer be allowed to be placed in our nation’s cemeteries,” he continued. “Now, I am introducing legislation to make sure we can continue to honor our veterans and stop these removals from occurring in the future.”

The Battlefield Cross may have emerged as early as the Civil War and through World War II it was used to serve as a marker until the body of a fallen soldier could be removed from a battlefield. Over time the display took on more significance and solders began using it as a memorial and symbol of mourning in post-WWII conflicts, especially during the Gulf War and the wars of today in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.