War widow's Wiccan ceremony protests VA

FERNLEY, Nev. — A war widow who wants the government to put a Wiccan religious symbol on her husband's memorial plaque held an alternative service Monday as a protest, hours before an official Memorial Day ceremony.

"This is discrimination against our religion," Roberta Stewart said at the gathering of about 200 people for her late husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart. "I ask you to help us remember that all freedoms are worth fighting for."

A few hours later and a few miles away in this pastoral community east of Reno, official Memorial Day ceremonies were conducted at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

The space reserved for a plaque in Stewart's name on a wall at the cemetery remains blank.

The Department of Veterans Affairs so far has refused to grant the Stewart family's request to have the Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, placed on the plaque.

Stewart, 34, was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 25 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his helicopter.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves "white" or good witches.

"We are here today to honor American religious diversity of all faiths," the Rev. Selena Fox said at the alternative memorial service. Fox, senior minister of a Wiccan group based in Wisconsin, said Stewart died defending the country that is denying him the right to express his religious freedom.

Jo Schuda, a spokeswoman for the VA, said Friday she did not know when a decision would be made on the request.

Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.