The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Lawmakers have given up on trying to prescribe criteria for honoring Virginia's war dead.
Faced with two widely disparate proposals for deciding what names should be inscribed on the Virginia War Memorial, legislators were unable to find common ground and tossed the issue back to the memorial's board of trustees.
The glass-and-marble monument on a hilltop overlooking the James River in Richmond was established by the General Assembly in the years after World War II. Varying standards have been applied in deciding which veterans are honored there.
An analysis by The Virginian-Pilot last year found that about one in six of the nearly 12,000 names inscribed on the monument were noncombat-related deaths.
The 2009 Assembly directed the board of trustees to develop a set of consistent criteria, which were to be put into state law this year.
The board endorsed a bill, HB767, drawn up by one of its members, Del. Bill Janis, R-Henrico County, that would have set up a two-tier system. The memorial's existing Shrine of Memory would be restricted to veterans killed by enemy action, qualifying them for the Purple Heart. All others who died on active duty would be included on a separate memorial wall to be incorporated into an $8 million expansion, which is under construction.
As the legislation moved through the Assembly, many lawmakers were uncomfortable with that approach. When Janis' bill reached the Senate, it was rewritten by Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News. Miller's version would scrap the two-tier approach and open the Shrine of Memory to all veterans killed or missing in action in a Pentagon-designated combat area under honorable conditions.
Reconciling the two approaches proved impossible. Even veterans' groups were divided.
"There was no way to bridge the gap," Janis said Saturday after House and Senate negotiators gave up on their talks. "I think we're better off leaving this issue to the board of trustees."
On that point at least, Miller agreed.
"Rather than having the General Assembly impose a solution, I think it's better to have one come from within," he said, adding that he believes the board heard the concerns of lawmakers who saw the Janis measure as too restrictive.
"Hopefully they'll arrive at a policy that all the veterans' groups can support and that will be as inclusive as possible," he said.
Bill Sizemore, (804) 697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com
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Leadership and Taxes
Do we need to follow the Redskins? - clean house of vote seekers and put statesmen in office!! Our budget woes may have been solved without weakening our children’s education;and, encouraging an "it's not my responsibility" attitude toward those in need. A 1% increase in the sales tax, state income tax, alcoholic beverages tax and gasoline tax; a 2 cents per gallon on gasoline, 2 cents per pack on cigarettes, may have helped balance the budget (minimal impacts on lower income and unemployed); let out of state travelers help pay for our roads; and, protect availability of more critical needs. We trusted them with our votes to manage our needs –they have failed - they have put their pride above our needs; their reelection prospects above our children’s education. Woe are they who make foolish campaign promises to get the vote, and let their ambitions keep them, knowing they were naive promises.