This bill directs the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to set up the "Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program." The program will identify deceased members of the Armed Forces who were Jewish and are buried in U.S. military cemeteries outside the United States under grave markers that indicate they were not Jewish. The program must run during the first 10 fiscal years after the bill becomes law. Each year ABMC is to seek a one-year contract with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to carry out the work, with each contract set at $500,000. The ABMC must try to contact survivors and descendants of identified servicemembers. The bill defines a covered member and the nonprofit organization type.
If you visit or care about World War I and World War II U.S. military cemeteries overseas, this bill aims to correct religious markers for Jewish servicemembers who were mistakenly buried under non-Jewish markers. Families and descendants may be contacted if their relative is identified. The work would be done by ABMC staff and by nonprofit contractors chosen by ABMC.
The bill authorizes $500,000 to be appropriated to the Commission for each fiscal year of the 10-year program. The bill also specifies each annual contract with a nonprofit will be for one year and $500,000. No publicly available information on additional costs, total appropriations beyond that yearly amount, or offsets.
Supporters say past mistakes left some Jewish servicemembers with incorrect religious markers and those individuals and their heritage should be properly recognized. The bill notes an estimate of about 900 such cases and says correcting those mistakes is part of ABMC's responsibilities.
No publicly available information.