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The U.S. Senate passed legislation introduced by Sens. Jerry Moran – chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs – and Jacky Rosen to identify and research Jewish-American servicemembers interred in American cemeteries overseas who are buried beneath grave markers that do not accurately reflect their religion and heritage. 

The Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act would create a 10-year program within the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to identify and conduct research on servicemembers who are incorrectly memorialized and locate and contact their surviving descendants to facilitate a grave marker change to properly represent their religious heritage. In order to process a grave marker replacement, ABMC will replace a grave marker containing an error, such as an inaccurate religious indication, and the process must be initiated by a decedent’s next of kin with supporting evidence.

There are an estimated 600 American-Jewish servicemembers who were killed in action during World War II that are incorrectly buried under a Latin Cross grave marker, instead of the Star of David.

This legislation will now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.