RonnieAdventure #0051 - Mojave Cross, San Bernardino County, California

Mojave Memorial Cross

IT’S BACK!!!!

The Mojave Memorial Cross was originally erected in 1934 on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert by veterans to honor those killed in war. However, when Sunrise Rock became part of Mojave National Preserve, there were separations of church and state constitutional concerns, resulting in various legal actions. So, in 2002 the National Park Service built a wood enclosure around the cross until the legal actions could be resolved.  

The lower courts eventually ruled that the cross was illegal on public lands, so the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. On April 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Salazar v. Buono in a 5-4 decision that there was no violation of church and state and writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “The goal of avoiding governmental endorsements [of religion] does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm.”

But the story doesn’t end there. The Park Service did not immediately remove the wooden enclosure around the cross, so on the night of May 7, 2010, someone decided to help the Park Service and removed the wooden enclosure around the cross. While the Park Service was trying to figure out what to do about the missing enclosure, on the night of May 10, 2010, the cross itself was stolen.

The Park Service offered a $125,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves and the VFW promised that the memorial would be rebuilt, stating: “This was a legal fight that a vandal just made personal to 50 million veterans, military personnel and their families.” An atheist organization, Atheist Alliance International, then offered $5,000 to go towards replacing the cross with a more inclusive and non-religious veterans’ memorial, but the gesture was declined.

Then, on the morning of May 20, 2010, the Park Rangers found a replica of the cross bolted to the original base. The Park Service said the replica had to come down because the replica was not the original cross from the Supreme Court ruling, stating: “The Park Service has regulations about people putting up memorials. You can’t just go to a park and put up a memorial to a family member.” Back to Washington for the Veterans!

In April 2012, Sunrise Rock was removed from the Mojave National Preserve and transferred to a veteran’s group so that the cross could be rebuilt; then, in November 2012, the original cross was found leaning against a fence along side of a highway in Half Moon Bay, California. The original cross has since been returned to its base on Sunrise Rock, where it was standing the day we visited the area.