I was provided with the following response pertaining to updating the monument. Please review this information and respond to me with questions if necessary.
Marshall B. Murphy Deputy Director Fort Snelling National Cemetery Fargo National Cemetery Northwoods National Cemetery 7601 34th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55450 Office: 612-726-1127 Cell: 772-361-3747
Marshall,
I’ve learned more about the SMM process over the past few months, including since I last wrote to Ft Snelling about this SMM in April of this year. NCA Handbook 3160-02 was updated Aug 7, 2024, and with that update it has become much more difficult for NCA to allow The Coalition of Allied Afghan & Vietnam War Veterans to make the updates to the plaque on their SMM at Ft Snelling that they are asking to make. (The handbook can be found on NCA’s intranet here:https://www.cem.va.gov/docs/wcag/policies/handbooks/Handbook-3160-02.pdf )
The revised handbook raises two issues that impact the replacement plaque that the Coalition wishes to install on the old SMM.
First, the inclusion of the parachutist badges and Special Operations insignia need to be approved by the appropriate DoD entities – per para. 3(a)(iv), the Cemetery Director must “Advise donors that NCA will not approve any conceptual or final design proposed by a donor organization for a standardized memorial monument, non-standardized commemorative work, or other item of personal property that includes one or more service marks or heraldic insignia until the donor organization has provided NCA with proof of licensing and approval from the applicable Department of Defense (DoD), the Institute of Heraldry (TIOH), and/or controlling military service branch office to use them.” This shouldn’t be too hard to do, and its possible that this was done when the SMM was first submitted for approval, but I don’t have that paperwork so I’m just advising Ft Snelling that you’ll want to make sure this block is checked.
Second (and more significant to this request), is the following restriction in the handbook, Section III, para. 1, subparagraph i. “The SMM, plaque, or Fallen Soldier display must honor military service by groups or organizations who meet VA burial eligibility authorities.” In other words, the plaque should not be listing units that aren’t U.S. If the plaque is updated, in keeping with our current guidelines, NCA should require the donor to delete several of the groups now listed on the current plaque such as the UN Partisan Infantry - Korea, Royal Laotian Army, the various Thai units, and the Khmer Special Forces, while at the same time adding in any US special ops units which were inadvertently left off, e.g., USAF 20TH TASS, FAC RAVEN, RUSTIC & COVEY, and the USMC ANGLICO. The Hmong Special Guerilla Units could stay on the plaque because the Hmong have special status by US law and are eligible for interment in US national cemeteries. However, most of the new groups that the Coalition wants to add to the plaque (e.g., more Thai units, ARVN Rangers) could not be added.
I realize this will be perceived as a step backwards by your donor organization and not received well. But we’d have to enforce the existing handbook should they decide they want to update the plaque on their monument.
I am aware that serving as advisors in foreign units is a key special operations mission. Should they go ahead and decide to revise the plaque, I do think that we can add a sentence honoring the service of US Special Operations servicemembers who served as advisors to our “brave allies.” But a comprehensive listing of all the foreign special operations units that US advisors were assigned to does not belong on a monument in a national cemetery.
Regards,
Les’
Les' A. Melnyk, Ph.D. Chief, History Division National Cemetery Administration Department of Veterans Affairs