The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation to ensure Jewish American servicemembers killed in battle are finally laid to rest under the proper symbol of their faith — after more than 80 years of mistaken burials under Christian crosses.

H.R. 2701, the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Max Miller (R-Ohio), passed Monday by voice vote. The measure directs the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) to launch a 10-year program to identify and correct grave markers for Jewish troops buried overseas under Latin Crosses instead of the Star of David.

Historians estimate that as many as 900 Jewish-American servicemembers from World War I and World War II lie in foreign cemeteries marked with crosses — a legacy of clerical error and incomplete wartime records. Families seeking to change those headstones have long faced an almost impossible burden: proving religious identity generations after their relatives fell in combat.

The legislation authorizes $500,000 annually for five years, in addition to ABMC’s budget, to contract with nonprofits tasked with identifying misidentified Jewish servicemembers and rectifying their grave markers.

The bill has received support from across the military and veteran community, including the Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish War Veterans, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Gold Star Spouses of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)