said when asked what he wants the pavilion's visitors to remember. "We live in a world created by World War II," Rob Citino, the museum's Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian. to the formation of international alliances to protect democracy. Underlying it all is the idea that almost 80 years later, the war's social and geopolitical legacies endure - from the acceleration of civil rights and women's equality movements in the U.S. Films, photos and recorded oral histories recount the joys and challenges awaiting those who returned from battle, the international effort to seek justice for those killed and tortured, and a worldwide effort to recover and rebuild. Its exhibits filling 3,065.80 square meters commemorate the end of the war's death and destruction, emphasize its human costs and capture the horror of those who discovered the aftermath of Nazi atrocities. The Liberation Pavilion, which opened Friday, is ambitious in scope. A new, permanent addition to the sprawling National WWII Museum in New Orleans is a three-story complex with displays as daunting as a simulated Nazi concentration camp bunk room, and as inspiring as a violin pieced together from scrap wood by an American prisoner of war. Other good resources can be found at and. One place to begin is the Army Public Health Command Web site,, which contains many resources such as the Spiritual Fitness Inventory and the Boosting Resilience through Spirituality brochure. There are many resources available to explore one's spirituality. According to Army Regulation 600-63 (Army Health Promotion), "When a person's actions are different from his or her stated values, the person lives with inner conflict." Claiming "No Religious Preference" is unclear-are you an atheist or agnostic, or a Christian who does not affiliate with any particular denomination? Our outlook and world view affect everything we do, including how we treat others. The problem is that some people don't understand how important spirituality is to the whole person. "Why am I here?" "What is my purpose in life?" Why is there evil and suffering in the world?" Even atheism and agnosticism are beliefs, and belief matters. It's not just the practice of prayer or meditation. Sometimes people say something like, "I'm not religious, but I'm a spiritual person." Spirituality is not limited to a Christian who goes to church every Sunday, a Muslim who prays five times a day while facing Mecca, or a Jew who keeps a kosher kitchen. Spirituality is not just a belief in a higher power, but includes beliefs, ethics and values, even a sense of what is fair. But what to put down as a religious preference is serious business, because spirituality is important. Service members can generally put whatever religious preference they want on their tags, including "Atheist" or "Agnostic." Some even ask for "Jedi" or "Druid." There is no list of official or approved religions-after all, that would constitute government endorsement of a particular religion. "No Religious Preference" and "None" were eventually added today many faith groups and broad denominations are available, reflecting the diversity of the armed forces. Obviously, that proved to be too limiting. Today's identification tags identify vital information about the wearer: name, Social Security number, blood type and religious preference.ĭuring World War II there were only three religious categories that could be put on dog tags: P for Protestant, C for Catholic and H for Hebrew (Jewish). But there was no standardization as to what was included. Some units paid for more durable identification. Soldiers at that time would often write basic information about themselves on a piece of paper and pin it to their uniform in case they were killed or badly injured. Dog tags have their origin in the Civil War, but only unofficially. Officially they are identification tags but almost everyone calls them dog tags. What do you want others to know about you? What if you had to limit that information to only four lines?Īnyone who has served for any length of time in the military is familiar with those metal ovals worn on a chain around the neck.
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