Walter Reed accidentally bans Bibles | Washington Examiner
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is backtracking on an order that banned family members from bringing Bibles and other religious materials to injured soldiers and a religious organization is demanding an explanation.
Issued on the date of the official consolidation of the region's two military medical centers, the memo on visitor and patient policy contained a section stating "No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit." The Sept. 14 memo came from the desk of Col. Norvell Coots, the commander of the Walter Reed Healthcare system.
A spokeswoman for Walter Reed told The Washington Examiner on Friday that the policy was "written incorrectly," and that a ban on religious items was never enforced.
"Family can and always have been able to bring in any religious materials," said spokeswoman Sandy Dean, adding that the hospital provides chaplain services for many faiths.
The medical center rescinded the policy in early December after the Family Research Council brought it to the attention of several members of Congress who then contacted Walter Reed.
"It should have been more thoroughly reviewed," Dean said.
...The policy was signed by Coots' chief of staff, C.W. Callahan. But Dean said a "group of people" wrote the four-page memo and could not attribute the line on religious items to one person.
Dean said the policy's intent was to "preserve people's religious rights," but many have lambasted the wording, saying it was a far cry from that intent.
In the Army more routine memorandums, policy letters, etc are often signed by someone under the authority line "FOR THE COMMANDER:". This frees the boss up to concentrate on more pressing matters and not have to sign off on every simple request. And by regulation anything from a command must be signed off by the commander or his designated representative. So it is conceivable the commander didn't really know about this memo (and the link to it has been removed). But if he didn't know the Chief of Staff needs his ass kicked. He did not serve his commander well by no letting him know (deliberately or accidentally). And any green lieutenant would look at a draft memo like this and know it would start up a storm.
Please Congress look into this. Someone's head needs to roll.
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