Veteran’s widow talks to president

CARSON CITY -- A Fernley war widow who was not invited to meet with President Bush during his recent visit to Reno received a personal apology from the chief executive during a telephone conversation Thursday.

Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was shot down in Afghanistan in September 2005, said she accepted Bush's apology during the five-minute phone call and said it was now time to move on with her life.

"He just said he shared my grief for my loss," Stewart said. "He said he admired me and respected me and that whether I believed him or not, he would never dishonor a soldier. He thanked me for accepting his apology and for all the grief I have endured."

Stewart said Tuesday that she believed her failure to receive an invitation was not an oversight, but a result of her efforts to win the right to display the pentacle, the emblem of their Wiccan faith, on her late husband's memorial marker in the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley.

Patrick Stewart's parents and brother were invited and met with Bush after his speech to the American Legion's national convention.

White House spokesman Trey Bohn said Roberta Stewart's exclusion from the meeting with Bush was a regrettable oversight by the Army, which provided the family contact information to the president.

During their conversation, Stewart said, Bush told her he "would not discriminate against someone because of their religion."

Stewart said that she believed Bush was sincere in his apology during their phone conversation, and that it went a long way to closing a difficult chapter of her life.

"I graciously accepted his apology and for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with me," she said.

Stewart said she admired Bush for calling and "making the matter right."

She did not hear the phone call from White House staff while at home listening to music. When she played the message and called back about 10:20 a.m., she was patched directly to the president.

Stewart said she couldn't ask for much more than what has happened since her husband's death. The Wiccan symbol was accepted by the Department of Veterans Affairs for use in veterans cemeteries across the country, Stewart and other Wiccan military members are now being properly honored, and the president called to apologize.

"What more can I possibly get?" she asked.

The space allotted for Patrick Stewart's plaque at the Fernley cemetery remained blank until November, when the state of Nevada sidestepped the federal government and allowed the use of the symbol at the cemetery.

The agreement allowing the use of the pentacle was announced in April.

Stewart, a Nevada Army National Guardsman, and four other soldiers died after their Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. He had the pentacle on his dog tags.

The Wiccan faith is based on nature and emphasizes respect for the Earth and its processes. One of its primary tenants is "do no harm."

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which helped Stewart and others win the right to use the pentacle in veterans cemeteries, commended Bush for his apology.

"The president has done the right thing, and his apology to Stewart should be commended," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, Americans United executive director. "All veterans of war, regardless of their faith, should be honored and treated with the utmost respect, especially from their commander in chief. We are pleased the president recognized his slight of Stewart was wrong."