By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Marine Lance Cpl. Ian Dobens shows off the preserved
section of the huge cross that used to stand at Camp Smith.
Whatever happened to the cross that used to sit on top of Red Hill near the headquarters of the Pacific military command many years ago? Constitutional dispute
brought down huge crossThe Marine Corps was forced to dismantle the 65-foot white wooden cross at Camp Smith after a federal court ruled that as a Christian icon the cross violated the principle of separation of church and state.
A small slab of the cross, which was formed by two utility poles, was preserved in a framed glass box erected on the wall near the entrance to the Camp Smith headquarters building. The piece on display is about 15 inches in diameter and three inches thick. The section shows at least 50 tree rings.
An accompanying plaque says: "The 65-foot wooden illuminated cross was removed by order of the U.S. District Court's decision because the cross could be construed as a government endorsement of religion."
The Marines had argued that the cross, which had been illuminated at night, transcended a religious symbol and was a "beacon of hope" for MIAs and POWs.
The Camp Smith cross came down on Dec. 1, 1988. It was replaced with an 80-foot flagpole which flies a 38-by-20-foot American flag.
The cross had been erected in May 1966 as a memorial honoring Marines and sailors who died in Vietnam. It was later re-dedicated as a POW-MIA memorial as well.
In June 1986, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Marine Corps, saying the cross was unconstitutional. Jewish War Veterans later filed a similar suit.
It is believed that the cross was cut into pieces and stored with other pieces of lumber at at a federal disposal center in Pearl City and later disposed of by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office.
