Courtesy: Mrs. Nina Warren Exhibit 59. Diplomatic passport issued to Nina E. Warren, including object of travel and description of bearer, 1953 Exhibit 60. Diplomatic passport issued to Nina E. Warren, showing photograph with legend perforation and countries to be visited, 1953 Special (Gold Star) Pilgrimage Passports and Pilgrimage Travel Documents Special (Gold Star) pilgrimage passports and pilgrimage travel documents were issued by a law which provided that "no fee" shall be collected for passports issued to widows, children, parents, brothers, and sisters of American soldiers, sailors, or marines buried abroad whose journey is undertaken for the purpose and with the intent of visiting the graves of said soldiers, sailors, or marines, which facts shall be made a part of the application for the passport.13 Relatives of soldiers, sailors, and marines who died between April 5, 1917, and July 1, 1921, could make a pilgrimage to their place of burial in Europe. The Secretary of War arranged for these pilgrimages and the Department of State issued special pilgrimage passports limited to the duration of the pilgrimage.14 (Exhibit 61) Pilgrimage travel documents were issued to mothers or widows who were not citizens but who owed allegiance to the United States and who had been invited by the Secretary of War to make such a pilgrimage.15 (Exhibit 62) Special passports with limited validity were issued to widows and other close relatives of men who lost their lives in the "D-Day" landings in Normandy during World War II (1941-1945) to attend memorial services in Bayeaux, France, in June 1955. Regular Passports Issued to Relatives of Servicemen Buried Abroad No-fee passports are currently issued to members of the immediate families of American servicemen buried abroad under the following provisions (upon appropriate certification from the Battle Monument Commission or Graves Registration Commission): (a) the following persons are exempt from the payment of passport fees: (3) A widow, child, parent, brother or sister of a deceased American serviceman proceeding abroad to visit the grave of such serviceman.16 13 Act of Mar. 2, 1929, sec. 2. 14 Ibid. 15 Department of State Order, Feb. 10, 1930. 16 22 Code of Federal Regulations 51.63 (a)(3). |