After fighting the federal government for more than a year, the widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan finally got to see the Wiccan symbol placed on a memorial plaque for her husband.

More than 50 friends and family of Sergeant Patrick Stewart gathered to dedicate the plaque Saturday at Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, about 30 miles east of Reno.

Stewart's widow, Roberta, and Wiccan leaders said it was the first government-issued memorial plaque with a Wiccan pentacle -- a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle.

They praised Governor Kenny Guinn for his role in getting the Nevada Office of Veterans Services to issue the plaque.

But they criticized the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saying they would continue pressing the agency to allow the Wiccan symbol for plaques and headstones at veterans' cemeteries.

Last month, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a federal lawsuit on the Wiccans' behalf claiming the VA's actions amount to constitutional violations of free speech, freedom of religion and due process. A Wiccan group in Wisconsin is part of the suit.

The VA recognizes more than 30 symbols, including more than a dozen variations of the Christian cross and the atomic whirl used by atheists, but not the pentacle.

VA officials have said they are rewriting rules for approving emblems, but the process requires a public comment period.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)