Honoring The fallen - Gold Star Plates

California families who have lost a loved one in the military on active duty may get a vehicle license plate to show their loss.

State Senator Dave Cogdill of California has been trying to get approval for a Gold Star License plate for quite a while, and now unless the Governator of California intends to commit political suicide, it will become reality. The license plate is designed to commemorate the loss of a family member who has given their life in service to their country.

“This license plate is but a small token of the deep appreciation we feel toward the families of the U.S. Armed Services with loved ones who lost their lives in service to our country,” said Cogdill in a statement. “Servicemen and women throughout California have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I am pleased so many of my colleagues have voted to honor the efforts of these courageous men and women and their families."

The bill which is being sent to the Governator is SB 1455 The drive to get this process off the ground was played in part by two men, Kevin Graves of Discovery Bay, Ca. and Modesto resident Mike Anderson. Both of these men have lost a son in the War on Jihad.

“The importance of this bill is not just for our children, but for the families of all those who have served in the military all the way back to WWII,” said Graves. “If you had a child that was unfortunately one of the 59,000 who died in Vietnam, you just went into the house and kept it to yourself. The furthest thing in that unpopular war was pride. This (bill) is the perfect opportunity to give those people that pride.”

The bill died on the floor of the California Senate last year due to the reigning Democratic Senate leader deciding not to entertain any further bills on special license plates. State Senators Cogdill and Denham brought the bill back this year and found enough consensus among the more reasonable members of the majority to allow the bill to pass through both houses of the California legislature.

“The bill got stonewalled because of a policy thing, and it was very frustrating,” said Graves. “I mean, you can have plates to keep Tahoe blue, but not one for the military? We knew that the proposal had tremendous nonpartisan support and we were determined to make a concerted effort to help it go through this time.”

“On a personal level, getting this through is a matter of being able to drive down the freeway and see someone with one of those plates and know that you know exactly how they feel. That makes all the difference.”

The Governator is expected to gladly sign the bill into law next week. And this is one of those times when all rational people can be on the same side, this is one of those moments of not having to support the War on Jihad, but just being willing to support the men and women in the military who are willing to give it all up to protect the homeland.