MA: Iraq Vets Fight for RMV Recognition

Shouldn't this be automatic? Why should Iraq and Afghanistan vets have to fight state government for this recognition?


(Boston Herald, Sunday 6 February 2005)


When Iraqi Freedom veteran Paul Couturier is riding down the highway, he would like passersby to know that he is proud, and he's home, after serving his country for a year in southern Iraq.
So the 42-year-old North Attleboro Army National Guardsman went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to ask about a decal for his license plate for his service as an Army National Guardsman in the 726th maintenance battalion.
``These guys who went to Vietnam, and the guys who went to World War II, they got stickers,'' Couturier said. ``They want to let the world know that they served their country, and I feel the same way.''
Couturier said the RMV has decals to recognize the veterans who served in Grenada and Panama, too, but he was surprised to learn no decal is available for Iraq or Afghanistan vets.