Okla-homey
1/13/2011, 01:30 PM
...as to why, I am uncertain.
Lawmaker wants veterans ID'd on Oklahoma driver's licences
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Published: 1/13/2011 2:30 AM
Last Modified: 1/13/2011 7:29 AM
State Sen. Roger Ballenger, D-Okmulgee, thinks they ought to be able to have it on their driver's licenses, too.
"It's not going to turn Oklahoma around, but it gives a little pat on the back to veterans - older veterans, especially," he said.
Ballenger filed legislation last week that would allow veterans to have a special designation - similar to that of organ donors - on their driver's licenses and Department of Public Safety-issued identification cards.
The designation would be a small flag in the lower right portion of the license or ID card, next to where organ donors already are identified by a small heart.
Ballenger said he doesn't believe that adding the image to new licenses and ID cards will be a burden to tag agents or state agencies or create an additional expense.
The flag would be more than decoration; it would make life easier for veterans, he said.
Ballenger said the idea for the legislation arose from a conversation with his father, an 85-year-old World War II veteran.
"He saw there was going to be a gun show and that veterans were being admitted free," Ballenger said. "I think it was probably on the honor system, but he couldn't prove he was a veteran and he wouldn't go.
"That made me think there ought to be an easy way for veterans to identify themselves."
Details of exactly how veterans would prove their service have not been worked out, Ballenger said, but he said he has been assured that the process should be relatively easy.
"At first, we thought we'd have them present their discharge papers, but a lot of World War II veterans have put those away and don't know where they are anymore," he said.
About 330,000 veterans live in Oklahoma, according to the state's Department of Veterans Affairs.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20110113_16_A5_CUTLIN781592
Lawmaker wants veterans ID'd on Oklahoma driver's licences
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Published: 1/13/2011 2:30 AM
Last Modified: 1/13/2011 7:29 AM
State Sen. Roger Ballenger, D-Okmulgee, thinks they ought to be able to have it on their driver's licenses, too.
"It's not going to turn Oklahoma around, but it gives a little pat on the back to veterans - older veterans, especially," he said.
Ballenger filed legislation last week that would allow veterans to have a special designation - similar to that of organ donors - on their driver's licenses and Department of Public Safety-issued identification cards.
The designation would be a small flag in the lower right portion of the license or ID card, next to where organ donors already are identified by a small heart.
Ballenger said he doesn't believe that adding the image to new licenses and ID cards will be a burden to tag agents or state agencies or create an additional expense.
The flag would be more than decoration; it would make life easier for veterans, he said.
Ballenger said the idea for the legislation arose from a conversation with his father, an 85-year-old World War II veteran.
"He saw there was going to be a gun show and that veterans were being admitted free," Ballenger said. "I think it was probably on the honor system, but he couldn't prove he was a veteran and he wouldn't go.
"That made me think there ought to be an easy way for veterans to identify themselves."
Details of exactly how veterans would prove their service have not been worked out, Ballenger said, but he said he has been assured that the process should be relatively easy.
"At first, we thought we'd have them present their discharge papers, but a lot of World War II veterans have put those away and don't know where they are anymore," he said.
About 330,000 veterans live in Oklahoma, according to the state's Department of Veterans Affairs.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20110113_16_A5_CUTLIN781592