Pushing for a Purple Heart license plate

PLAINWELL, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – When Staff Sergeant David Julian was killed a suicide bomber near a market in Baghdad, he had been married for less than a year, and his daughter was just three months old.

Michigan recognizes men and women who were injured while serving in the armed forces with the wounded combat veterans license plate, which features the image of a Purple Heart. However, unlike some other states, surviving spouses are not eligible for the plate in Michigan.

The policies on the plate vary from state to state, many don't allow a spouse to keep already existing Purple Heart plates, let alone get one if the spouse is killed in the line of duty. However, one surviving spouse in West Michigan is determined to get that changed.

“We lost five soldiers, including my husband,” said Erin Julian. “He was awarded posthumously the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.”

David Julian was killed in the line of duty on March 10^th of 2008. Erin keeps the awards he was given in a chest in her living room in Plainwell. Before she moved back to Michigan, Erin also applied for, and received a Purple Heart license plate from the State of Georgia, where her husband was stationed.

“The Purple Heart is a pretty significant award,” said Erin, “and David's not here to show it himself and it's my way of boasting about what he did and what he gave for this country.”

After a trip to the Secretary of State's office in Michigan, Erin's truck now sits in her garage without a plate.

“They told me a spouse wasn't eligible to receive a Purple Heart plate,” said Erin.

Michigan law says only the Purple Heart recipient can get such a plate, but Erin has now made it her mission to get that law changed.

“Asking that surviving spouses as well as surviving parents of unmarried soldiers be able to use the Purple Heart plates,” said Erin.

Some laws have even more restrictions on the plates than Michigan, making surviving spouses turn Purple Heart plates in if the recipient of the award dies, but Erin thinks all states should allow survivors to continue showing the reminder of the sacrifice made by soldiers.

“The greatest fear I have is people are going to forget,” said Erin. “We've got soldiers out there who are losing their lives every single day. We family members work very hard never to forget.”

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We want to hear from you. Do you think surviving spouses should be allowed to get the Purple Heart license plate or should it be reserved only for members of the military?

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