Gold Star Plates

The Gold Star Family License Plate has been created by the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles,  but it has not been issued in Cheyenne County as of this time.

The Gold Star plates are available to families of people who have died while in good standing on active duty in the United States military.

The Gold Star plates can be applied for at the Cheyenne County Treasurer’s Office or online. No one has requested the plate in Cheyenne County, treasurer Diane Scott said.

To be eligible for Gold Star Family plates, an applicant must be a surviving spouse, ancestor, descendent, foster parent or sibling.

The plates are available as a Gold Star message plate or as a Gold Star numeric plate.

The first numbered Gold Star plate went to Bob and Chris Wolf of Scottsbluff, whose son Spec. James Wolf, based in Fort Carson, Colo., was killed while serving in Iraq with the 52nd Engineer Battalion attached to the Army’s 43rd Area Support Group.

Jim and Pat Mracek of Hay Springs got the first personalized Gold Star Family plate. Their son, Cory Mracek, was killed in Iraq in 2004 while a sergeant with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Nebraska’s Gold Star plate was designed by the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

It was modeled using the blue star service banners displayed by families back to World War I who had loved ones who served in the armed forces.

Gold stars were sewn over blue stars to remember family members killed in the line of duty.

Nebraska’s Gold Star plates have a red border, a gold star with a blue outline and the phrases “Fallen Hero” and “Gold Star Family.”

More information on the Gold Star Family Plate is available at the DMV Web site at http://www.dmv.ne.gov/dvr/specialty/goldstar.html.