Gold Star mom presents Sen. Alting a keepsake
June 3rd, 2010
By JUSTIN L. MACK • jmack@jconline.com • June 3, 2010
Marilyn Frantz of Lafayette credits Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, for allowing her to honor her son and other fallen veterans with a special license plate.
Frantz, whose son Matthew was killed by a roadside bomb in the Iraq war in January 2006, is a Gold Star mother and a proud owner of one of Indiana’s Gold Star license plates.
Frantz was one of the people who worked to make the plates available to Hoosiers starting this year. She said after contacting other state legislators and being turned down, Alting authored the 2009 bill that brought the Gold Star plates to Indiana.
“Sen. Alting was very instrumental in helping us Gold Star families get a plate in Indiana,” said Frantz. “He worked so hard, and I personally felt that I needed to give him something to thank him. He was willing to fight for us.”
On Thursday afternoon, Frantz and her husband Jim presented Alting with a bracelet they had made in their son’s memory.
The gold bracelet, a duplicate of those worn by the Marilyn and Jim Frantz, is engraved with Matthew Frantz’s full name, information on where he served and the phrase “all gave some, some gave all.” Matthew served in the Army.
“I’ve received honors from presidents and dignitaries and every entity I can think of, and this is the highest of them all,” said Alting. “I feel very honored and privileged.”
The Gold Star license plate became available in January to spouses, parents, siblings or children of anyone who died while serving active duty in the military. Similar plates are offered in more than 40 states.
Jim Frantz said the plates carry no special or group fee. Families need only submit a death or certificate as proof that they qualify.
“This is just another way to honor and remember them, and if people don’t know what it means when they see it, you can politely educate them,” said Jim Frantz. “I’ll think of Matthew every time I see that plate.”