MARIETTA – Soon family members who lost a loved one in military service will be able to make benefit claims by presenting their driver’s license or state identification card.

Rep. Kevin Ritter, R, Marietta, introduced the Gold Star driver’s license bill that makes it possible.

“I met a couple of different Gold Star Families over the last six months and in speaking with them the one thing that stuck with me was to claim any benefits their son or daughter earned before being killed in the military, they have to actually have to present the death certificate,” he said. “What I understood from talking with those families was what a hurtful thing that was to have to relive that event.”

Ritter said he was in several discussions on finding a way to make the process of claiming the benefits easier.

Ohio already has a Gold Star Family license plate, but the driver’s license will be unique to Ohio.

“I know there are two other states, Kentucky is one, that have taken note of this proposed bill and are mirroring it in their legislature,” he said, “I don’t think anyone else has passed it yet.”

Ritter said the bill has been referred to a committee and he is preparing to testify before that committee soon.

“It will go through several steps, proponent testimony and I can’t imagine anybody opposed to it, but there will be an opportunity for opponent testimony and then it would go to the full house for a vote,” he said.

Ritter said a mirror bill could be introduced in the state Senate, but no one has made a request for that.

“I think it will move through the House very quickly,” he said. “Once it is voted out of the House it will move to the state Senate and the process would start over again with testimony.”

Ritter said he had an amendment to the bill to expand the definition of Gold Star.

“What I mean by that is the current definition for Gold Star is that your son or daughter has to be killed in battle,” he said. “I’ve had people say there are a lot of families who have experienced the same loss … but they had a son or daughter killed in training or a training exercise.”

Ritter said he has been urged to expand the definition to include that language.

“That amendment has not been introduced yet but I expect it to be fairly quickly,” he said.

Ritter said awareness of the bill is spreading by word of mouth.

“I can tell you we have gotten a lot of phone calls, a lot of folks saying thank you,” he said. “We appreciate young people putting themselves on the line defending their freedoms and I think people are appreciative of that; it’s gotten a pretty positive response so far.”

Ritter said the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will have the job of verifying eligibility and will determine documentation requirements. Originally the plan was to have a gold star on the license, but that changed in light of the gold star being used in other capacities.

“Our amendment will change that to a triangular folded flag symbol,” he said.

State budget analysis shows there will be no added costs, according to Ritter, and he does not have an estimate on how many licenses will be issued.

“Obviously we have tens of thousands of veterans across Ohio,” he said. “I think with press coverage and word of mouth it will become quite popular. There are a number of benefits people qualify for as a result of being a Gold Star Family.”

Working with Ritter on the bill is Gary Ward. He and his wife, Karla, are Gold Star parents.

Their son, Army Spec. Christian Ward, was killed June 28, 2019, at the age of 23. He was a crew chief on a MEDEVAC Dustoff team on a UH – 60 Black Hawk helicopter.

Christian was raised in Lowell and attended Fort Frye High School, then the family moved to North Carolina. He graduated from West Iredell High School in Statesville, and joined the Junior ROTC program there.

“Since his passing my wife has been carrying around a DD1300 form, death certificate,” Gary Ward said, “I was thinking there has to be another way to recognize family members that are Gold Star families instead of carrying a death certificate and bringing up all those memories.”

Ward said he also was hoping to do it in a way that would not be costly for the public and what would be the quickest way to implement the program.

“So I got a hold of Kevin Ritter and we collaborated on this,” he said. “We came up with the folded flag, Gold Star family – next of kin endorsement on the driver’s license and state ID card.”

Ward said legislators from three other states, West Virginia, Kentucky and New Hampshire, have inquired about the bill.

“I think they are going to act on this as well,” he said. “Ohio is the first to have this (proposed) legislation, so it pretty big news.”

Ward said he and his family are friends with the family of Woody Williams, which has helped to spread the word to other areas.

“They said we need to get this in Kentucky and West Virginia since they have family living in both states,” he said. “We know somebody who heard about it in New Hampshire, so we hope to get this in all 50 states eventually.”

Ward said they began working on the Gold Star license in December 2025.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize how things can affect Gold Star families and we will be able to utilize the assets out there and to correct any issues.

“We’re pretty proud of it, this is our second bill to be introduced,” he said. “The first one was with Reps. Bill Johnson and Mike Turner, both R-Ohio, the Army Spc. Christian Ward Act.”

That act was part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act and was signed into law on Dec. 23, 2023.