Retired NCO lobbies for Bronze Star plate

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo -- A retired Air Force NCO who authored a bill for Colorado to issue Bronze Star license plates to medal holders saw Gov. Bill Owens sign it in Denver June 5.

The other half of the battle seems to be getting the word out.

The Bronze Star Medal is the fourth highest award an individual can receive for bravery, heroism or meritorious service. There are tens of thousands of retired military people and active duty people in the area and thousands more throughout the state. Many Bronze Star Medal holders are among them.

"Do you realize how many local retired military personnel visit local Air Force bases to use the base exchanges and commissaries just on a weekly basis?" said retired Air Force Master Sgt. Joe Duffy from his home in Colorado Springs. "We were able to recognize these particular veterans who are among the best of the best, for their combat performance during the many conflicts from World War II up to and including the present conflicts."

Mr. Duffy, a retired communications NCO who parlayed his skills from the Air Force to decades of service as a State Department foreign service employee and communications professional, stood near as the Colorado governor signed Senate Bill 028.

Duffy is eligible for induction into the Air Force Communications and Information Hall of Fame until 2012.

"I want this information passed on to our Bronze Star Medal Colorado veterans," said the Vietnam veteran who retired from government service in 1997. "It isn't about me. It is about the news I am passing on."