Blake Hall
The Utah Division of Motor Vehicles needs to get its mind out of the gutter.
Proud Vietnam veteran Arnold Breitenbach wanted to make good on an innocent idea commemorating something extraordinary that happened to him while serving in the military all those years ago.
In 1969, as a gunner on an Army armored personnel carrier, Breitenbach was wounded when rocket-propelled grenades struck the vehicle while he was in the gun turret. He was temporarily blinded and lost hearing — a sacrifice for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.
His idea? To have his license plate read “CIB-69”, for his Combat Infantry Badge as well as the year he was given the prestigious military decoration.
No, said the Utah DMV. According to the Spectrum of St. George, Utah, the department cited state regulations “prohibiting the use of the number 69 because of its sexual connotations”.
“While your intended meaning behind the requested plate, CIB-69, is honorable, the Division of Motor Vehicles is required to follow Utah law when approving personalized plates,” Division of Motor Vehicles audit manager Sherri Murray wrote him in a letter.
The Army veteran was completely miffed.
“They’ve got Viagra (ads) all over the place. I can’t imagine myself sitting on the sofa with my parents when I was a little kid having something like that on TV,” he said. “In today’s day and age, it seems like everything is out in the open.”
Soon after, Breitenbach wrote a letter to the governor in appeal but was denied a few months later.
As a consolation, he had the Purple Heart logo put on his license plate minus the “CB-69”.