Veteran's License Plate Stolen: 'It's Like They Took My Purple Heart Away'

DENVER (CBS4) – License plate thefts are all too common across Colorado's Front Range. It got so bad in Denver last year that police handed out special screws that make it harder to steal them. Typically, thieves take the rear plates that have the registration tags, but that didn't happen in a recent case. A veteran who parks in an open parking lot at his apartment complex believes one of his was stolen because it's a special Purple Heart plate.

"I sacrificed a lot for my country, physically and mentally," Army veteran John Peters said.

As soon as Peters graduated from East High School he was ready to fight for his country.

"I joined the Army right after 9/11 happened," Peters said.

Peters served three tours overseas, one in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. During his third deployment, the young soldier was nearly killed by enemy fire.

"We were in the hottest spot in Afghanistan, one of the worst areas you could be. We were getting (attacked) from both sides," he told CBS4's Kelly Werthmann. "An RPG was fired from a mountain across the way and it flew in front of my face, hit the door (of the vehicle) about four feet away from me, so fortunately most of the shrapnel went the other way. Had it been the opposite, I wouldn't be here."

Peters' said he has scars all over his body, but calls it "just another sacrifice." His sacrifice earned him a Purple Heart, an honor he proudly shows with the hat he wears and with his license plates.

"I'm not putting myself on a pedestal," he said. "I'm proud that I'm the one who had to give a small sacrifice of getting blown up and shot because that means it's another soldier who didn't have to do that. To me it's like a badge of saying, 'I gave my all.'"

So you can only imagine his disappointment when someone stole the license plate on the front of his white truck.

"It sucks," Peters said. "But they were nice enough to put the bolts back on. That's how I know it didn't just fall off somewhere."

Peters called the DMV in hopes they could make an exact copy of his rear plate instead of getting new ones. That's because the Purple Heart design changed since he was issued his plates and he said the new image doesn't properly represent the military medal.

"I take it as a disrespect because they're taking something that our soldiers sacrifice their lives for and have now converted it to some piece of cheap internet art," Peters said.

Comparing his license plate to the design on a new one, Peters explained the old image is a realistic representation of the Purple Heart medal.

"George Washington's face, which is the centerpiece of the medal, is blurred out," Peters said, pointing to the newer design. "You have all these stars around it which doesn't exist on the real one."

Despite his offer to pay any price for the old design, the DMV told Peters there's nothing they can do. To the Colorado veteran, it's like pouring salt into his wounds from war.

"It's like if somebody took my actual Purple Heart away and said, 'Hey, here's this printed piece of paper that you can wear instead.' That's not right," Peters explained.

Peters did report the license plate theft to police, but is running low on hope his missing plate will be found.

If you want to keep an eye out for it, his Colorado Purple Heart plate reads: 708 JZU.