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Veterans can get a new ID card
YOUNGSTOWN
Veterans no longer need to fumble for their credentials in Mahoning County.
They can now obtain photo identification cards documenting their military service from the county recorder’s office.
The cards, which first became available Monday, may be used as identification when using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, when applying for a VA mortgage, when applying for jobs, when seeking veterans’ preference at the housing authority, and when seeking discounts offered to veterans by area merchants.
To receive the card, veterans must provide military discharge information (a DD Form 214), pay a $1 fee, and show a certified birth certificate, Social Security card, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs identification card or any other ID issued by the federal government.
The recorder’s office is in the county courthouse, 120 Market St., first floor and basement. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
Noralynn Palermo, county recorder, said the issuance of the veteran’s identification cards by county recorders is authorized by state legislation. She said the Stark County Recorder’s Office also issues the cards.
“The recorders record the DD214, so the recorders are the ones that make the IDs,” Palermo said.
Whether to recognize the cards is up to individual businesses, Palermo said. She said, however, she hopes merchants will honor the cards. “That’s the least they could do,” she added.
The new cards are similar to driver’s licenses, and feature the veteran’s name, address, photo, and military service branch and dates of service, over a U.S. flag background. Like driver’s licenses, they are issued for a four-year term.
Judge Robert P. Milich of Youngstown Municipal Court, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, who urged participants in his veterans’ court to sign up for the cards, estimated there are about 27,000 veterans living in Mahoning County.
“How do you prove you’re a veteran unless you go get your DD214, which a lot of people don’t carry around?” the judge said, adding the new card is much more convenient to carry.
If a veteran can’t find his or her DD214, the county veterans service commission at Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., can help the veteran get a copy, Judge Milich said during a news conference in the recorder’s office.
“The card is a very simple way of identifying legitimacy,” said Harry Meshel, a Navy Seabee during World War II and former Ohio Senate president and former state Democratic Party chairman.
“Many employers today are seeking veterans, and this helps identify them even more,” Meshel said. “Identification of any kind helps a great deal. It adds a little more credibility to a person who is homeless, looking for a place to go,” who may not have any other ID card.
One of the earliest people showing up to obtain a card was Silvio Restaino of Girard, a Marine veteran who was born and raised in Youngstown.
Restaino said the VA gave him “a hard time” and asked many detailed questions about his personal finances when he tried to get an ID card there. “I got thoroughly disgusted with them,” he said.