Section 2 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the eighteenth paragraph the following paragraph:-

The registrar shall furnish, without charge, to owners of private passenger motor vehicles and motorcycles who have been awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross or the Purple Heart distinctive registration plates with an emblem representing the award received for either 1 private passenger motor vehicle or a motorcycle owned and principally used by such recipient upon presentation by an applicant of satisfactory evidence, as determined by the registrar, of receipt of such award and that the applicant, on the date of such application, is currently on active  service in the armed forces of the United States. The surviving spouse of a deceased recipient may elect to retain such distinctive registration plates and emblem for personal use upon payment of the established registration fee for private passenger motor vehicles or motorcycles and an additional annual $20 fee until such time as the spouse remarries or fails to renew or cancels the registration.