SECTION 1. Section 2 of Chapter 90 of the general laws are hereby amended by removing the sixteenth paragraph and inserting in its place the following:-

The registrar shall furnish to owners of private passenger motor vehicles who are veterans as defined in said clause Forty-third of said section seven of said chapter four who have been awarded the Order of the Purple Heart and upon evidence deemed satisfactory by the registrar, distinctive registration plates bearing the image of a Purple Heart Medal for any private passenger motor vehicle or motorcycle owned by such Purple Heart recipient. The first set of such registration plates issued to an eligible veteran must be furnished at no charge. The registrar may charge the established registration fee for private passenger motor vehicles or motorcycles for each additional set of such registration plates or emblems. A surviving spouse of a deceased recipient of the Purple Heart may elect to retain such distinctive registration plates for personal use upon payment of the established registration fee for private passenger motor vehicles or motorcycles and an additional annual twenty dollar fee until such time as such spouse remarries or fails to renew or cancels such registration.