Serving a stationary assignment

Idaho doesn't recognize military driver's licenses By COREY TAULE Post Register Desiree Dufur can drive fifth-wheel trailers, Hummers and 5-ton trucks down the roads of Baghdad, Iraq.  She cannot, however, drive her Dodge Neon down 17th Street in Idaho Falls.    Because her driver's license has been expired for more than a year, Dufur, 20, an Army specialist who spent more than nine months in Iraq before being seriously wounded in a mortar attack on her barracks last month, was denied renewal by the state Department of Motor Vehicles last week.    Dufur, state law says, needed to apply for renewal of her license one year before or after expiration.    "No offense to them," Dufur said, "but that wasn't my first priority."    Dufur suffered multiple shrapnel wounds to her arms, face and chest in the Jan. 7 attack.    A dud mortar hit her in the chest and exited out the side of her body. Dufur's best friend was killed in the attack.  A German television station dubbed her "the miracle girl," because as her father, Jim Dufur,

said, "Its not often you hear of a dud mortar."    Following nearly a month convalescing in several hospitals, Dufur returned home to Idaho Falls.  She purchased a new car but was shocked to learn her military driver's license was no good here.    She was told she'd have to retake the driving and written tests and pay for a new license.    The state treats military personnel the same as it does anyone else who allows their driver's license to expire, no matter the circumstances.    "There are no exceptions," said Chris Lords. a supervisor with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Idaho Falls.    And Dufur's not the only one, Lords said the DMV has run into this several times.    Knut Meyerin. a staff assistant for Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said he's helped two military personnel with this problem and has heard of others.    "I think most were under the impression that as long as they had a (military) driver's license, when they came home in renew, that would be a given," Meyerin said.

Things, however, may be changing.    Russ Mathews, an Idaho Falls political activist, heard about Dufur's situation and contacted Rep. Janice McGeachin, R-ldaho Falls.    McGcachin is drafting a bill that would allow Idaho to recognize a military driver's license.  As long as the military license is current, the Idaho driver's licenses would be, too.    "It's hard to imagine why anybody would be against it," McGeachin said.    Still, any new law will come too late for Dufur.    On Friday, Dufur flew to a military base in Washington.  Her hitch is up this summer,but it won't end before she receives the Purple Heart for her service in Iraq.    What likely won't go away anytime soon is the bad taste in Dufur's mouth at the treatment she received in her hometown.    As she walked into the Bonneville County Courthouse to renew her license, Dufur noticed a        See LINCENSES, Page A4

LICENSES From Page A1 billboard decorated with yellow ribbons, dedicated to active military personnel.    She gazed up at a large banner that proclaims, "We honor those who serve."    She walked out feeling as though those were empty platitudes and that compared to other areas of the country, Idahoans support the troops

more in theory than deed.    "It makes me mad," she said, "I came home and I can't even drive my new car.  Nobody seems to care out here.  I feel like that."    Dufur said she would probably get a license in Washington, which recognizes military licenses, or Texas, where she's going to attend college once her Army service ends.    But Dufur said she hopes Idaho changes the law.    If that happens, "nobody else will have to deal with it in the future," she said.