Hawaii Veteran Designation on a Driver License

Hawaii adds a VETERAN designation to a driver license, a state identification card, or an instruction permit at no charge for the designation itself. Proof is a DD-214 or an equivalent discharge document. Including the state identification card matters more here than it might elsewhere. A veteran who no longer drives, which describes many older veterans and many living in urban Honolulu, can still carry the designation on an identification card. Because the designation is applied to the card, the practical cost is whatever the underlying transaction costs. Adding it at a scheduled renewal avoids paying for a duplicate. Driver licensing in Hawaii is administered by the counties through their examiner of drivers offices, so apply on the island where you live rather than to a state office. The designation is accepted by many Hawaii businesses as proof of veteran status for discounts, and it spares a veteran from carrying a DD-214, which is a document that should live somewhere safe rather than in a wallet. There is no disability rating requirement. A veteran who cannot locate their discharge document should contact the Office of Veterans' Services before anything else. Hawaii's county agencies and the OVS can help obtain a replacement, and the discharge document is the key that unlocks the property tax exemption, the registration fee exemption, the cemeteries, the veterans homes, and the civil service preference alike.