DMV VS. USMC

Marines are trained to always stand true to their beliefs and always prevail — even when they are battling the bureaucracy of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

That’s why the driver’s license picture of Marine veteran Alex Morales of Bakersfield, Calif., shows him wearing a cap adorned with the letters “USMC” — a cap he was first ordered not to wear when he went into the California DMV office on Dec. 9 to get his picture taken.

Morales’ wife, Henrietta, proudly posted the story on their Facebook page, which has been liked by more than 300,000 people.

“When he was told to go have his picture taken he noticed that there were some men having their picture taken, these men were wearing turbins (sic) on there heads. Alex was asked to take his hat off to have his picture taken. He said “no”, and “no” again when asked the second time,” she wrote.

“When he was asked why he would not remove his hat he said, ‘those men didn’t remove their head wear, I shouldn’t either,’” she wrote.

“It was explained that this was their attire and their religion. Alex told the DMV person that what he had on was his attire and when he entered the Marines he declared an oath to the USA, and one nation under God, so that his oath was under God so just as good as his religion,” she recounted.

A gaggle of flummoxed DMV workers huddled with supervisors, called someone in the state capital for guidance and, after an hour’s wait, admitted defeat, warning Morales that he might not get his way and might have to appeal any final ruling. He promised that if they brought a fight, he would finish it.

“Alex feels no one has more right to display their head gear then a Veteran or active service person. When he left several employees at the DMV clapped quietly for him. He has spoken to few other Veterans and they plan to do the same,” she posted.

Nine days after launching his battle, Morales received his license, with the photo exactly as he wanted.