Yucca Valley lawmaker Paul Cook says it was an issue that hit "very close to home." The Republican Assemblyman, representing California's 65th district, was in the Marine Corps for 26 years, and when he heard the story of Mike Anderson's son, he wanted to take action.
Cook says Anderson approached him in Sacramento and told him about his son, who had died in combat. An anti-war group apparently "wanted to capitalize on this, and was using his son's name, and date of birth, and putting it on t-shirts." Cook says the group was even making money on the image. "I thought it was extremely disrespectful."
Corporal Michael Anderson, Jr. was called "AJ" by his marines, for "Anderson, Jr." He died at the age of 21 during the battle for Fallujah on Dec. 14, 2004. Mike Anderson, Sr. of Modesto, CA says there's been several times in the last five and a half years, "where I've had to call, e-mail or seek out certain organizations who've been using my son's name in vain." Anderson remembered a person in Arizona who was selling shirts with President Bush's face, and "our children's names, mocking their deaths." Anderson said "(AB 585) will protect the dignity of the fallen troops whose good names have been used in an inappropriate manner."
"The previous law has protected Hollywood heroes, but not our real heroes," said Anderson. "Our fallen heroes. So this will guarantee they're protected."
Monday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 585 into law. The law "protects fallen service members' names, likenesses, and other characteristics from being used on merchandise for sale without the consent of relatives of that service member."
"As someone who was in the marine corps I felt very strongly about that," says Cook. "When you have a major tragedy like (losing a loved one in combat), you're never going to achieve closure. And when (groups) are going to commercialize your son's or your daughter's death...I thought that was extremely disrespectful."
Cooks serves as chairman of the Assembly's Veteran's committee, and says the passage of the bill into law was a true bipartisan effort. "We have a lot of veterans in our area of the high desert, and in the Coachella Valley," he added, and "we were very very happy the governor signed it."
"I'm really happy to see California finally provide this for us," said Anderson. "It's been a good day."
The law will also allow families of fallen service men and women with a "cause of action for damages," if groups are found to be using the name, likeness or image without gaining proper consent.
AB 585 goes into effect the first of the year.
Anderson says a similar effort is underway to protect families on a federal level.
