Clanton residents can now personalize their God Bless America license plates. Key state lawmakers held a press conference recently to announce the availability of distinctive, personalized plates.

This will be the first opportunity for Alabamians to add a personalized, “vanity” message to the God Bless America license plates. The personalized license plates are available immediately.

All proceeds from the sale of these tags will benefit the Alabama Veterans Living Legacy Program at American Village. In 2008 the Alabama Legislature identified this program to honor Alabama’s veterans and to teach students and youth the vital lessons of liberty as an essential foundation for good citizenship.

The Alabama Veterans Living Legacy at American Village was created as a program to remember, respect, thank, and honor United States veterans, living and dead, and active members of the Armed Forces. The program includes plans to build a National Veterans Shrine, where individual and collective names, biographical sketches, stories, and photographs will beprominently displayed. This development is occurring concurrently with the opening of the new National Veterans Cemetery adjoining the American Village. Though not finalized at this time, plans are currently in the works to create a national Veterans Shrine, a Freedom Trail, and a Memorial Carillon and Amphitheatre as part of the Living Legacy program. This program ties directly to the July groundbreaking on land adjacent to the American Village which will be the site of the new National Veterans Cemetery.