CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The state Senate on Thursday approved establishing a New Hampshire Medal of Honor for military members killed in action. The bill now moves to the House.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Derry Republican Robert Letourneau said the medal will be a symbol of gratitude and an heirloom that a family can pass down from generation to generation.

Present on the Senate floor for the vote was Joyce Bertolino, mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Bertolino, who was killed last year in Afghanistan. “This bill was put in in honor of her son,” Letourneau said.

Bertolino approached Letourneau about the idea when she learned another state offered the honor to their fallen soldiers, he said.

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