"Stamp Honors POWs and MIAs From ALL Wars"
Although there had been a POW stamp previously issued in 1970 during the war, and Vietnam had issued a stamp bearing the likeness of a stooped American POW walking in captivity, the POW MIA stamp honoring men and women from ALL wars was an example of what many good people working together can accomplish.
Beginning in the 1980's, a grass roots movement began. Hand written petitions demanded the US Post Office issue a stamp that honored ALL POWs, ALL MIAs from ALL Wars. By the hundreds, then thousands then hundreds of thousands the signatures were collected. In pouring rain and blistering heat volunteers, veterans, family members, Ex-POWs and caring citizens stood in malls... on street corners... at street fairs... parades... in tiger cages... schools... wherever the public could be found, the petitioners could also be found. Door to door they went... and boxes and bags full of signatures were delivered to the US Post Master General... to Congressmen and women... Senators. It was a blitz and with every refusal by the USPO, the volunteers were even more determined to see this stamp created.
Maybe it was the tens of thousands of trash bags filled with petitions delivered to the doorsteps of Washington... maybe it was the brick campaign protesting the 'stonewalling'... maybe it was the never ceasing determination of so many... maybe it was just time. In 1995, with millions of signatures from around the world collected and almost 13 years of effort, the USPO announced a new stamp would be created... a POW MIA stamp.
The following is the official announcement of the POW MIA stamp.
March 29, 1995 - Stamp News Release Number 95-027 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The symbolic representation of a pair of military identification tags embossed with the words "POW & MIA -- NEVER FORGOTTEN," displayed in front of the "Stars and Stripes" waving against a blue sky, comprise the unforgettable image on a new U.S. Postal Service stamp honoring American POWs and MIAs. First-day-of-issue ceremonies for the POW & MIA stamp will take place in Washington, D.C., as the stamps go on sale nationwide Memorial Day, May 29. Customers should contact local post offices to find out where stamps will be available in their area Memorial Day. "The ID tag has come to represent many things in the modern military," said Postmaster General Marvin Runyon in announcing the design. "The identification of each person as a unique individual who has the right to hope, to survive, and to ultimately have life after the wounds of combat. "It is a symbol of accounting for and caring for all our men and women in uniform. It is a symbol for commemorating and remembering all our POWs and MIAs -- from the Revolutionary War to Somalia." Many veterans save their ID tags as treasured keepsakes, carrying them around their necks, in their billfolds, on their key chains, and stored with their valuable jewelry. They pass them down to their children and grandchildren as heirlooms. They reflect on them, and remember the sacrifices they and others made -- and they remember those captured by hostile forces and terrorists, and those who remain missing in action. Carl Herrman designed the stamp after a concept created by Gary Viskupic of Centerport, N.Y. Herrman combined Ivy Bigbee's photo of the ID tags with an image of the American flag taken by prominent photographer Robert Llewellen of Charlottesville, Va. The development of this stamp was coordinated with various veteran and family organizations. This is the second stamp issued by the Postal Service honoring America's POWs and MIAs. The six-cent "U.S. Servicemen" stamp, issued in 1970, read, "Honoring U.S. Servicemen -- Prisoners of War -- Missing and Killed in Action."
Previous Stamps Issued:
1970 Honoring US Servicemen: Prisoners of War Missing and Killed In Action
Vietnamese Stamp Issues Denoting American POWs
Air War Commemoration Series : 1967 2,000th US Aircraft Shoot Down
Air War Commemoration Series : 1972 3,500th US Aircraft Shoot Down
Artwork: AII POW-MIA