What:
The sacrifices of the men and women in the U.S. military will be the focus when the Postal Service unveils a three foot enlargement of the latest Purple Heart definitive postage stamp at the VA Medical Center Woods Cemetery as part of their Memorial Day program. Recipients of the Purple Heart from the Iraq War, Vietnam War, Korean War and World War II will be honored.
Who:
Senator Ron Johnson
Milwaukee Postmaster Kim Quayle
Iraq War Purple Heart Recipient Nicole Kusko
Vietnam War Purple Heart Recipient Jim Weltzien
Korean War Purple Heart Recipient Paul Fine
World War II Purple Heart Recipient Carl Oehlke
When:
Monday, May 30, 2011
9:30 a.m.
Where:
VA Medical Center
Woods Cemetery
5000 W. National Ave
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53295
Background:
Through overwhelming public requests, the Purple Heart stamp has now been issued as a “Forever” stamp. The “Forever” format of the stamps makes them convenient to save and use anytime for First-Class postage regardless of future rate changes. Forever Stamps don’t have a denomination and are honored for the current one-ounce postage whenever they are used.
“To issue this stamp as a “forever” stamp says a lot about how much we as Americans value the sacrifices that the Purple Heart recipients have paid for our freedom. This stamp may now be used indefinitely as a testament to our brave troops”, said Milwaukee Postmaster Kim Quayle.
First issued in 2003, the stamp features the medal that is “the oldest military decoration in the world,” according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to members of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed in action The Purple Heart “Forever” stamp is now available at Post Offices nationwide.
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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
