Military

Topical Reference Page
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Hometowns Honor Their Returning Veterans stamp, 1995

Find resources related to the military on the National Postal Museum's website.

3-cent Women in Our Armed Services single
About U.S. Stamps - Service Women Issue
Exhibition
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Special Passport for a Postal Employee
Object Spotlight

Like travelers today postal employee Charles P. Leary needed a passport to journey abroad during World War I. Unlike modern passports however it was granted for a specific purpose: to allow Leary to travel to France where the Post Office Department was establishing a service to support the deployment of US military personnel.

Image: Special Passport for Postal Agent Charles P. Leary

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Pilot Benjamin Lipsner posed with unidentified airman in front of the Jenny aircraft
Fad to Fundamental: Airmail in America - The Army Pilots
Exhibition
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screenshot of video with United News title
V-Mail
Location: 
Art of Cards and Letters

Victory Mail, more commonly known as V-Mail, operated during World War II to expedite mail service for American armed forces overseas. Moving the rapidly expanding volume of wartime mail posed hefty problems for the Post Office, War, and Navy Departments. Officials sought to reduce the bulk and weight of letters, and found a model in the British Airgraph Service started in 1941 that microfilmed messages for dispatch.

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Drawing of about 10 soldiers carrying guns and walking through snow
Art of the Stamp - Veterans Korea
Exhibition
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Drawing of six soldiers carrying bayonets in the outskirts of a village
Art of the Stamp - Veterans World War I
Exhibition
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Victory Mail with illustration of a soldier
Victory Mail
March 6, 2008 - July 6, 2011
Exhibition

The Victory Mail exhibit showcased the Museum’s collection of World War II V-Mail correspondence. V for Victory, a popular symbol of the Second World War, was the inspiration for the name of this new fangled correspondence style.

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Vietnam-War Audio Correspondence
Object Spotlight

"Right now in the background, you'll probably hear a chopper flying over" said Private First Class Frank A. Kowalczyk in a 1969 letter to his...

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A solder reading a letter in the countryside with many letters scattered on the ground
War Letters: Lost and Found
November 11, 2005 - November 13, 2006
Exhibition

War Letters: Lost and Found featured original letters from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam that were lost or abandoned and then rediscovered by strangers.

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Illustration of four soldiers lifting a flag pole
Art of the Stamp - World War II: 1945, Victory at Last Marines Raise Flag on Iwo Jima
Exhibition
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WWII military free cover with patriotic cachet
Free Franks - WW II Military Cachet
Exhibition
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Related Blogs

American Red Cross postcard depicts Christmas packages for the AEF in 1918.
Holiday Parcels in World War I
12.20.2017

One of the most frequent questions I get asked as a curator is about care packages, namely, what did family and friends send to each other during one time period or another? The curiosity is understandable—who among us doesn’t want to peek inside the mail?

Learn more About Holiday Parcels in World War I

Photograph of Col. Noel Parrish as the TAAF Commander.
Col. Noel Parrish: Tuskegee Commander
09.29.2014

In December 1942 Lt. Col. Noel Parrish assumed command of the Tuskegee Army Airfield (TAAF) and during the next four years, TAAF produced some of the nation’s finest and celebrated servicemen, the Tuskegee Airmen. As the white commander of a predominantly African American military installation, Lt. Col. Parrish faced both local white citizens who were not supportive of the facility or its mission, and some white senior military and political leaders who believed that African Americans were intellectually incapable of flying combat aircraft.

Learn more About Col. Noel Parrish: Tuskegee Commander

18 Medal of Honor stamps
Honoring Our World War II Heroes Whose Heroism Went Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
01.15.2014

This past Veterans Day, November 11, 2013, the United States Postal Service in conjunction with the Friends of the National World War II Memorial held a first day ceremony to dedicate the two set World WAR II Medal of Honor (MOH) Stamp. The ceremony was held at the World War II Memorial and was accorded a full military dedication under a beautiful sky and cool temperatures.

Learn more About Honoring Our World War II Heroes Whose Heroism Went Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

Feldpost Covor with Blue Airmail Stamps
The Heat of Battle - German Soldiers Mail In World War II
04.02.2012

During World War II, letters were the primary way that soldiers in all the Armies involved in the conflict communicated with each other and with loved ones back home. The German Army, especially, had a very large and complex mail system to serve the many soldiers fighting in Russia. It was a way to keep in touch, an escape from the bitter fighting and something to do in their spare time. As a result, a lot of mail was sent.

Learn more About The Heat of Battle - German Soldiers Mail In World War II

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