http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/postal_store_non_ssl/browse_content/stampReleaseDisplay.jsp?OID=8610
A USPS Happy 230th Birthday Present on 11/10/05 to the United States Marine Corps!
Posted on 11/08/2005 4:42:24 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Marine Corps hero "Chesty" Puller would have been proud to be honored with a postage stamp, but he would have wanted to include the face of every Marine he served with, his daughter said Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller and three other Marines — Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly and Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune — are on a set of four 37-cent stamps being unveiled Thursday in ceremonies at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington and Camp Pendleton, Calif. The stamps go on sale nationwide the same day.
The Postal Service gets thousands of proposals for stamps every year and selects only about 30 for production.
"Father would like those odds, and he beat them," said Martha Puller Downs of Alexandria, Va., the general's daughter.
Indeed, during the Korean War, when surrounded by more than 100,000 Chinese soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir, Puller is reported to have said: "They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us; they can't get away from us this time."
Marines still leave mementoes at Puller's grave. "They knew he took care of them," Downs said.
Yet growing up, she said, "I really didn't know him as a legend or hero. I knew him as a magnificent father ... he was fun."
A native of West Point, Va., Puller was a battalion commander and regimental commander with the 1st Marine Division during World War II and the Korean War. During his 37-year career, he was awarded 14 personal decorations in combat, five Navy Crosses, one Army Distinguished Service Cross plus a long list of campaign medals, unit citation ribbons and other awards.
Being honored on the other three stamps in the set are:
_Basilone, who won the Medal of Honor in World War II. Basilone was cited for holding 3,000 Japanese soldiers at bay for 72 hours during the battle of Guadalcanal with only 15 men, 12 of whom died in the fight. Sent home to promote the sale of war bonds, Basilone requested to return to combat and again distinguished himself in the battle for Iwo Jima, where he was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart.
_Daly, who received the Medal of Honor twice for separate acts during combat in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion and in Haiti protecting American lives during an uprising in 1915.
_Lejeune, who is remembered as a wartime commander and the first Marine to command at Army division in combat. Lejeune led the Army's 2nd Infantry Division in World War I. He is credited with establishing Marine Corps institutions and traditions and the Marine base located near Jacksonville, N.C. bears his name.
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On the Net:
U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com
U.S. Marine Corps: http://www.usmc.mil
http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/postal_store_non_ssl/browse_content/stampReleaseDisplay.jsp?OID=8610
A USPS Happy 230th Birthday Present on 11/10/05 to the United States Marine Corps!
Semper Fi
Very cool.
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/commemoratives/index.cfm?action=Marine
Ping
What do the insignia on each stamp represent?
excellent
The insignias..
Chesty Lewis Puller
1st Marine Division
Guadalcanal
John A. Lejeune
US Army's 2nd Infantry Division
John Basilone
5th Marine Division
Daniel J. Daly
Medal of Honor, 2 times
From upper left, going clockwise: 2nd Infantry Division (where the Marines in the AEF served on the Western Front in the First World War and which General Lejune commanded); the First Marine Division; 73rd Machinegun Company; and the 5th Marine Regiment.
I received my coin last week.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
The whole epic of Guadalcanal is amazing. So many anecdotes inside stories inside histories.
If you go to google earth you can visit Guadalcanal and fly into Henderson Field on your computer just like the Cactus pilots did 63 years ago -- except you don't get shot at.
bump
Me too, but I got mine the day before you got yours...the mailman told me it had something to do with those pesky BCS ratings keeping USC on top!
:)~
glad I saw this, I forgot about them!
Just bought the 2 sheets of the Distinguished Marines stamps..
Clarification re: one of the insignias..
The Daniel F. Daly stamp insignia, c. 1919
73rd MG Company
6th Marine Regiment
A little background on the 6th Marine Regiment
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/6mar.htm
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