Remembering Our Veterans on Memorial Day

New York's Little Falls Times reports that local veterans and postal officials were joined by State Senator James Seward at a press conference at the Herkimer Post Office to announce the Purple Heart stamp has been classified as a “Forever” stamp, "ensuring that it will continue in circulation as a lasting tribute to wounded veterans."

Herb Kay, a Vietnam veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart.is quoted in the article by Rob Juteau as saying, "“They have stamps for celebrities and sports figures so it’s only fitting they have a stamp for Purple Heart recipients."

The stamp features a photograph by Ira Wexler of one of two Purple Hearts awarded to James Loftus Fowler, of Alexandria, Va., who was battalion commander of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines, serving in Vietnam. The stamp was first issued in 2003.

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. According to the Military Order of the Purple Hearth, an organization for combat-wounded veterans, the medal is the “oldest military decoration in the world in present use and the first award made to a common soldier."

Shown above to the left of Senator Seward is Herkimer resident Tony D’Arpino, a World War II veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart.

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