Stamps Honoring Distinguished Sailors Unveiled...

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Stamps Honoring Distinguished Sailors Unveiled by U.S. Postal Service at California Veterans Memorial

EVENT: An event to unveil the U.S. Postal Service 2010 stamp program honorees. The California Department of Veterans Affairs is pleased that 4 distinguished WW I and WW II sailors are being recognized among the many notable honorees.

DATE: Thursday, February 4, 2010

TIME: 1:00 p.m.

PLACE: California Veterans Memorial
13th and N Streets
Capitol Park
Sacramento, CA 95814

If it rains the event will be moved to:
Medal of Honor Hall, First Floor
California Department of Veterans Affairs
1227 O Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

WHO: Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, CalVet, elected officials, and veterans

BACKGROUND: On December 30, 2009, The U.S. Postal Service announced the honorees for their 2010 stamp program. Among those being honored are Nobel Peace Prize honoree Mother Teresa, legendary actress Katharine Hepburn, Distinguished Sailors, Negro Leagues Baseball and Cowboys of the Silver Screen.

With the issuance of the Distinguished Sailors stamps in February 2010, the U.S. Postal Service honors four sailors who served with bravery and distinction during the 20th century: William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, John McCloy, and Doris Miller.

WILLIAM S. SIMS
Commander of U.S. naval forces in European waters during World War I, William S. Sims (1858-1936) was an outspoken reformer and innovator who helped shape the Navy into a modern fighting force.

Sims continued to write and lecture about naval reform until his death in 1936, at which time the New York Herald Tribune declared that he had “influenced our naval course more than any man who ever wore the uniform.” The Navy has named three destroyers after Sims. The most recent, USS W. S. Sims (DE-1059), was commissioned in 1970.

The William S. Sims stamp features a detail from a photograph of Sims (1919). Beside the photograph is a depiction of the crest of the destroyer escort USS W. S. Sims (DE-1059), which was commissioned in 1970.

ARLEIGH A. BURKE
After serving as one of the top destroyer squadron commanders of World War II, Arleigh A. Burke (1901-1996) had an equally distinguished postwar career in which he played a major role in modernizing the Navy and guiding its response to the Cold War.

When Burke died in 1996, he was hailed as a “sailor’s sailor” who defined what it meant to be a naval officer: “relentless in combat, resourceful in command, and revered by his crews.”

The Arleigh A. Burke stamp features a detail from a photograph of Burke (1951). Beside the photograph is a depiction of the crest of the guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), which was commissioned in 1991.

JOHN McCLOY
Described by a shipmate as “like a bull” who couldn’t be stopped, John McCloy (1876-1945) has the distinction of being one of the few men in the nation’s history to earn two Medals of Honor for separate acts of heroism.

McCloy retired from active duty in 1928 after a thirty-year career in the Navy and “a lifetime of service on all the seven seas,” as the Kansas City Star put it. His service record notes that in 1942 he was advanced on the retired list to lieutenant commander after being “specially commended by the Secretary of the Navy for performance of duty in actual combat.” McCloy died in 1945. In 1963, the Navy commissioned a destroyer escort, USS McCloy (DE-1038), which was named in his honor.

The John McCloy stamp features a detail from a photograph of McCloy (circa 1920). Beside the photograph is a depiction of the crest of the destroyer escort, USS McCloy (DE-1038), which was commissioned in 1963.

DORIS MILLER
The first African American hero of World War II, Doris Miller (1919-1943) became an inspiration to generations of Americans for his actions at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Although he was only the first of a number of African Americans to be recognized for their heroism in World War II, Miller is singularly remembered for providing inspiration to a campaign for equal recognition and opportunity for Blacks in the military, a campaign that bore fruit in 1948 when President Truman ordered “that there shall be equality and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces.”

The Doris Miller stamp features a detail from a photograph of Miller (1942). Beside the photograph is a depiction of the crest of the destroyer escort USS Miller (DE-1091), which was commissioned in 1973.