By Staff
SPECIAL STAMP This large-size replica of the new Purple Heart commemorative stamp was on display Friday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Old Highway 80 in Meridian.
By Ashley McPhearson / staff writer PHOTO BY ANNA WRIGHT / THE MERIDIAN STAR
May 31, 2003
A special commemorative postal stamp was unveiled on Friday what Meridian Postmaster Danney L. Swancey called an effort to "honor those who have been wounded or killed in action."
Swancey joined elected officials and military veterans at a ceremony Friday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Old Highway 80 to announce the new 37-cent stamp.
The Purple Heart is presented those who were wounded in action by the enemy; it's also awarded posthumously to relatives of those killed under the same conditions.
The award was created by George Washington, whose bust appears on the medal.
The event at the VFW post included an appearance by an honor guard from Naval Air Station Meridian. City officials, including Mayor John Robert Smith and Chief Administrative Officer Ken Storms, also spoke.
The stamp features a photograph by Ira Wexler of one of two Purple Hearts awarded to James Loftus Fowler of Alexandria, Va.
Fowler was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marines and was serving as battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, when he received this Purple Heart in 1968 following action close to the Ben Hai River on the border between North and South Vietnam.
Purple Heart stamps will be sold for the next 30 days at the Meridian post office, 2100 Ninth St. The stamp can be purchased with a commemorative envelope for $3.
For more information call (601) 553-8024.