On October 14, 1999 the United States Postal Service (USPS) formally announced that a stamp dedicated to the memory of Audie Murphy was approved and would be published in the year 2000. The stamp would be one of a series of Distinguished Military Service Member stamps. Besides Audie Murphy three other notable and deserving soldiers would also be honored in the year 2000. They are Sergeant Alvin York (World War I hero), General Omar Bradley (beloved World War II leader known as the "Soldier's General"), and General John Hines (former Army Chief of Staff). The organized effort to secure a stamp for Audie Murphy began in 1996. It started after a newspaper editorial comment written by Ms. Carol Ferguson was published in the Greenville Herald Banner. Inspired by the article, Ms. Diane Bates Thomason with the help of her husband James and the American Legion Post #17 in Greenville, Texas began gathering signatures locally hoping to persuade the United Postal Service and the Postmaster General to approve the stamp. After collecting several thousand signatures, the petition was sent to the USPS headquarters. The petition was received without interest and a form letter was mailed back to Ms. Thomason saying thanks but no thanks. The position of the USPS was simply that all Medal of Honor winners had already been recognized with a single stamp and that no other Medal of Honor winners would be recognized in the future. The reply infuriated Ms. Thomason and made her more determined than ever. Later, the Dallas Morning News, in November 1996, printed an article in its newspaper regarding the stamp drive. A teacher in Copperas Cove, Texas read the article and became interested in the effort. The teacher had written several letters to the USPS (the first in 1971 shortly after Audie Murphy's death) suggesting that Audie Murphy be honored with a commemorative stamp. An identical reply was received to each letter which restated the USPS's official position of not issuing a stamp for Audie Murphy. After reading the newspaper article of the Greenville effort, the teacher decided to help. After carefully coordinating his efforts with Ms. Thomason, the Audie Murphy Memorial Web Site was born in January 1997 and the commemorative stamp drive was launched using the Internet. The Audie Murphy Commemorative Stamp Drive now had global visibility. The effort was later expanded by including an email campaign to the President of the United States, every state senator, congressman, and state governor. Many elected officials enthusiastically endorsed the effort and began applying pressure on the Postmaster General to approve the stamp despite his previously declared position. The media began covering the effort too. Among those already mentioned, press coverage was provided by the New York Daily News, Philadelphia Enquirer, Boston Globe, and countless other newspapers. Local television and radio stations also began broadcasting their support. A tabloid publication, The National Enquirer, in their own effort, gathered 7,000 signatures in the fall of 1998. Unfortunately, in a follow up story published December 7, 1999 the National Enquirer took most of the credit for getting the stamp approved while failing to properly cite the source of the photograph used which was taken by the webmaster of this web site. Although they did help, their support was minor and late at best. Some of the information they used was provided by this web site and the petition founder, Ms Diane Thomason. The stamp was probably approved well before they became interested in the story. Summarizing the efforts of Diane Thomason, the website, and its visitors, by the end of 1996, 7,000 signatures had been collected. By the end of 1997, this number increased to 20,000. By the end of 1998, 40,000 total signatures were collected. And at the time of the announcement of the stamp's approval in October 1999, over 105,000 signatures were collected. The Internet petition remained active until December 31, 1999. After three and a half years of work gathering petition signatures from over 25 different countries including Germany, Italy, and Japan, and with one U.S. Congressional leader threatening an investigation into the matter, the USPS changed its mind. The USPS decided that the stamp was a good idea after all. Ironically, the USPS needed some way of approving the stamp while limiting embarassment over its former "unpolitically correct" position of refusing the stamp. For this reason, it is my opinion that they created the Distinguished Military Service Member stamp series. The supporters of the stamp should take great pride in this fact. By forcing the USPS to acknowledge Audie Murphy, we have helped launch a stamp series that recognizes other heroes as well. These heroes, like Audie, need to be remembered. It is also my opinion that these stamps were not awarded by the USPS nor were they approved by the Postmaster General. Their motives were tainted and motivated by profit only. The stamps were instead created and approved by everyone that expressed a desire to see Audie Murphy and other military service members remembered. The stamps were also approved in spirit by the honorable families of those that gave their lives for their country. They were approved by concerned parents who want their children to look up to authentic role models. They were approved by people who knew we need to always remember the enormous sacrifices made by those who made our freedom possible. For these reasons, I believe these stamps are more important than any medal. It took an organized grass roots effort of enormous proportions to achieve the approval of the stamps. I am proud of this effort. Anything less would be insignificant and tarnished. With no thanks to the USPS, we did this. Lest we forget? No ... we remembered and always will. |
