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[h=4]Postal Service honors Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients[/h]Stamps commemmorate 48 living veterans
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Gary Beikirch, a Medal of Honor recipient, attended a Memorial Day ceremony in Washington, D.C., where USPS unveiled a postage stamp recognizing his military service during the Vietnam War. VPC
Retired Command Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins, left, stands next to his portrait (upper left-hand corner) as part of a ceremony dedicating three new commemorative stamps honoring Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients.(Photo: Greg Toppo, USA Today)
WASHINGTON — During the annual Memorial Day Observation on Monday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the U.S. Postal Service added one more honor: commemorating Medal of Honor recipients from the Vietnam War by issuing a set of limited-edition Forever stamps.
A total of 258 Vietnam War veterans have earned the Medal of Honor, which the military calls its most prestigious decoration. It is reserved for those who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty" while in action. Nearly two-thirds of the Vietnam-era recipients received the medal posthumously.
The set of three stamps issued Monday honor 48 of the 54 living recipients. Six chose not to participate, the Postal Service said. It has ordered a printing of 30 million of the stamps.
"For me, I think that today's ceremony is an example of how our country has become more open and receptive, more willing to listen to what those of us who have gone through war have learned," said Medal of Honor recipient Gary Beikirch, 68, who lives near Rochester, N.Y.
Another medal recipient, Brian Thacker, 70, a retired Veterans Administration employee who lives in Wheaton, Md., said the stamps are significant, since they honor, among others, a group of soldiers who are "a living group, living people, and that makes it very different."
Though many of us now communicate by e-mail and text message, he said, there will always be a place for stamps, even if they don't finance the Postal Service on their own. He called postage stamps "a very quiet reminder" of the importance of the First Amendment. "I think they'll be around for long."
The popular Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall has attracted an estimated 100 million visitors since 1982. It honors the 58,307 who died in the line of duty. Nearly 304,000 were wounded. A total of about 2.7 million Americans served in the war.
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