U.S. #2838d
1994 Airborne Units Spearhead Attacks, 1944 – World War II

• Part of the fourth souvenir sheet issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II
• Sheet includes 10 stamps plus a world map

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  World War II
Value: 29¢ (Individual stamps), First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  June 6, 1994
First Day City:  Two main ceremonies in Washington, DC and  St. Mere Egilse, Normandy, with additional smaller events in:  Fort Dix, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; New York, New York; Clarksville, Tennessee; Fort Sam Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Bangor, Maine; Charleston, South Carolina; Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Quantity Issued (if known):  120,600,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Offset, Intaglio
Format:  Sheetlets of 10 (arranged in 2 strips of 5, one across the top and one across the bottom of the sheetlet, with world map in between)
Perforations:  11.1 (Eureka off-line perforator)
Tagging:  Overall, large block covering stamps and part of selvage

Why the stamp was issued:  This souvenir sheet was issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II.  It was the fourth in a series of five that were issued over the course of five years.

About the stamp design:  Shows paratroopers making their descent to the ground against a blue sky background with an example of the gliders that dropped the troopers in the foreground and a soldier in the process of wrangling his parachute.

Special design details:  The original design for this stamp didn’t show any gliders.  Donald M. McDowell, direct of the Office of Stamp and Philatelic Marketing asked that gliders be added.  Bond complied and also added a cargo-carrying glider on the ground.  This design was made public in December 1993, and glider experts pointed out the illustrated aircraft was inaccurate.  Its’ front half was based on a Waco CG-13A, while its’ back half was from the more common Waco CG-4A.  Experts pointed out that the CG-13A wasn’t used often in World War II, but the CG-4A was.  Bond adjusted his design to picture the CG-4A, gave the paratrooper in the foreground gloves to handle his parachute cords, and gave the trooper in the background bent knees to prepare to absorb the impact of hitting the ground.

First Day City:  The stamps were dedicated in two ceremonies on June 6^th:  one at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, and one in the town of St. Mere Egilse in Normandy.  First Day of Issue postmarks read “USS Normandy.”  Thirteen additional cities held events for the stamps’ First Day of Issue and offered pictorial cancellations.  

The ceremony at Lubbock Texas, was special as it was the same city in which World War II pilots were given glider training at the old South Plains Army Air Field.  One of those pilots was Werner Birkelbach, who flew an antitank gun and four soldiers to Normandy before dawn on D-Day.  Fifty years later, on the World War II stamps’ First Day of Issue, Birkelbach flew a modern sailplane 35 miles from Littlefield, Texas, to Lubbock to deliver cacheted covers bearing the new stamps.  They were all given First Day of Issue postmarks at the end of the trip.

Pre-First Day Usage:  Linn’s Stamp News found that a “P-51s escort B-17s” stamp was used on cover postmarked Rock Hill, New York, on June 3^rd, three days before the stamps were officially issued.  This was the earliest known usage of the one of the World War II stamps.

About the World War II Series:  As the 50^th anniversary of World War II was approaching, the US Postal Service wanted a series that would recognize the key events of the war and the important contributions America made to the Allied victory.  Rather than issue a large number of stamps, the USPS decided to create five sheetlets, each commemorating one year of America’s involvement in the war.  Each sheetlet had 10 different stamps arranged in two horizontal strips of 5.  In the center was a world map with Allied and neutral nations in yellow and Axis-controlled areas in red.  Notes on the map highlighted key developments that occurred that year.  The stamps each featured important events that took place during the year, as well.

History the stamp represents:  A war that touched virtually every nation and was fought on nearly every continent and ocean, World War II required new military, air, and naval strategies.  Trained for assault by air, airborne troops, also called paratroops, paratroopers, and sky soldiers, added a new dimension to the war.

Transported to combat areas by plane, these airborne units would parachute behind enemy lines where their primary tasks were to blow up bridges, destroy communications, and cut off supplies and reinforcements.  Often taking the enemy by surprise, they would engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

Although the Germans first used sky soldiers when they captured the Netherlands in 1940, it was the Allies who made the most effective use of paratroops.  Forming a complete army of sky soldiers, they coordinated parachute attacks with other air, land, and naval operations.  From the middle of the war until its end, United States Army paratroopers successfully spearheaded attacks in Sicily, Normandy, and the Netherlands.  In the Philippines, airborne troops also recaptured Corregidor from Japanese forces.  Since World War II, airborne forces have taken part in all major military operations.