Vets want Purple Heart 'forever' stamp

DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio, March 29 (UPI) -- A veterans' group wants the U.S. Postal Service to make its Purple Heart stamp into a forever stamp so it would not have to be reissued with rate hikes.

Jeff Lefler, whose brother died in the Vietnam War, is secretary of Delhi Veterans Association in Ohio. He is circulating petitions urging the postal service to make the change.

"A Purple Heart 'forever' stamp would not have to be reissued with every rate increase," Lefler said. "And it would remind people that the fight for our freedoms -- for which people receive Purple Hearts -- goes on forever."

The petition drive is in support of the Perpetual Purple Heart Stamp Act, introduced this month in the U.S. Senate. The bill was introduced by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and is co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The newspaper noted the postal service recently said the Purple Heart stamp would be reissued for an unprecedented fourth time April 28. The 44-cent Purple Heart stamp covers the May 11 rate increase.

Bonni Manies, manager of consumer affairs for the Postal Service's Cincinnati District, said other than special holiday commemorative stamps, the Purple Heart stamp is the only one in the history of the U.S. Postal Service that has ever been reissued.

"This would not be a big deal to have two 'forever' stamps -- the one with the Liberty Bell and the Purple Heart -- that are good no matter what a regular, first-class postage stamp costs," Lefler said said. "Both represent our country's history."