FREE: FOUR NEW FOREVER "PURPLE HEART"-SUPPORT THE SOLDIERS THAT TOOK CARE OF US

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FOUR NEW FOREVER STAMPLE HEART-SUPPORT THE SOLDIERS THAT TOOK CARE OF US.

Purple Heart 2014
Forever Stamps $0.49

The U.S. Postal Service continues to honor the sacrifices of the men and women who serve in the U.S. military with the issuance of the Purple Heart Medal stamp that depicts the medal suspended from its purple and white ribbon.

The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to members of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed in action. According to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, an organization for combat-wounded veterans, the medal is "the oldest military decoration in the world in present use and the first award made available to a common soldier."

Established by General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, the badge of distinction for meritorious action - a heart made of purple cloth - was discontinued after the war. In 1932, on the 200th anniversary of Washington’s birth, the decoration was reinstated and redesigned as a purple heart of metal bordered by gold, suspended from a purple and white ribbon. In the center of the medal is a profile bust of George Washington beneath his family coat of arms.

The Purple Heart Medal stamp, first issued in 2012, is a redesign of the Purple Heart with Ribbon stamp. Ira Wexler photographed the medal. Art director Jennifer Arnold designed the stamp.