Earlier this year, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., introduced a bill in Congress to create the Purple Heart Forever stamp, eliminating the need to keep reissuing such stamps with specific postage rates. As long as the U.S. Postal Service must decide whether to reissue the stamp, it may eventually be retired from circulation.

The Perpetual Purple Heart Stamp Act sought to create a stamp that would forever honor U.S. servicemembers killed or wounded in combat. The American Legion endorsed the legislation.

But the Purple Heart Forever stamp can no longer be created via legislation, since congressional committees on oversight and government reform no longer consider such bills. So King and Clinton need a groundswell of national support, directed at the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC), to convince the Postal Service to issue the “forever” version of the Purple Heart stamp.

“I am grateful for The American Legion’s dedication to the creation of the stamp,” King told the Online Update. “Its endorsement demonstrates the wide range of support for making the Purple Heart stamp a permanent fixture. I am certain that the support from our nation’s veterans will resonate even stronger.”

Sen. Clinton also commended The American Legion for its strong support of the Purple Heart Forever stamp. “I hope that by working together, we can ensure that this tribute receives the permanence it deserves,” she told the Online Update. “I have urged the Postal Service to make it a permanent ‘forever’ stamp. Our gratitude for the sacrifices of our heroes is eternal.”

On Oct. 6, DoD announced that an estimated 17,000 deceased U.S. prisoners of war could be awarded Purple Hearts under a new policy. The medals have been denied in the past to POWs who died in captivity, if it could not be proven they had been wounded or killed by the enemy. The revised Pentagon policy, retroactive to Dec. 7, 1941, presumes that such deaths were the result of enemy action, unless compelling evidence is presented to the contrary.

King and Clinton are asking Legionnaires to help make the Purple Heart Forever stamp a reality by sending a letter of support to the CSAC. In July, King wrote to the committee and received this reply from Katherine A. Sitterle, government relations representative for the Postal Service:

“Your letter of support for the issuance of the Purple Heart stamp as a ‘forever stamp’ is being included in the Committee’s files. If it is approved for issuance in the future, the announcement will be made publicly, in keeping with our standard practice.” Sitterle did not indicate whether CSAC would make a determination anytime soon, and new stamp designs are already locked in through the end of 2010.

Letters of support for the Purple Heart Forever stamp should be mailed to: Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, U.S. Postal Service, Suite 5013, 1735 N. Lynn St., Arlington, VA  22209.