To help mark its 250th anniversary this year, the Postal Service is saluting one of its oldest partners: the U.S. military.
In a news release last week, USPS highlighted its work with the armed forces to deliver military mail and lift morale.
“Ever since George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were appointed to lead the Army and the Post Office, we’ve had a strong partnership built on service to the American people,” said Stephen Kochersperger, the Postal Service’s historian.
The U.S. postal system owes its existence to the nation’s fight for independence.
On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress called for “a line of posts” from Maine to Georgia, because Colonists knew how crucial safe communications were to the war effort.
During the Civil War, the Post Office Department coordinated with the U.S. Army to create a special program that allowed troops to send letters without stamps by collecting payment on delivery. In addition, postal money orders made it possible for troops to send money home, and absentee ballots allowed them to vote.
World War I saw the founding of the Military Postal Express Service, the first all-military mail service, and World War II introduced V-Mail, or Victory Mail, which used microfilm to reduce the physical footprint of traditional letters for easier transport across oceans.
By the Korean War, military mail volume had increased dramatically, with as much as 11 million tons flooding into the Korean theater daily. The surge in volume by the time of the Vietnam War led to innovative services such as Space Available Mail and Parcel Airlift to manage it.
Even during the Cold War, the Postal Service played a crucial role in civil defense.
Finally, the Military Postal Service Agency was formed in 1980 to consolidate military mail functions and services, and works in partnership with USPS.
The Postal Service also has a long history of providing career opportunities to veterans and reservists and today is one of the nation’s largest civilian employers of veterans.
And the organization has released scores of military-themed stamps over the years, including Go for Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of World War II, Women Cryptologists of World War II, Military Working Dogs, the Purple Heart Medal and, most recently, the Armed Forces stamps, which celebrate the 250th anniversaries of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
