Evening star., 1945-09-30
BY James Waldo Faipcen.

By James Wald0 FaWcen.
The Scent Army stamp went on
sale Friday-with the mistakes in
its design uncorrected.
| Secretary of War Robert P. Pat
terson received the first sheet of
the new commemorative from First
Assistant Postmaster General Jesse
M. Donaldson, acting for Postmaster
General Robert E. Hannegan, at the
climax of ceremony staged in the
concourse OF the Pentagon Building,
The second pane went to Gen.
George c. Marshall, Chief of staff,
who accepted it personally and took
advantage of the opportunity to
thank the Post Office Department
for keeping the mail moving be-
tween the home front and the fight
ing fronts in all areas of combat.
Brig. Gen. Robert H. Dunlop, act
ing adjutant general, and 1t. Gen.
Jacob Devers, commanding the
Army ground forces, next were pre-
sented with sheets of the new issue.
A similar courtesy was extended to
Gen. Henry H. Arnold, command
ing the Army Air Forces, and Gen.
Brehon Somervell, commanding the
Army service forces, neither of
whom was in attendance.
Seated on the platform during the
proceedings were Maj. Gen. c. C.
Chancey, 1t. Gen. Leroy Lutes and
Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney- of
| Wyoming, sponsor of the whole
service series Of stamps.
But the special guests of honor
at the ceremony were authentic
GI veterans who were brought to
the scene in wheel chairs-Pfc.
James Jeffers of Reedsville, Ohio,
who lost his right leg as the result
of injuries sustained in Burma, and
Pvt. Charles Biddle of Philadelphia,
who lost his left leg in Italy. They
were accompanied by Pfc. James
Beane of Chattanooga. All three
were given panes of the new stamp
which late were autographed by
Gen. Marshall and Gen. Devers.
The only reference to the errors
in the design of the Army COM
memorative was contained in a brief
address by Gen. Dunlop who, ex-
planning the purpose of the stamp,
said: ut is symbolic of the ground
air team that made the victory pos
sible." No mention of the presence
Of the B-29s in the design nor of
the suggestion that the parade
through Paris on August %, 1914,
had air coverage occurred. but Mr..
Donaldson, in his opening remarks,
conceded that: THE scene is Paris"
where B-29s never were flown.
Postmaster Vincent c. Burke pre-
sided. An orchestra from the Army
Band played selections from Ca
rousel" and other numbers while
the crowd assembled.
Just before the ceremony termi-
mated, Gen. Marshall announced
that the troops pictured in the new
stamp were members of the 28th
or Keystone Division and that they
were on their way into battle-two
facts reported exclusively in The
Star last Sunday.
Pfc. Jefers, resting at Walter Reed
Hospital after the excitement of his
trip to the Pentagon. said that he
has been stamp collector for sew
eral years and is particularly in
terested in stamps and covers of the
Asiatic theater in which he served
for 30 months. He is % and intends
to study engineering when Ne leaves
the Army. His older brother, as it
happens, was in the 28th Division
when it marched through Paris and
now is at Camp Shelby on his way
back to civilian life.
The same questions asked of Pvt.
Charles Biddle, also at Walter Reed,
brought out that he is nearly a."
and has been a stamp enthusiast
since he was 6 or years old; that
he was with the 85th Infantry Divi-
sion in the Terracina campaign
when he was wounded and that he
has not yet decided what he will do
when he returns to civilian status.
He is not related to the former
Attorney General, Francis Biddle,
as far as he knows
Pfc. Beane is attached to the
public relations Office sat Walter
Reed. He was stamp dealer be-
fore the war and at present is writ
ing philatelic articles from WASH
ington for Mekeels Weekly Stamp
News.
The model for the Scent NAVY
stamp was released to the press
on Wednesday. 1t shows "an in
formal group of seamen in summer
uniforms. Some of them have their
heads cut off. The others will pe
identified by literally thousands of