Stamps to honor Medal of Honor recipients

The U.S. Postal Service will issue special Medal of Honor stamps on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

According to the postal service, the stamps will be introduced in a new format, the prestige folio. Each "Medal of Honor: World War II" prestige folio contains 20 forever stamps, which are always equal in value to the current first-class stamp.

The first side of the four-page design highlights 12 photographs of the last living recipients of the Medal of Honor from World War II. The photographs surround two forever stamps. One stamp features a photograph of the Navy version of the Medal of Honor; the other stamp features a photograph of the Army version of the Medal of Honor.

The two center pages list the names of all 464 recipients of the Medal of Honor from World War II. The remaining 18 stamps are located on the back page.

Three Medal of Honor recipients have previously appeared on stamps:

• Alvin C. York was one of the most decorated soldiers of World War I. Sgt. York received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest as part of a broader Allied offensive to breach the Hindenburg line.

• Daniel Daly, who was born on Nov. 11, is one of only 19 men to be awarded the medal twice. The Marine was awarded his first for his actions in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China. He received his second Medal of Honor for his actions 15 years later in Haiti when he was among 35 Marines who were ambushed by 400 Haitian insurgents.

• John Basilone, a Marine who received the medal for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. He was the only enlisted Marine in the second world war to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

To learn more about the stories behind the new stamps, click here.