Medal of Honor

Vietnam War - Air Force

Cover Announcement 

This is the third and final individually hand painted cachet for the three new Medal of Honor stamps depicting the Medals of Honor for the Army, Navy, and Air Force awarded during the Vietnam War. Previously offered were my covers for the Navy and Army. The Navy cachet illustrated a river patrol boat on a Mekong Delta mission at the break of day. The Army cachet featured a Green Beret advisor overseeing security measures to protect an incoming C-123 loaded with supplies and troops at a remote jungle airstrip. Now it is time for the Air Force to take to the skies.

My individually hand painted cachet has a bold and close-up view of three T-28s as they take off over the South China Sea for a coastal patrol. They have a special place in my heart as back in 1962 there were usually two or three of them at our base in Danang and were the only air support we had. I think at that time they were flying with South Vietnamese markings and then later as the U.S. presence grew, they were U.S. Air Force designated. For Collins, military, and aviation collectors, this is a really fine first day cover, and the watercolored cachet really brings the scene to life. It almost feels like you're the pilot of one looking to your left at the other two.

For the benefit of my newer collectors, I must end as to why this cover is personally significant. My family is three generation Air Force with my dad a side-gunner on a B-17 in World War II, my son, Tim, a flight crew member of an AWACS plane during both the Southern and Northern no-fly- zone operations in the Middle East, and myself a survival specialist with a C-123 squadron in 1962  Danang, Vietnam. All three of these Medal of Honor Collins cachets are gems, so I hope you'll acquire them. Now ready - soaring into the Wild Blue Yonder - is the U.S. Air Force - Vietnam. Collins #T5403 - $15.00.