WWI 100th Anniversary

Event Cover

United States Enters WWI

One Hundredth Anniversary

Cover Announcement 

As my long-term collectors know, I don't do very many "event" covers. It is not that I don't want to, but the possibilities are many, and my time is already pushed to the limit. The Titanic and Bob Hope's 100th Birthday are two events for which I produced a cachet marking the century milestones. Since the Postal Service did not see fit to issue a stamp for this historic event, I felt a philatelic tribute was a must.

My individually hand painted cachet honors three legendary heroes of the conflict plus a regular soldier saying goodbye to his family. General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing served as the commander of the American forces on the Westem Front. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker won the Medal of Honor as America's most successful fighter pilot ace. Sergeant Alvin York also won the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German position that resulted in taking 35 enemy machine guns, killing 25 German soldiers, and capturing 132 more.

As in all wars, the parting of loved ones is an emotional event and in this case a wife and children say a loving goodbye to a young soldier. At the top of the cache, American soldiers leave their tenches and move on the enemy through barbed wire and toward a sky filled with the flashes of battle. This is truly an inspiring hand painted cachet that will have great appeal to Collins collectors as well as U.S. history and military topicalists.

An American flag stamp is canceled on April 6, 2017 with a nice magenta postmark in Berlin, NJ. I'm pleased to offer the 100th Anniversary cover of our entry into World War I. Collins #Y5601 - $15.00.