LINCOLN COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – There is a push underway to have a stamp created in honor of local West Virginia hero and aviation pioneer Brigadier General Chuck Yeager.
Board members on the Lincoln County Commission, administrators at Yeager Airport, and Yeager’s wife – Victoria – herself are all on board.
Allen Holder is Emergency Services Director in Lincoln County, and also an avid stamp collector and aviation fan. He approached Victoria Yeager to initiate the idea to push for a stamp in his honor and got the ball rolling.
Holder says to have a stamp approved by the United States Postal Service (USPS), it must be reviewed by them. Citizens in the general public can send letters submitting a request for a stamp idea to be considered.
Holder is requesting that anybody interested in writing a letter to help make the Yeager stamp a reality write a letter addressed to:
- Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 330
Washington, DC 20260-3501
But the letter should be mailed to:
- Allen C. Holder
514 Midway Rd
Alum Creek, WV 25003
The USPS says they receive over 30,000 ideas for new stamps every year, and about 25-30 will become stamps. Holden is aiming to collect letters from the public in bulk and send them all at once to the USPS for consideration.
“We’re going to collect all those together and send them to the post office in one big box we hope. We hope we have enough support from people across the country that it won’t be a difficult decision for them make.”
Holder has his own Yeager stamp collection, with stamps from around the world. There are no Yeager stamps that are sold in the United States.
The USPS says that is because a stamp cannot be made in someone’s honor until at least three years after their death. Yeager passed away in December 2020 at the age of 97.
For Victoria, it would be a dream come true.
“I told General Yeager that when he was going, that I would continue to honor him, and this is a way to honor him,” Victoria Yeager said.
There are currently two resolutions already passed to make the stamp, one from Lincoln County, and the other from Yeager Airport.
