New developments have recently taken place in the effort led by the Polish American Congress (PAC) to have a commemorative stamp issued for Lt. Colonel Matt Urban. Background information about the effort is available at the Congress website
In the recent exchange of correspondence between Anthony J. Bajdek, Polish American Congress’ Vice President for American Affairs and the United States Postal Service, Terrence W. McCaffrey, Manager, Stamp Development, United States Postal Service advised that the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee has recently reviewed the proposal for a commemorative stamp honoring Matt Urban. “I am pleased to inform you Lt. Colonel Matt Urban is now under consideration for possible future stamp issuance. (…) Currently, the 2010 and 2011 stamp programs are completed, and stamp subjects for the 2012 program and subsequent years are being selected” he wrote.
To date, the Polish American Congress has collected thousands of signatures in support of the issuance of this stamp. Per USPS request, all those petitions are going to be forwarded within the next month or so to the USPS for the Committee’s review. After that, the collection is going to return to the PAC.
Among the signatories are many veterans of World War II, one of whom, for example, is Walter Stanko of Swansea, MA who served in the U. S. 9th Infantry Division with Matt Urban. Walter has collected some 5,000 signatures of Americans living in the Naragansett Bay area of New
England. The Polish American Congress was also advised that additional petitions and letters might be sent at any time.
Before submitting its current collection, however, the Polish American Congress seeks to gather as many additional signatures as possible to “freshen up the bouquet” and show the community’s support for the effort.
Please help us to honor the memory of Matt Urban (1919-1995), who is tied with Audie Murphy for being the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II. Murphy was honored with a USPS commemorative stamp in 1999-2000.
To make that happen, please download the petition, collect as many signatures as possible and return the form(s) to the Polish American Congress.
Time is now of the essence, so please make sure to return the signatures by March 15, 2010 to:
Matt Urban Stamp Campaign
Polish American Congress
1612 K Street NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20006