1948 Gold Star Mothers Plate Block of 4 3c Stamps - MNH, OG - Sc# 969 - CX920
This is a numbered plate block of 4 stamps as pictured. ~ This stamp issued in 1948, honoring mothers whose sons and daughters had been killed in war. In 1917, Robert Queissner, an Army captain, designed a flag to honor the service of his sons in World War I. The flag had a blue star on a white field, with a red border. It caught on quickly - by September of the same year, it had been adopted by Ohio Governor James Cox. This encouraged a group of women to form the "American War Mothers" group in Indiana, and it rapidly spread. Membership included women who had children serving in the war. The flag took on a somber tone, when women whose sons and daughters died in the war began to sew a gold star over the blue one. In May 1918, the Women's Committee of National Defenses proposed to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson that mothers who had lost a family member to the conflict wear a black band with a gold star. Wilson agreed, and called them "Gold Star Mothers." During World War II, women again began to display the blue star flags, often hanging them in a window to indicate a son or daughter was in service overseas. In January 1944, Tom and Alletta Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa, lost all five of their sons after a Japanese submarine sunk the U.S.S. Juneau, on which they all served. News of the family's loss made national news. President Franklin Roosevelt sent a letter of condolence, and Pope Pius XII sent a silver religious medal and rosary. Later in 1944, a movie was released called "The Sullivans." It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Two U.S. Navy ships have been named "The Sullivans" in honor of the family's sacrifice.
These are real USPS postage stamps that are accepted by the USA Postal Service as payment for mail posted in the USA however the total rates on the stamps posted must equal or exceed the current appropriate postal mailing rate or extra postage must be paid.
The stamp set shown in the picture is a stock photo and is likely not a picture of the exact stamp set you will receive and it may differ in plate number and/or orientation. However the item you will receive will be similar including having a plate number (if one is present in the photos) and the same number of stamps. Stamps titled as MNH, OG will have no significant creases or unnatural gum disturbances unless otherwise noted.