Veterans' Day: thank you to all who ever served in the military!

I started with US Navy because a friend/collector asked me for a maximum card with an American aircraft carrier, for the NATO section of his international philatelic exhibit: Fight Against Terrorism.

Eventually, I have affixed the stamp on the picture side, and I have applied on the glossy frontside my postmark that you can see, much more visible, on the backside.

In time, I will create similar Zazzle stamps with US Army, US Air Force, etc.

They all deserve our sincere Thank you!, and much more than that.

How many of us, civilians, would risk our lives and livelihood to go to war?

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Full disclosure: all the titles of my posts are clickable (hyperlinks).

In general, you will go either to my photobucket album to see more, or to my store(s) - delcampe or zazzle.

In case you are really interested, you can buy what you want. If you only want to look around, you're welcome, as well. :)

WONDERS OF AMERICA: AUTOGRAPHED SET OF 40 MAXIMUM CARDS WITH FIRST DAY OF ISSUE PICTORIAL POSTMARK

This is an example of active stamp collecting, as opposed to passive.

I did NOT just buy these maximum cards; I created them, in partnership with USPS.

You don't have to buy the set (I already sold a similar one, not identical - the one autographed by Lonnie Busch), but please take a careful look.

- Condition: AUTOGRAPHED SET 40 MAXIMUM CARDS WITH FIRST DAY OF ISSUE PICTORIAL POSTMARK
- Year: 2006
- Number(s): COMPLETE SET OF 40 DIFFERENT
- Catalog value: (UNIQUE IN THE WORLD?)
- Painstakingly and graciously autographed on the back of postcards by the talented Art Director /Illustrator Richard Sheaff. Thank you, Richard! During the Washington, D.C. 2006 International Philatelic Exhibition, the autographing was very limited, only a few hours in total, and only 10 (ten) items per person, officially. By waiting around for a few hours, I was able to obtain, eventually, that full set of 40 autographed maximum cards. Other collectors who stood in line have obtained autographed panes of the 40 stamps and FDCs, mostly. I haven´t seen anybody else been able and fortunate enough to obtain what I obtained. Therefore, it is very possible that this set is the only one in the world with the pictorial FDOI postmarks and with the autographs of Richard Sheaff.
I have also obtained one other set of 40, autographed only by the other talented illustrator, Lonnie Busch. Thank you, Lonnie! That set I have already sold. To my knowledge, there is no other such autographed set, by either one, in the world.
I noticed that Richard Sheaff, as Art Director, felt compelled to answer more questions from the public than Lonnie Busch. That means Lonnie managed to sign considerably more items than Richard.
Photo-certificate of authenticity, showing me next to the two illustrators while they autograph, is available upon request.

Maximum card/ carte maximum/ maximumkarte: Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Stoop - there it is...

The fastest animal on the planet in its hunting dive, the stoop, which involves soaring to a great height and then diving steeply at speeds commonly said to be over 320 km/h (199 mph), and hitting one wing of its prey so as not to harm itself on impact.

In 2005, Ken Franklin recorded a falcon stooping at a top speed of 389 km/h (242 mph).

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_falcon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk&NR=1&feature=fvwp