POSTMARKS

As a community service, the US Postal Service sometimes works with organizations to create special commemorative postmarks, or cancellations. These are also sometimes referred to as “pictorial postmarks.” These are timed with special community events and help commemorate the event, and the commemorative postage stamp associated with the event.

The Go For Broke Soldiers Stamp embodies the history of Japanese Americans who served in the US military during World War II. Many of them enlisted from incarceration camps that were set up by the US government out of unfounded doubts of their loyalty, and the loyalty of the whole Japanese American community. Ten major US concentration camps, and multiple smaller detention centers, were set up across the US and the territory of Hawaii during the war. To commemorate events associated with this history, organizations have been working with the Stamp Our Story Committee to do a Go For Broke Stamp Postmark. Below are some examples from 2022-23.

June 17, 2023 Walk the Farm Postmark

The Stamp Our Story Committee worked with Tanaka Farms, Kazuo Masuda VFW Memorial Post 3670, Irvine US Postmaster Kimberley Wright, USPS Customer Relations Liaison Vencent Quaglia, and SELONOCO JACL Former President Ken Inouye. A special Go For Broke Stamp Postmark was created for the June 17, 2023 “Walk the Farm” event in Irvine, California. With the generous help from Tanaka Farms and VFW Post 3670, a special commemorative card was printed, and the Go For Broke Stamp and Postmark were included on the memento card for attendees as part of an educational campaign. The goal is to remember our Nisei veterans who served during the war, and to honor their legacy that continues today. We thank Tanaka Farms, VFW Post 3670, and all of the volunteers who helped us!

Go For Broke Stamp Postmark on the “Walk the Farm” commemorative card (Courtesy of SOSC)
Backside of the “Walk the Farm” commemorative card (Courtesy of SOSC)
Stamp Our Story Committee booth at “Walk the Farm.” Shown L to R: Kazuo Masuda VFW Memorial Post 3670 Commander James Nakamura, SOSC Chair Wayne Osako, SOSC Member Kayla Cheng, “Stamp Our Story” Film Co-Director Robert Horsting (Courtesy of SOSC)

October 21, 2022 Poston Pilgrimage Postmark

The Stamp Our Story Committee attended the 2022 Poston Pilgrimage in Parker, Arizona. The Pilgrimage is a gathering to remember the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II at the Poston confinement site, as well as to honor the legacy of the Colorado River Indian Tribes whose lands were used at Poston. Hundreds of Japanese Americans enlisted in the US Army from Poston, and 25 gave their lives in service to our nation during the war (as shown in the photo of the Poston Monument below). Stamp Our Story Committee worked with the US Postmaster Bob Adams to create the “Poston Station” Postmark to honor the Go For Broke Soldiers of the war.

Attendees to the Pilgrimage line up to get the Go For Broke Stamp Postmark. (Courtesy of SOSC).
Attendees show off their Go For Broke Stamp Postmark. (Courtesy of SOSC)
SOSC Chair Wayne Osako, US Postmaster Bob Adams, and SOSC Supporter Janis Hirohama. (Courtesy of SOSC)
Tribute to the Nisei Soldiers from Poston who gave their lives in the US Army during World War II. (Courtesy of SOSC)
Poston Monument with Pilgrimage attendees. (Courtesy of SOSC)

July 2-4, 2022 Manzanar National Historic Site Postmark

A sample of the special Manzanar pictorial postmark on a commemorative postcard featuring Pfc. Fumitake Jimmy Nagato, who was killed in action while serving in the 442nd RCT at the Battle of Bruyeres, in October 1944. Pfc. Nagato, along with Pfc. Saburo Tanamachi, would be the first Asian American Pacific Islanders to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. For more information, click here.

Manzanar National Historic Site and the USPS Independence, California collaborated with the Stamp Our Story Committee to bring the Go For Broke Stamp Postmark to the Owens Valley over July 4th weekend in 2022. A special program at Manzanar included the Postmark, along with a special presentation by actor Darrell Kunitomi about his uncle, Ted Fujioka, who enlisted in the US Army from Manzanar and was killed in action.

If you or your organization would like to set up a special pictorial postmark using the Go For Broke Soldiers Forever Stamp, please contact us.

More pictorial postmark events that honor the Nisei Soldiers are being planned for 2023 across the nation. Thank you!

The Independence, CA Post Office 93526, which worked with Manzanar National Historic Site and the Stamp Our Story Committee for the special Go For Broke Soldiers pictorial postmark.

A demonstration of the Manzanar Station Postmark being applied for a customer by USPS representative, Alan Broch, at Manzanar National Historic Site, on June 3, 2022.

Some of the volunteers who made the Independence Weekend Event at Manzanar happen stand for a photo by the Go For Broke Stamp, June 3, 2022. Shown L to R: David Fukioka, Manzanar NHS Team Lead Alisa Lynch, Independence USPS Rep. Alan Broch, Darrell Kunitomi, Diane Yuen, and Wayne Osako. (Courtesy of SOSC)