Larkin lobbies to retain Purple Heart postage stamp

State Senator William Larkin of Cornwall-on-Hudson, who was a driving force in creating the Purple Heart postage stamp and building the Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor, is now on his latest crusade, to save the postage stamp.

With an increase in the price of a first-class stamp coming, the Purple Heart stamp could become extinct, but Larkin, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army, has received over 400 letters in support of retaining it. He is lobbying the Postal Service in Washington to continue producing the stamp.

"The number of those who died in Iraq is over 2,000 and the number of wounded are over 15,000," he said. "How can you stop honoring people at a time when they are still protecting the interests of the United States of America?"

US Senator Hillary Clinton is also pushing to retain the stamp.

The predecessor to the Purple Heart medal was presented originally by General George Washington while he was stationed in Newburgh.

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