Front:
GARMY
Milfaely
REAL-LIFE AMERICAN HEROES
YORK
JUN 72
2002
10199
FIRST-CLASS
HEROES
2001
FIRST DAY OF ISSUE
CRESTER SENEGAL SELJAN WONINE SIGESTAND
Back:
Heetwood
SOLDIER
The first regular fighting force of the United States was the Continental
Army, established by the Second Continental Congress on June 14,
1775, to supplement local militias during the American Revolution.
More thoroughly trained and enlisted for longer terms than their min-
uteman counterparts, the "Continentals" formed the primary force be-
hind the American war effort and were the beginning of a regular United
States army. Today, the U.S. Army serves as the backbone of the world's
most powerful and advanced military force, responsible for the security
and defense of the United States. Yet it also performs many other impor-
tant public services which safeguard and improve the quality of life in
America, from assisting in the cleanup of dangerous toxic waste to fur-
nishing helicopters and paramedics for communities lacking adequate
funds to maintain their own proper emergency services. The Army also
administers numerous federal programs of environmental protection
and development and often lends military support to a variety of federal,
state and local governmental agencies. In addition, the Army provides
lifesaving assistance during times of natural or man-made disaster,
swiftly conducting rescue operations and supplying crucial emergency
services to devastated areas with the utmost efficiency and reliability.
From California to Kurdistan, the U.S. military has saved the lives of
countless Americans and non-Americans alike with its quick and
compassionate responses to catastrophes. Tragically, the September 11
terrorist attacks on the United States claimed the lives of 125 men and
women working at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Among them were
22 soldiers, 47 army civilians, six army contractors, 33 sailors, six navy
civilians, three navy contractors and eight other Department of Defense
employees, all of whom, in the words of President George W. Bush,
"died in the service of America."
