Set of 10: WWII 50th Anniversary Series

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29 HOENIK SEP 1991 850 Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, December 7 Chis lable WAR OAHO BOMBED BY JAPANESE PLANES AZ 29 800KER 1 11 USHING TON First Liberty ship dellveréd December 30 SEP 1991 85026 Chuis lable LIBERTY SHIPS LAUNCHED AZ 29 CIVIL DEFENSE MOBILIZES THE HOMEFRONT PHO SEP Civil Defense hobilizes, Americans at home 1991 85026 CD Chis Calle AZ US DESTROYER REUBEN JAMES SUNK BY GERMAN U-BOAT 29 Destroyer Reuben Tames sunkOctober 31 SEP 1991 85026 Chis Calle MBS NBC CBS AZ 11 29 America beochae SEP arsenal of democracy" 1991 85026 America Will Live At Point of a Gun' If Axis Wins. U. S. MUST BECOME 'GREAT ARSENAL TO SAVE DEMOCRACY---ROOSEVELT Chu U. S. DECLARESWAR PACIFIC BATTLE WIDENS MANILA AREA HOSTILE PLAN HAMAII ANDT 29 U.S. declares ban, December 8 SEP 1991 85026 1 BATTLESHIP LOST MBS CBS NMBS CBS NBC CapsizedinPearlHarbor, Destroyer Is Blown Up, Other Ships Hurt FLEET NOW IS FIGHTING Aid Rushed to Hawaii- Some Congressmen Sharply Critical Chis lalle ROOSEVELT, CHURCHILL DRAFT 8 PEACE AIMS, PLEDGING DESTRUCTION OF NAZI TYRANNY; JOINT STEPS BELIEVED CH D AT PARLEY TALKS HELD AT SEA PHOENTR SEP 29 Closer War Cooperation to Doom Aggressors Pledged by Leaders SOVIET AID INCLUDED 1991 85026 Atlantic Charter sets war aims of allies Chis lalle DIsarmament of is s Envisaged in a World Freed From Want AZ PHOENIX SEP 29 1991 85026 U.S. supports allies with Lend-Lease Act LEND-LEASE ACT, Chris lable AID TO OUR ALLIES AZ BURMA ROAD, 717-MILE 29 LIFELINE TO CHINA Burma Road 7 mile lifeline to China SEP 1991 35026 Cheis lalle FIRST DRAFT NUMBER IS 158; PRESIDENT LEADS CEREMONY STARTING BIG CITIZEN ARMY 29 PHO SEP America's drstpoatoatime draft, 1940 AZ 1991 85026 Chislable

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JAPANESE BOMB PEARL HARBOR First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona The morning of December 7, 1941 was like so many in the tropics ... quiet, almost lazy—a Sunday. But less than two hours after dawn, it became a Sunday like no other. Before many of the American servicemen stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, had risen, the harbor and surrounding fields were under enemy air attack. Striking with deadly efficiency, Japanese planes hit Wheeler, Hickam and Bellows fields and pounded into American warships anchored off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. So shocking was this initial attack that only nine enemy planes were shot out of the once-serene tropical sky. The next wave came less than an hour later, pounding into crippled battleships and destroying grounded American aircraft. With one well-planned and flawlessly executed blow, the Japanese sent American naval power reeling. The carnage was incredible: 2,403 American men and women were killed; the warships U.S.S. Arizona, U.S.S. West Virginia, U.S.S. California, U.S.S. Utah and U.S.S. Oklahoma were knocked out of action. No. 91-67 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle THE LIBERTY SHIPS First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona A host of logistical problems faced America in the early years of the Second World War. Not the least of these was crossing the thousands of miles of open ocean to supply a steady flow of matériel to the battlefields. The vast waters teemed with deadly traps: German U-boats prowled be- low and floating mines promised tragedy. Consequently, the United States needed able ships and needed them posthaste, for they were often destroyed as quickly as they were built. The well-known industrialist Henry J. Kaiser was contracted to supervise the mass production of hun- dreds of merchant-marine freighters aptly tagged “Liberty Ships." Kaiser had proven himself as a leading industrial mind early on, having played key roles in the construction of such monumental projects as Hoover and Shasta dams. Under his direction, the time it took to build one ship was cut from one hundred fifty days to — in one remarkable case — four and a half days. During the war, Kaiser built and operated seven shipyards, where his men mass pro- duced a total of 1,490 ships. No. 91-66 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle CIVIL DEFENSE First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona Seven months before America officially entered the Sec- ond World War with the disaster at Pearl Harbor, the Office of Civilian Defense was formed. From the outset, the OCD was an organization which made good use of civilian patriots wanting to defend their country. The agency prepared evacuation and disaster plans, recruited members to act as air-raid wardens, ambulance drivers and air-raid spotters. Air-raid wardens played a particu- larly crucial role in civil defense. The wardens were given responsibility for different segments of a community and tasked with keeping all the lights snuffed during the intermittent nighttime blackouts. They wore white hel- mets and arm-bands for easy identification. The OCD also acted as a public information agency, publishing air-raid “how-to” pamphlets and encouraging its members to take first-aid training. And although disaster never came to America's shores during the Second World War, thanks to the OCD, millions of Americans were prepared to weather the worst. No. 91-65 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle U.S.S. REUBEN JAMES SUNK First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona The waters of the Atlantic in 1941 were becoming deadly waters, especially for convoys carrying Lend-Lease goods from the United States to Great Britain. To protect the convoys, American warships sailed as escort until their British counterparts could provide protection to the island nation. Germany vowed to stop the flow of matériel at any cost and their deadly U-boats threatened to do just that. On October 17, 1941, the destroyer U.S.S. Kearney was hit and damaged by a German torpedo. Eleven men died and the Kearney was temporarily knocked out of action. But this was just the beginning. On the morning of October 31, 1941, the twenty-one year old destroyer U.S.S. Reuben James was escorting a convoy off Iceland when it was hit by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat commanded by Erich Topp. The torpedo took the vener- able destroyer just below the bridge, igniting the ship in a horrific explosion. The ship sank in only minutes, taking one hundred fifteen men along with her. The U.S. eased closer still to war. No. 91-64 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona The United States moved one step closer to war when it approved the transfer of approximately fifty older ships to Great Britain on September 3, 1940 in exchange for leases on British military installations. In one of the biggest political gambles of history, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt concluded the Destroyers for Bases Deal just a few months before the general election and his bid for a third term as President. Roosevelt recognized that without such aid, democracy was likely doomed. With it, the struggle against the bloated Axis powers could con- tinue. The deal would become just one of many ways that the nation aided its friends in the fight against tyranny. Despite intense criticism from many, Roosevelt contin- ued in his pledge of aid to Great Britain and its allies. In one of his legendary fireside chats on December 29, 1940, the President first used the term which would become synonymous with America's entire focus throughout the war: the Great Arsenal of Democracy. No. 91-63 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle UNITED STATES DECLARES WAR UPON JAPAN First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” With these timeless words, U.S. Presi- dent Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before a joint ses- sion of Congress on December 8, 1941. In a pointed, moving speech, Roosevelt, drawn and haggard from a night with little sleep, continued: “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.” Only thirty- three minutes later, Congress passed a declaration of war with Japan. That same day, a resolute FDR signed the declaration and America entered the Second World War. Surprisingly, Roosevelt's words were a little different in the first draft of the Congress message. After the initial draft, the words “... a date which will live in world history" were changed to the famous and powerful “... a date which will live in infamy ...." No. 91-68 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle ATLANTIC CHARTER First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona During his second term in office, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt watched Adolf Hitler tighten his grip on Ger- many with growing alarm. When Europe went to war in 1939, Roosevelt sought to show support for the Allied nations battling Axis aggression while conforming to America's policy of strict isolationism. By the summer of 1941, Great Britain had been at war with Germany for nearly two years. Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew his country needed the bolstering support of its western cousin, the United States. In August of 1941, President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met aboard the warships U.S.S. Augusta and H.M.S. Prince of Wales in Newfoundland's Placentia Bay. On August 14, the two leaders issued a statement subse- quently called the Atlantic Charter which called for the destruction of Nazi tyranny, affirmed the rights of each nation to political self-determination and called for the disarmament of all potential aggressors. No. 91-62 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle LEND-LEASE ACT First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona It was after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's homey analogy of lending a neighbor a garden hose to put out a fire that Americans came around to the concept of Lend-Lease. Though some agreed with Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana that the Lend- Lease agreement would “plow under every fourth American boy,” Congress passed the Lend-Lease bill in March 1941. Thus, the United States became the life- support system for democracy and freedom. In all, more than $50 billion was distributed to the Allied countries during World War II. The bulk of this went to the British Empire, which included Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand. The Soviet Union, France and China were also given aid. Smaller countries received more than $1 billion in Lend-Lease goods. Among these forces were Mexico, countries in the Caribbean and some of the smaller European countries. This was what British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill referred to as “the most unsordid act in the history of any nation." No. 91-61 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle BURMA ROAD First Day of Issụe: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona Burma in the spring of 1942 was a prize coveted by two forces: the Japanese and the Allies. Within Burma's boundaries lay rich mineral and oil reserves; the country also produced major quantities of rice. If the Japanese captured the country, a vital link between China and India would be severed and the two countries would be suscep- tible to invasions. If the Allies held their positions, they could see that supplies continued to trickle into China via the Burma Road. Unfortunately, the Japanese were much better prepared for taking Burma and closing the Burma Road than the Allies were to defend it. In May 1942, U.S. Lt. General Joseph Stilwell was driven from Burma, but he returned as the head of a Chinese division in October 1943. An acerbic man who was often at odds with China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his own subordinate, General Claire Lee Chennault, Stilwell nevertheless was a capable leader. Allied forces thus prevailed, partially opening the Burma Road in January 1945. No. 91-59 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle PEACETIME DRAFT First Day of Issue: September 3, 1991 First Issue Location: Phoenix, Arizona One of the most controversial bits of legislation to ever enter the hallowed halls of Congress was the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Only after weeks of intense and heated debate did it pass. The new law required men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty- five to register at local draft boards across the country on October 16 — over sixteen million men registered. Two weeks later, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt watched as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson — blind- folded with a swatch of cloth from a chair used by the signers of the Declaration of Independence — plucked the first number in the draft from a bowl filled with capsules numbered 1 to 8,994. The number was one hundred fifty-eight; 6,175 men across the nation held that honor. In all, some sixteen million Americans served their country during the war. Some were volunteers, but the vast majority were drafted under the terms of that contro- versial act of 1940. No. 91-60 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Chris Calle