Postmark honors Air Force's 60TH birthday Published Sept. 6, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Rojek 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- The U.S. Postal Service and Osan Air Base Post Office will honor the Air Force's 60th Anniversary with a commemorative pictorial cancellation from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18. The special postmark features the B-24 Liberator that actor Jimmy Stewart flew during World War II. A cancellation is a postal marking applied to a postage stamp that indicates the item has been used. It is usually applied alongside the post mark. Pictorial cancellations are unique and commemorate a special event. They are rare and often sought after by stamp collectors and others interested in U.S. postal history. People can participate in this event in person or by mail. The Osan postmaster is offering hand-back service for the pictorial cancellation on Sept. 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Osan's main post office. This service is free for quantities of less than 10 items. "Military postal clerks will hand cancel customer's letters with this special souvenir postmark or, if the patron desires, they may apply the postmark themselves," said Master Sgt. James Register, 51st Communications Squadron postmaster. Outgoing mail from Osan's post office will be cancelled with the Air Force's 60th Anniversary commemorative pictorial cancellation until Oct. 18. "Due to the high volume of mail we receive each day, normally letters are run through a cancellation machine," said Sergeant Register. "This saves a lot of time, but during this period all outgoing letters (received over the post office counter or placed in one of our eight drop located throughout Osan) will be hand cancelled with the pictorial." For more information, contact the post office at 784-4655.