Who was the first living American to be depicted on a postage stamp?

barbs42

I think the question might be referring to an American on a stamp while they were alive. Don't believe the US Postal Service ever did that, but I am not positive. I know other countries do so for royalty. Remember reading a long time ago - but don't know where that Grace Kelly (Princess Grace) an American, was pictured on a non US stamp while alive due to the fact that she was marrying Prince Rainer (royalty). Been trying to verify this since it is just my memory I am counting on. May 16 00, 7:02 PM

McG

This would have to be a foreign stamp of some kind. Portraits of living people are forbidden on United States Postage Stamps. Stamp subjects, with the exception of United States presidents, have to have been deceased for ten years. http://library.thinkquest.org/10320/USstamps.htm A 1927 US airmail stamp commemorating Charles A. Lindbergh's non-stop trans-Atlantic flight is the only time a living American's name has appeared on a US stamp. http://spacecovers.com/pricelists/prclst_fdc1710a.htm May 14 02, 6:15 AM

jpkennebeck

There are only 3 people in the history of the United States Postal Service to be pictured on a U.S. postage stamp while they were still living. Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley were three of the five men who raised the U.S. flag atop Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. The other two men depicted on the stamp, Mike Strank and Harlon Block were killed in action on Iwo Jima on March 1, 1945. The postage stamp was issued on July 11, 1945. On the day of issue, people stood patiently in lines stretching for city blocks on a sweltering July day in 1945 for a chance to buy the beloved stamp. Jun 12 07, 11:44 AM