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[b]Space Cover 743: Fort Bliss Centennial Stamp[/b] The Fort Bliss Centennial stamp was issued to honor the 100th anniversary of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The stamp's designer, Charles R. Chickering, wanted the stamp to depict the old and the new and portray some of the highlights of Fort Bliss's hundred-year history . . . all on a small single stamp! As space collectors, we know the stamp for its vignette featuring a triangularly shaped frame featuring an image of Fort Bliss and the launch of a V-2 rocket. The first United States postage stamp featuring a rocket. If you check out the stamp more closely, below the "3c" on the left appears a mountain scene, and below the "3c" on the right appears an old mission. Chickering cleverly used the border of the triangle to engrave a long line around the three sides of men and vehicles, representing "the military of Fort Bliss and the civilians of El Paso and the Southwest" walking down the road together in the hundred-year period. There is a covered wagon drawn by oxen at the lower left, motorized heavy military equipment at lower right. Did you know that the stamp also contains an image of a camel? The camel appears on the upper left near the point of the triangle, just ahead of the horse-drawn stagecoach. The color of the stamp was picked to depict the color of a desert sunset. As World War II in Europe was ending, Operation Paperclip officially authorized 118 German V-2 rocket team members to come to the United States. The members of the group arrived at Fort Bliss, Texas, between September 1945 and early 1946. Wernher von Braun and seven others travelled by plane; the others came in two groups of about 55 each by ship. Other individual regarded as members of the Rocket Team were not among these initial 118. Wernher von Braun was able convince the Americans to add approximately 25 others who had worked in Peenemünde but who could not be located as the team left Germany. When von Braun returned to Germany in March 1947, he was able to contact those 25 and bring them to America. The Rocket Team launched their V-2 rockets from the nearby White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. Third Assistant Postmaster General Joseph L. Lawler dedicated the stamp in El Paso on November 5, 1948. Charles R. Chickering of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed the stamp. C.A. Brooks engraved the vignette, and A.W. Christensen engraved the border, the lettering, and the numerals. Scanned is a plate block of 4 Fort Bliss Centennial stamps signed by Chickering, Brooks, and Christensen.
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