{"id":7494,"date":"2019-04-11T20:39:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T03:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=7494"},"modified":"2019-04-12T10:26:56","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:26:56","slug":"they-took-away-the-doughboys-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/?p=7494","title":{"rendered":"They took away the doughboy\u2019s rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Note: This report was originally posted at the Web site of “Firearms News,” https:\/\/www.firearmsnews.com\/editorial\/the-u-s-postal-service-took-away-the-doughboys-rifle\/359421<\/a> . Please patronize their advertisers.)<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ve all heard stories about young children being punished at school by their socialist teachers for drawing or cutting out pretend handguns, or even for pointing a finger on the playground and saying \u201cBang! Bang!\u201d <\/p>\n

And some of us did sound the alarm about the \u201cslippery slope,\u201d years ago, when the forces of Political Correctness realized how easy it was to start rewriting history by \u201cdigitally editing\u201d old historical photos. After all, why NOT remove the cigarette holder from old photos of President Franklin Roosevelt? You don\u2019t want today\u2019s kids to think it\u2019s OK to smoke, do you?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

But surely we\u2019ll never reach the point where gun haters in a U.S. government agency will actually start doctoring images to remove the rifles (the arms with which Americans won and have long defended our freedoms) from the hands of American COMBAT SOLDIERS, will we? — altering an image of a soldier in combat, removing the piece of equipment on which his survival depended, to make it appear that U.S. soldiers CARRY NO NASTY RIFLES when they go to war?<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll never go THAT far. Right?<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s already happened.<\/p>\n

Standing in line at the post office the other day, I noticed a poster on display showing eight newly issued commemorative stamps, along with a sheet of 20, behind glass, of one of the new stamps, called \u201cWorld War I \/ Turning the Tide.\u201d In the background of this stamp can be seen a biplane, a shell burst, and some barbed wire. In the foreground, a uniformed and helmeted U.S. doughboy strides bravely ahead, holding close to his chest an American flag.<\/p>\n

I have nothing against featuring the American flag on a stamp, mind you. But look at the way that soldier\u2019s arms and hands are positioned. You\u2019ve seen men on combat patrol holding their arms and hands in that position plenty of times. But they weren\u2019t holding flags.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the revolutionary war and even as late as our Civil War, specially designated American soldiers did march into battle carrying flags, sometimes on flagstaffs called \u201cspontoons\u201d \u2013 essentially half-pikes with pointed steel lance-heads on the business ends, which could be used as weapons of last resort.<\/p>\n

In an era when standard tactics called for masses of men, standing upright in closed ranks, to blast the enemy with volleys of otherwise highly inaccurate musket fire, this made sense. In the dust and black-powder smoke of battle, the flags helped both commanders and men keep track of their units and their movements.<\/p>\n

But by 1917, by which time the easy-to-target brightly colored uniforms of 1914 had been quickly replaced with clothing better suited to blend into the blasted environment of No-Man\u2019s-Land, essentially NO ONE still marched toward enemy machine guns carrying brightly colored flags \u2013 certainly not encumbering their arms, where their rifles should have been.<\/p>\n

The image on the stamp makes no sense.<\/p>\n

It was obvious, even at a quick glance, what had happened: This design, this composition, had been altered. The soldier\u2019s hands were originally positioned that way to hold not a flag, but a rifle.<\/p>\n

I emailed artist Mark Stutzman in Maryland, who designed the \u201cTurning the Tide\u201d commemorative and who had earlier drawn the Post office\u2019s popular 1993 \u201cElvis\u201d and \u201cBuddy Holly\u201d stamps. In his original design, as submitted, had the American doughboy held a rifle in his hands? <\/p>\n

A LITTLE \u2018GUN SHY\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

He replied: \u201cHi Vin, Thanks for writing. Interesting that you should bring this up. My original proposal was with a rifle.\u201d<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the back-and-forth between artist Stutzman and the Postal Service told me the USPS \u201cStamp Advisory Committee\u201d was \u201ca little \u2018gun shy\u2019 about the rifle being so prominent.\u201d Stutzman declined to confirm that for the record.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe debated a few options and settled on him holding the flag instead,\u201d Stutzman told me. \u201cIt seemed to bring some patriotism forward and helped identify him as American more immediately. Since stamp images are so small, there\u2019s a need for immediate comprehension. In this case the read of hierarchy is WWI soldier, America, and war (barbed wire, plane, smoke). . . . I am somewhat speculating on the reasoning for why the decision (to remove the rifle) was made since I got information about committee meetings second-hand through the art director. He may be a better source for info and also have a direct line with the Postal Service. Greg Breeding is his name. . . . Super guy and easy to talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not so much. After several days of ducking my emails and phone messages, art director Breeding, in Charlottesville, Virginia, finally sent me his polite refusal to talk: <\/p>\n

\u201cHello Vin, Thank you for your interest in the World War I stamp. It was my deep privilege to art director this issuance to commemorate America\u2019s role in bringing World War I to an end. Such an incredible part of our history.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding your questions, it is the policy of the Postal Service to direct these types of inquiries to Public Relations. . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

Said PR guy \u201cwill be happy to assist you and, sometimes, he will subsequently involve the art directors and other Postal employees as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not so much.<\/p>\n

Although I called during business hours, I ended up leaving a voicemail message with the Postal Service Public Relations office in Washington. No one there would actually talk to me by phone, or let me talk to anyone directly involved in the decision to remove the rifle. Public Relations guy Carl Walton did send me a brief email, asking the nature of my inquiry.<\/p>\n

I emailed him that Mark Stutzman had confirmed his original design included the rifle, but that he \u201cwas reluctant to be quoted about the thinking process of the advisory committee, explaining he only heard about their suggestions\/requests second-hand . . . .<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI find it interesting that there’s apparently now some reluctance to show a U.S. soldier carrying a rifle, even as he walks into combat (barbed wire & shell burst behind),\u201d I continued. \u201cAs recently as 1984, the \u2018Buffalo Soldier\u2019 stamp showed a cavalryman SHOOTING his rifle. I’m looking for some background on who makes up that advisory committee, how they got there, and their thinking about eliminating the rifle. A direct quote from someone involved in the process, explaining their thinking, would be great. I’d be happy to talk with such a person on the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m also hoping we can get an image showing Mark Stutzman’s initial proposed \u2018vertical\u2019 version of the stamp, with the rifle — as a JPEG, a color photocopy, or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked for the names, states of residence, and (brief summary) qualifications of those who sit on the advisory committee. Also, \u201cI wonder if you can tell me whether any of them is a veteran of the armed forces, and\/or a gun owner? (Only about 7 percent of Americans are now veterans, but Gallup reports 47 percent of American households own firearms.) Thanks again for your help.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the end, Carl Walton, who\u2019s paid about $57,000 a year (plus benefits and pension), presumably to find the answers to reporters\u2019 questions, refused to let me talk to anyone who actually took part in the decision to remove the rifle. Instead, he e-mailed me a cobbled-together piece of bureaucratic double-speak which answered virtually none of my questions:<\/p>\n

\u201cDear Mr. Suprynowicz, Thank you for your inquiry about the United States Postal Service’s 2018 World War I stamp. In designing this stamp, the Postal Service wanted to express the many ways in which the United States contributed to turning the tide of the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design team drew inspiration from the illustration, typography and poster work of the World War I era. Many concepts were evaluated and discussed as the design team considered which aspect of the history of WWI to focus on. Early sketches may have included a soldier holding a rifle, but when we reviewed color studies, the designs were flat and brown. To work as a stamp, the artwork needed a strong colorful focus, something to grab the viewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe designers realized that with all of the detail in the initial sketches, it wasn’t immediately clear that we were honoring the American contribution to World War I. As we were already working in a poster-like style, we decided to focus on a single image that would be a patriotic representation of the American presence in the war and not a literal scene. The inclusion of the flag gave this stamp much needed color and a strong, patriotic message.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis design direction was presented to the Citizens\u2019 Stamp Advisory Committee and is the one they endorsed and sent forward to the Postmaster General for consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this stamp is a beautiful and proud symbol of the American spirit. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n(above: unveiling of the stamp at the World War One Museum, Kansas City)<\/em> <\/p>\n

AND GUN-FREE, OF COURSE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Personally, I always thought the 1903 Springfield and the 1917 Enfield were \u201cproud symbols of the American spirit.\u201d But public-relations guy Walton says \u201cEarly sketches may have included a soldier holding a rifle\u201d?<\/p>\n

Artists don\u2019t generally get awarded contracts to design postage stamps based on \u201crough sketches.\u201d The main element of Stutzman\u2019s design \u2013 as is obvious to anyone looking at the finished stamp — was a soldier holding a rifle. Why is the rifle gone?<\/p>\n

Few of the greatest and most collectible U.S. postage stamps look like a Day-Glo kid\u2019s toy box. And the point isn\u2019t whether they wanted to add a flag — a brightly colored flag could have gone over the doughboy\u2019s shoulder, in the background. The question is why they used it to REPLACE THE RIFLE. <\/p>\n

(I asked again if they\u2019d send us a copy of the original version with the rifle, so we could display a \u201cbefore-and-after,\u201d showing how \u201cflat and brown\u201d the stamp looked. The Postal Service refused.)<\/p>\n

What were Carl Walton\u2019s \u201cmany (other) ways in which the United States contributed to turning the tide of the war?\u201d Did our soldiers and Marines accomplish that by operating soup kitchens or handing out propaganda pamphlets? No \u2013 and no such activities are featured on the stamp.<\/p>\n

Yes, we sent war materiel \u2013 in fact, it\u2019s now the general consensus that the passenger liner Lusitania \u2013 the sinking of which helped lead Woodrow Wilson to take us to war (mere months after he won re-election with the slogan \u201cHe Kept Us Out of War\u201d) \u2013 was carrying ammunition and other contraband war supplies from the States, in violation of America\u2019s supposed neutrality, when she went down. But there are no images of stevedores loading merchant ships on the stamp.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The airplane in the background? Yes, some brave Americans flew with French and British squadrons. But they didn\u2019t \u201cturn the tide.\u201d In fact, few if any of the promised American-built planes or their aluminum V-12 \u201cLiberty\u201d engines ever made it into combat. Even the celebrated Browning Automatic Rifles never made it off the docks in New York during the 19 months America was in the war.<\/p>\n

No, there\u2019s only one way American troops helped to \u201cTurn the Tide\u201d in the First World War:<\/p>\n

In March, 1918, after Russia dropped out of the war, the Germans launched a final, massive attack along the Western Front, hoping the influx of 50 divisions from the East would overwhelm the Allied forces in France before millions of Americans could cross the Atlantic. <\/p>\n

The Germans captured the Belleau Wood, adjoining the Metz-to-Paris highway, barely 50 miles northeast of Paris <\/p>\n

By June 4, more than 2,000 Germans with at least 30 machine guns were dug in. <\/p>\n

In the first few days of June, the U.S. 4th Marine Brigade dug in just to the southwest of a wheat field that separated them from Belleau Wood. The battalions in the 5th Marine Regiment established themselves on the left, and those in the 6th Marine Regiment on the right. <\/p>\n

When the Marines were told to clear the Germans from the Belleau Wood, they didn\u2019t reply, \u201cGosh, you mean, charge right into their machine guns and everything? I don\u2019t think so, sir. I think we need a \u2018time out\u2019 and an emotional support puppy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On June 6, without artillery support, United States Marines charged across 800 yards (a half-mile) of open wheat fields into German machine-gun fire \u2013 and into the woods. The adversaries clashed in bitter hand-to-hand fighting with knives, rifle butts, bayonets, and trench shovels. As Marine officers and NCOs fell dead or wounded, junior officers and enlisted men took their places.<\/p>\n

First Sergeant Dan Daly, a recipient of two Medals of Honor who\u2019d served in the Philippines, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Peking and Vera Cruz, famously shouted to his men of the 73rd Machine Gun Company “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?!”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Repelling a German counter-attack, then-Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A. Janson \u2013 serving under the name Charles Hoffman — repelled an advance of 12 German soldiers, killing two with his bayonet (attached to his RIFLE) before the others fled. He became the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in World War One. <\/p>\n

In the end it took three weeks, but the Marines took back the Wood. The 4th, 5th and 6th Marine Brigades were awarded the French Croix de Guerre.<\/em> Of its complement of 9,500 men, the Fourth Brigade suffered 1,000 killed in action, with 4,000 wounded, gassed, or missing \u2013 a 55 percent casualty rate.<\/p>\n

They did not go after the Germans with soup kettles or propaganda brochures. Clearing Belleau Wood wasn\u2019t cheap \u2013 9,000 casualties overall; 1,800 American dead. But when it was over, the Germans were stunned. They found their new enemy so fearsome they dubbed them the \u201cDevil Dogs,\u201d the \u201cHounds from Hell.\u201d Two things shocked the Germans: One, the fact that the Marines never stopped, even when every commissioned officer in a unit was killed or wounded, they just kept coming. And the second thing that stunned them was the Americans\u2019 MARKSMANSHIP. An official German report classified the Marines as “vigorous, self-confident, and remarkable marksmen.\u201d<\/p>\n

European conscripts tended to point their weapons in the general direction of the enemy, close their eyes, and jerk the trigger. Not these Americans.<\/p>\n

Black Jack Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, summarized what the Americans had proved: \u201cThe deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle” <\/p>\n

Not his soup ladle. Not his propaganda brochure. His rifle.<\/p>\n

I CALL THE CHAIRWOMAN OF THE COMMITTEE<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing in Public Relations guy Walton\u2019s little essay did intrigue me. He wrote: \u201cThe inclusion of the flag gave this stamp much needed color and a strong, patriotic message. This design direction was presented to the Citizens\u2019 Stamp Advisory Committee and is the one they endorsed.\u201d<\/p>\n

So: Did someone at the Postal Service actually remove the rifle BEFORE the citizens advisory committee saw the design? <\/p>\n

Walton, of course, had refused to give me the names or personal contact information for any of the 12 members of the advisory committee, let alone tell me if any are Armed Forces veterans or gun owners, who might have been expected to raise a fuss about erasing the rifle. (And if there are no veterans or gun owners out of 12, so much for this \u201cdiversity\u201d we\u2019re always hearing about.)<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll let you in on a little secret. As a highly trained investigative reporter, I belong to a very select group who are in possession of a certain high-tech, Buck-Rogers-type piece of investigative equipment far beyond even the imaginings of many an average American of only a few years ago. It\u2019s called a \u201cpersonal computer,\u201d connected to a highly secret microwave network called the \u201cInternet.\u201d<\/p>\n

In about 60 seconds I was able to come up with the committee members\u2019 information on my own, including the fact that the chairwoman of the advisory committee is 68-year-old Janet R. Klug of Pleasant Plain, Ohio, past president of the American Philatelic Society and author of \u201cGuide to Stamp Collecting\u201d (2008) and \u201c100 Greatest American Stamps\u201d (2007) \u2013 on the cover of which is displayed the 1847 five-cent Franklin, which is \u2013 sorry \u2013 dull and brown.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mrs. Klug, who was appointed to that position in 2010, is a registered Democrat. (In fact, it appears she\u2019s the only Democrat living on a road with 13 Republican households.) In about another 30 seconds, I was also able to come up with her phone number.<\/p>\n

So a little before Lunchtime, Ohio time, Friday April 5, I called, politely introduced myself, and asked Miss Klug if the rifle had already been removed from the design when the \u201cTurning the Tide\u201d stamp was forwarded to her committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk about our work,\u201d she said, sounding pretty agitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo your work on these stamps is a secret process?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a secret process!\u201d she said, pretty emotionally. \u201cIt is the way we work! I\u2019m not going to talk to you any more; Goodbye.\u201d <\/p>\n

And she hung up on me.<\/p>\n

It seems like the folks who removed the rifle from that stamp really don\u2019t want to explain themselves.<\/p>\n

THEY TOOK AWAY HIS GUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where is this Political Correct move to strip the guns from our history going to end? Will our grandchildren be taught in school that General Gage sent his Redcoats to Lexington and Concord in April of 1775 to take away not their muskets, cannon, powder and ball, but rather the Patriots\u2019 soup kettles and propaganda pamphlets? <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This ongoing purging of our history \u2013 tearing down statues of the Founding Fathers (even the ones who called for an end to slavery and freed their slaves \u2013 hardly a popular or even an easy act at the time) and quietly purging all traces of the firearms that won our freedom \u2013 isn\u2019t conducive to a reasoned, evidence-based discussion of the millions of civilians murdered by their own governments in Stalin\u2019s Soviet Union and Hitler\u2019s Germany and Mao\u2019s China and Pol Pot\u2019s Cambodia \u2013 all Socialist tyrannies \u2013 because they had no firearms with which to defend themselves.<\/p>\n

No, no. The hoplophobes hope we won\u2019t notice what they\u2019re up to \u2013 Michael Bellesiles writing his fraudulent book \u201cArming America\u201d about how his fake study of Last Wills and Testaments supposedly proved Americans of previous generations didn\u2019t generally own guns (but when skeptics asked to see his raw data, including from San Francisco before the fire, it was, um . . . \u201clost in a flood\u201d), and now the newer sequel, the bogus claim that America has \u201cmore mass shootings\u201d than any other country — conveniently ignoring the higher rates of shooting-deaths-per-capita in Norway, Serbia, and France, not to mention blood-soaked Mexico, Eastern Europe, and half of Africa.<\/p>\n

(See: https:\/\/www.twincities.com\/2018\/11\/26\/john-lott-gun-free-zones-invite-mass-shootings\/<\/a> .)<\/p>\n

They hope we won\u2019t notice their literally taking the rifles out of the hands of the American heroes of yesteryear \u2013 and that if we DO notice, they can put us off with a bunch of cleverly worded double-talk about \u201cpreliminary sketches\u201d and \u201cthe many other ways\u201d (other than troops shooting rifles) \u201cthat Americans helped turn the tide\u201d . . . and finally about how guns are just so dull and brown and dirty looking. <\/p>\n

But we\u2019ve noticed. We\u2019ve noticed that the stonewalling sneering bureaucrats and growling left-wing harridans of the United States Postal Service have taken this particular doughboy, who was willing to march to death or glory for his country in a war he never asked for \u2013 a doughboy now long in his grave, his voice of protest stilled \u2013 and stripped his rifle from his arms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

p.s.<\/strong> \u2013 By the way, one of the other eight new stamps on that poster in the post office? It honors America\u2019s \u201cfirst responders.\u201d There\u2019s a fireman, an ambulance attendant\/technician, and a police officer. The police officer, responding first to the scene of a crime? In his only visible hand he holds . . . a flashlight. <\/p>\n

\u2013 V.S.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Note: This report was originally posted at the Web site of “Firearms News,” https:\/\/www.firearmsnews.com\/editorial\/the-u-s-postal-service-took-away-the-doughboys-rifle\/359421 . Please patronize their advertisers.) We’ve all heard stories about young children being punished at school by their socialist teachers for drawing or cutting out pretend handguns, or even for pointing a finger on the playground and saying \u201cBang! Bang!\u201d And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,17,25,84,87,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2nd-amendment","category-big-brother","category-history","category-politics","category-regressive-left","category-the-deep-state"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-1WS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7494"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7521,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions\/7521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}