The U.S. Postal Service Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee will meet on Jan. 24 and 25 to formally consider a proposal to honor American World War II servicemen and women of Japanese heritage with a commemorative postage stamp.

"President Truman said it best - Nisei soldiers fought prejudice at home and on the battlefield, and won," Sen. Daniel K. Akaka said. "A stamp in their honor would be a fitting tribute to these uniquely American heroes."

Started four years ago as a grassroots project supported by the Japanese American Veterans Association, the postage stamp campaign hopes to honor the estimated 25,000 Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. armed forces overseas and at home, including the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, whose courage under fire distinguished them as one of the most highly decorated units in U.S. military history.

Other Japanese American soldiers joined the Military Intelligence Service, the U.S. Army Women's Army Corps and Nurse Corps, or became gunners in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Many of these soldiers were Nisei, or American-born sons and daughters of Japanese immigrants, who faced discrimination and internment during the 1940s following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wayne Osako, the chair/coordinator of the California-based campaign, said these veterans are now in their 80s and 90s, and the campaign aims to get the stamp approved while they are still living and have it be released by 2010.

A declining number of Japanese American World War II veterans are alive today, including Don Seki, who lost an arm in the campaign to save the 1st Battalion, 141st Regiment, 36th (Texas) Infantry Division, which was trapped and appeared doomed for annihilation by German forces in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France in 1944. Seki said the postage stamp would convey the message of how the Nisei fought the enemy abroad and battled prejudice on the home front.

"A commemorative Nisei postage stamp will signify Japanese Americans' commitment to preserve freedom," said Grant Hirabayashi, a resident of Silver Spring, Md., Ranger Hall of Fame inductee and member of the famed Merrill's Marauders, who fought behind enemy lines in Burma.

Commemorative postage stamps have previously been issued to other minority veterans. In 1984, a stamp was issued honoring Hispanic American veterans, and a decade later, the 92nd Infantry Division, a segregated unit of African American soldiers who fought in World Wars I and II, was also recognized with a postage stamp. A proposal to issue a stamp commemorating the Tuskegee Airmen is currently under consideration by the Postal Service as well.

Fictional characters have their own stamps, so Japanese American veterans certainly deserve them as well, said Hawai‘i state Rep. John Mizuno, D-Alewa Heights-Kalihi. "We already have a stamp of Yoda, a character in Star Wars. I don't think it's too far-fetched to honor our Nisei veterans," said Mizuno, the son of a World War II Nisei veteran.

The Nisei veterans stamp proposal is just one of tens of thousands of requests the Postal Service receives each year. The Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, comprised of 15 appointed individuals, meets four times a year and can either reject the proposal or keep it "under consideration." Each year the committee recommends about 25 commemorative stamp selections to the postmaster general that are "both interesting and educational."

The California-based campaign has so far collected more than 10,000 written petitions and more than 7,000 signatures online, in addition to letters of support from members of Congress, veterans and civic organizations, and resolutions from city legislatures. The state legislatures of Hawai‘i, California and Illinois will soon be considering resolutions of support this winter. A congressional letter of support for the stamp is currently circulating in Congress, and 26 members have signed on.

Resolutions supporting a Nisei stamp will be introduced in both the Hawai‘i Senate and House. "We believe they deserve their rightful place in history," Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona said. "You question why they even did what they did. I believe it was purely out of honor and commitment to our country.""Stamps ... recognize the highlights of our American story," said Hawai‘i state Sen. Les Ihara, D-Kahala-Palolo.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press

To support the campaign, visit niseistamp.org, call (714) 534-5139 or e-mail info@niseistamp.org.

Letters of support and petitions may be sent to: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, USPS - Stamp Development,
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013, Arlington, VA 22209-6432.
Please send a copy to: JACL Headquarters,
ATTN: Nisei Stamp Campaign, 1765 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94115