How to Use the Images

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Illustration 1: U.S. Merchant Marine Commemorative Stamp.

This stamp was issued by the U.S. Post Office Department on February 26, 1946 to honor the achievement of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. The stamp depicts a Liberty ship unloading cargo.

Questions for Illustration 1

1. Look up the word "commemorate" in the dictionary. What does it mean?

2. What is a "merchant marine"? Why do you think it was important to honor the Merchant Marine with a postage stamp?

3. The words "Peace and War" are placed at the top of the stamp. Why do you think these words were put on the stamp? Why is the word "peace" placed first?

* The image on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Illustration 1, but be aware that the file will take as much as 35 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.