The U.S. Postal Service will offer a Flight 93 pictorial cancellation to commemorate the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001. 33 passengers and seven crew members died when Flight 93, en route to San Francisco from Newark, NJ was hijacked by four terrorists and crashed near Shanksville.The cancellation will bear the image of the Flight 93 “Thunder Bell” to commemorate the rededication of Flight 93, Boulevard of Heroes. It will be the fifth pictorial cancellation offered by the Shanksville post office to honor those who lost their lives on the sixth anniversary of the United Flight 93 crash.
The special postmark will be offered beginning Sept. 11 at the Shanksville Post Office and will be available for 30 days afterwards. “We are pleased to participate, in this small way, with the remembrance of these fallen heroes by way of a special cancellation to commemorate the tragedy that, at the same time, unified Americans and world citizens around the globe,” said Shanksville Postmaster Kathy Bates.
The Shanksville Post Office will also have a temporary outdoor postal station open from 10 am to 4:30 pm on September 11. The Flight 93 postmark will be available at that location.
Pictorial cancellations are offered as a community service by the Postal Service to commemorate local events nationwide. They are prized by collectors, and saved by non-collectors who want keepsakes of these memorable events. The cancellation can be obtained in person by visiting the temporary post office station at the event. The cancellation can also be obtained through the mail, provided the request is postmarked within 30 days of the event.
Customers wishing to obtain a cancellation should affix the correct stamps to any envelope or postcard of choice, address the envelope or postcard to one’s self or others insert cardstock of postcard thickness to prevent bending, and tuck in the flap. Place it in a larger envelope and mail it to:
PICTORIAL CANCELLATIONS
FLT 93 THUNDER BELL STATION
422 STUTZMANTOWN RD
SHANKSVILLE PA 15560-9998
After applying the pictorial cancellation, the Postal Service will return the envelope or postcard through the mail. Anyone wanting their item returned under protective cover should include a larger, self-addressed, stamped envelope.
source: USPS