The Military Postal History Society Outstanding Service Award

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Introduction

From time to time the MPHS Board recognizes outstanding service to the Society by a member.

The award consists of a model Civil War cannon, the 12-pounder Light Gun known as the “Napoleon”. The weapon was named for Emperor Louis Napoleon of France who sponsored the design in the 1850s. At the beginning of the Civil War there were only a few dozen Napoleons in the United States. By the end of the war the North had over 1100 of them and the South had about half that number. The field piece was popular as it was lighter in weight than its predecessors and much more mobile. It had an effective range of 1000 yards and a maximum range of nearly one mile.

This article in the Bulletin describes the history of the award and it’s first recipient, Isadore Willinger.

Following the below listing of recipients, there are several paragraphs providing a more detailed description of them.

Past Recipients

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2023 MPHS Outstanding Service Award to David Kent

David Kent joined what was then the War Cover Club in 1978 and is today the 22nd most senior member of MPHS. He served as Editor of the Military Postal History Society Bulletin for twenty years (1994-2014) and has continued to serve as a Director of the Society ever since then, arranging our annual meetings and coordinating joint conventions of the Military Postal History Society with the American Society of Polar Philatelists and the Universal Ship Cancellation Society at national shows.

In addition to his editorial work, Dave contributed occasional feature articles and almost always had an article on the last page of the MPHS Bulletin. Outside the MPHS, he has authored 3,000 articles in the philatelic press on a variety of subjects including topicals, military and naval covers, and new stamp issues. For over thirty years he has been a staff writer and associate editor of Mekeel’s & Stamps Magazine. He was editor-in-chief of the Catalog of United States Naval Postmarks published by the Universal Ship Cancellation Society. He was one of the country’s last newspaper philatelic columnists, having authored a stamp column for nearly thirty years in the Hartford (Connecticut) Courant. In 2007 Dave was elected to the APS Writers Hall of Fame.

Dave served USCS as a director, secretary-treasurer, vice president, and president. He served the American Topical Association as director, vice president and president, and for many years chaired the ATA’s Americana unit. He was named a Distinguished Topical Philatelist by the ATA in 1986.

In 2009 Dave received the APS John N. Luff award for exceptional contributions to philately.

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2011 Service Awards Presented to Jim Boyden and Myron Fox

An issue of the Bulletin from Fall 2011 contains a message from the current President Tony Brooks, regarding the CHICAGOPEX Society meeting and includes the wording:

Meritorious Service awards went to MPHS past-presidents Myron Fox and Jim Boyden.

Unfortunately, no additional information was provided.

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Alan Warren Receives 2008 Service Award

Alan Warren was presented with the Outstanding Service Award for services to the MPHS during the MPHS Annual Meeting at ROMPEX, Denver on May 17, 2008.

Alan Warren joined the War Cover Club, now MPHS, around 1982. He served as a director from 1989 to 2007 and as convention chairman from 1990 to 2007. In 1993 he inherited the position of publicity chairman from the late Theo Van Dam, and served in that office until 2007. Alan also contributes regular columns to the MPHS Bulletin on military area show awards and military postal history articles that appear in other journals.

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Robert Kinsley Receives 2007 Service Award

Robert Kinsley was awarded the Outstanding Service Award for services to the MPHS.

Former MPHS Secretary Bob Kinsley (left) accepts the Outstanding Service Award from President Kugel (right)

Outstanding Service Award presented to Bob Kinsley at the 2007 convention

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Russ Carter Received 2004 Service Award

Russ Carter won the society’s 2004 Outstanding Service Award for his ongoing research into military records at the National Archives that have resulted in a series of books published by the society.

Carter updated and greatly expanded the Army Post Office (APO) directories that the society has published over the years in many editions.

Three volumes in the 7th edition have been issued so far. Volume 1 addresses Numbered Army & Air Force Post Office Locations including the base post offices, postal regulating stations, and the regular APOs. Volume 2 covers the temporary post offices numbers that were used by military personnel en route to an existing unit or a new unit. The third volume by Carter lists the numbered Navy and Marine Corps post office locations.

Russ Carter’s latest publication is a diversion from the APO listings and reveals a new area of research that he stumbled on while reviewing records in the National Archives.

War Ballots: Military Voting by Mail from the Civil War to WW II describes the regulations for voting by military personnel while they were away from home in training camps or abroad. For WW II there were many types of state and national election forms and envelopes. These are illustrated with details on how they were handled state by state.

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Boehret’s Receive 2003 Service Award

The Military Postal History Society’s Outstanding Service Award for 2003 goes to Diane and Jesse Boehret for their many years of dedication to the society, the field of military postal history, and to the hobby in general. Jesse Boehret is a past president and director of MPHS, formerly the War Cover Club. During his administration he initiated programs to recommend dealers and judges, who were MPHS members, to the national shows where the society held its annual conventions.

He also emphasized the need for regular annual conventions and regional meetings of the society. In recent years MPHS has offered a military postal history grand and reserve grand award at its convention shows. The awards go to the two best military related exhibits as selected by the show jury. Jesse Boehret has won many golds with his exhibit of the German POW Camps in Japan in World War I. In 1980 he was named an accredited judge and is also an accredited chief judge of the APS.

Diane Boehret has been an ardent supporter of her husband’s work with the MPHS and often remained at the society booth when the membership meetings were in session. She is past president of the American Philatelic Congress and has been president of the Postal History Society for fourteen years. She has received national grand awards with her exhibits of The German Post Offices in China During the Boxer Rebellion, and the German Military Mission in Turkey 1914-1918. Diane is also an accredited APS judge.

In 1997 this husband and wife team became the only such duo to win the National Philadelphia Stamp Exhibition’s local and national merit awards the same year. The Boehrets are the eighth and ninth recipients of the MPHS service award since its inception in 1992. Previous winners include Theo Van Dam, Stanley Jersey, and Norman Gruenzner.

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ISADORE WILLINGER RECEIVES 1ST MPHS SERVICE AWARD

At the Board of Directors meeting of January 22, 1993, held at the Tucson annual conclave of the Society, it was agreed that Bob Lana, the Awards Chairman, should establish criteria for a Service Award for outstanding service to the Society.

It was also agreed that the first recipient of the Service Award is to be Isadore Willinger of Denver, Colorado. Isadore served many years as the Society secretary when it was called the War cover Club, and has served us in many different ways over am extended period. He is the Society’s oldest living member at 100 years of age.

Bob Lana reports that he has written a letter to Isadore informing him of his award and has sent the award itself which consists of a seven-inch long replica of a Revolutionary War cannon mounted on a 12-inch solid walnut base.

The inscribed plaque reads: Military Postal History Society/Isadore Willinger/For Outstanding Serv- ice to The Society/1993.

All the members of the MPHS congratulate Isadore for his award and for a job well done!

The following clip is taken from the April 1993 issue of the _Bulletin_. It indicates that he was 100 years old at that time. The Board action to present the Award took place in early 1993. text is same as above figure src='https://militaryphs.org/images/bulletin/willinger_service_award_announcement_1993.png' width='250' alt='award information

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