About This Stamp
Military decorations are a grateful nation’s way of honoring the bravery and achievements of members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Previous stamp issuances have depicted the highest military decoration for valor in combat: the Medal of Honor. These stamps recognize the next highest tier of military decorations for valor: the Distinguished Service Cross (Army), Navy Cross (Navy and Marine Corps), Air Force Cross, and Coast Guard Cross.
Each stamp consists of a photograph of one of the four medals suspended from a ribbon and shown against a dark blue backdrop. There are a total of 12 stamps on the souvenir sheet, shown in two rows. These decorations are awarded for acts of extraordinary heroism in which an individual braved enemy fire, made bold decisions, and took selfless actions to rescue or protect fellow service members.
Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps and the souvenir sheet, working with photographs of the medals by Richard Frasier.
Stamp Art Director, Designer, and Typographer
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.
Photographer
Richard Frasier
Richard Frasier was born in 1948 in Cobleskill, New York. As a child living on his family farm, he fell in love with photography. “From the very beginning, I knew the camera was a magical tool, a way to express myself and to capture and share the beauty and wonder that surrounds us all,\" he explains. \"For me, photography is about beauty.\"
Frasier studied psychology at Frostburg State University in Maryland but honed his photography skills while serving in the Army and later as an apprentice to several master photographers. Today, he specializes in portraits, landscapes, architecture, and studio product shots. He has done work for editorial, corporate, and advertising clients both locally and nationally for more than 20 years, including international hotels such as Marriott, Sheraton, and Hilton. His portraiture features everyone from political personalities such as Dick Cheney, Laura Bush and Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Obama, to celebrities such as Robert Duval, Cokie Roberts, and Lionel Ritchie.
Frasier has been the official photographer for the Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase for 20 years, which has given him an additional specialty in equestrian photography. He maintains a studio in Northern Virginia and markets a line of greeting cards showcasing Washington, D.C.
When not at work, Frasier is an avid gardener. He lives with his family in Vienna, Virginia.
Frasier's projects for the U.S. Postal Service include Medal of Honor: World War II (2013), Medal of Honor: Korean War (2014), Medal of Honor: Vietnam War (2015), and Honoring Extraordinary Herosim: Service Cross Medals (2016).