I am putting this update at the top instead of the bottom because I feel it is necessary to do so.  Please see my 2nd email to Mr. Maher and then HIS response.

My 2nd email:

Mr. Maher,

I appreciate your response but let me assure you that NOTHING about my support of our military or this country is based on emotion. It is based on loyalty, pride, conviction, honor and caring about humans who make the choice to serve and protect this great nation - whose choices allow us to continue to have the freedoms and privileges that many all too often either take for granted or exploit.

I am aware that the USPS employes a large number of Veterans. I am also aware the USPS offers FOR SALE a large number of various postage stamps that "spotlight" various military organizations and groups. I am also aware that the USPS makes a PROFIT from selling those stamps. The photos that were displayed - before you had them removed - in the Paso Robles post office where to HONOR those who have served and are serving. No profit from them - only a big "Thank you" to those who make the choice to put on those uniforms on OUR behalf.

As for the "policy" of the post office to not post ..."political, religious, charitable or any material other than official USPS business items" I would ask you - where does breast cancer stand? Is it NOT a charity? (Of course one I totally support but none the less a charity). What about all of the displays I have seen for movies and the items that can be purchased at the post office supporting those movies? And NOT be allowed to display photos of our military personnel? I could go on an on but the bottom line is that ONCE AGAIN our military is being demoralized when the situation should never have been allowed to happen. Those photos should be put back up ASAP. We should celebrate and honor our military just as the post office does with Black History Month, support of Hispanic heritage, etc. There is NO difference sir. No difference. I believe the name of your organization is UNITED STATES postal service. How is that any different from the UNITED STATES Army, UNITED STATES Marines, UNITED STATES Air Force, UNITED STATES Navy or the UNITED STATES Coast Guard? What gives the United States post office the right to dishonor fellow federal employees this way.

There is a huge gulf between what is right and what is emotional sir.

Respectfully,

His response:

Please let me clarify that I personally did not order the Post Office to remove photos of our soldiers. As spokesperson for the USPS my job is explain our actions as prescribed by our regulations. The Paso Robles Post Office was reminded by their District office to comply with POM 124.55, which allows only official postal announcements and notices to be posted or distributed. This is a national regulation applying to all facilities and this does not reflect on the merits of the subject matter posted.

You do not need to convince me that our troops deserve the public's support. I personally realize the sacrifices our troops have made for all of us. I lost an immediate member of my family to this war and am proud of him and very thankful for his sacrifice.

In answer to your question of our promotion of breast cancer research, the Breast Cancer Research Semipostal stamp was issued in 1998 through legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. Through this legislation, when a customer buys the stamp a portion of the price is donated to research. The fact that it is a stamp makes it postal business and allows it to be promoted in our lobbies. Black history and Hispanic heritage are likewise stamp promotions.

Richard Maher
Public Information Officer
U.S. Postal Service

It seems that Mr. Maher is not the person we should be addressing regarding this issue.  I have emailed him again expressing my condolences about the loss of his family member.  I also asked if he could provide a name and email address for the person at the district level with which we could address this issue.  I'll post that information if/when I receive it.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

ORIGINAL POST BELOW

I received an email last night from a friend of mine currenly deployed to Iraq.  In the email was this link with a story titled Photos of troops overseas are gone from Paso post office, inspiring outrage.  The story, which appeared at www.sanluisobispo.com on 19 October 2007 and was written by Leah Etling begins:

"From customers to congressmen, the removal of dozens of photos of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan – many of them with relatives who use the Paso Robles Post Office, where the pictures had been on display for years behind the counter – inspired outrage Friday.

The photos were taken down after a customer complained that the display was pro-war. When the issue came to the attention of the regional postal center, they asked that Paso Robles postmaster Mike Milby and his staff take them down because they violate a regulation against displays of non-postal business material at any U.S. post office."

Richard Maher, a postal spokesman, commented in the story that 1) the post office is for postal business and is not to be used to post things or for displays and 2) that the post office would not be punished for displaying the photos.  I'm no doctor but I can tell you my blood pressure is up way beyond accepted limits over those two comments.

The Post Office is not to be used to post things or for displays outside of postal business?  What about the displays for Breast Cancer Awareness? Black History Month? Cartoon Characters for current popular movies?  and any number of "featured" causes or charities the Post Office tauts from month to month?  Not only do they feature them but they offer the ability for the public to purchase stuffed amimals, lapel pins and a plethora of other NON postage items for the "featured" group or charity of the month.  How does that qualify as "postal business"?  And who gains financially from the sale of those items?  Now before anyone may want to assume I'm not for Breast Cancer Awareness, etc. that's just NOT TRUE.  I'm simply attempting to make the point that the Post Office DOES, in my opinion, participate in many non postal related projects and causes every day.  Singling out our Brave Warriors as "not worthy" is reprehensible. 

I found a plethora of "information" at www.usps.com that brought me pause with respect to the removal of photos of our courageous and selfless military personnel. 

This one (shown below in part) happens to be a news release date 25 Sept 07 from, SURPRISE, a Mr. Richard Maher.  To find the entire news release go here then scroll down to find the story.  An additional story is further down on 21 Sept 07 under the title "Got a Garage Full of Stuff?"

Postal Service offers free lessons on how to sell on eBay

Free eBay seminars in October at the Orange Post Office

ORANGE, CA — The U.S. Postal Service wants to help its customers learn how to turn some of the unwanted things around their homes into extra cash in their pockets and also take advantage of the latest online postal products and services.

Teaming up with online auction site eBay, the Postal Service continues to host the popular eBay “how-to” seminars at the Orange Post Office at 6 p.m. on Thursday evenings.

At these FREE introductory seminars, participants will learn everything they need to know to buy and sell on eBay and ship safely and securely through the Postal Service. From setting up an eBay account, to taking pictures of items for sale, closing the deal and getting the merchandise on its way — it’s all covered.

It's not so much they will "teach" people how to ship BUT that they, in their own words, "...wants to help its customers learn how to turn some of the unwanted things around their home into extra cash in their pockets..."  That doesn't seem to fit in the postal business category to me.  It seems the post office is using it's power in an attempt at financial gain.  I can only surmise that is "acceptable" because of their partnership with eBay and it being "official" business.  And because there is no official Post Office piece of paper deeming our military personnel as "official" their photos are not allowed.  WHAT THE HECK?

And then, of course, there is this.  "Registration with Selective Service continues at any post office, station, and branch for men who are ages 18 through 25, U.S. citizens or not."  Yep, EVERY American male is REQUIRE to register with the selective service and can do so by standing in line at the Post Office in order to fulfill that requirement.  Stand in line in a place that will 1) take our money when we as individuals choose to send letters and boxes showing our support, 2) provide shipping materials in order to collect our monies for shipping support items to the military and even has DISPLAYS (at least in my local post office) encouraging us to do so 3) openly and actively supports a myriad of other "official" causes YET...posting photos of our Brave Warriors is off limits because it is not "official", because it is offensive to a SMALL minority and because there is no document stating it is OK to do so.  What in the world is going on in this country?

I sent the following email to Mr. Maher:

I find it terribly disturbing that you would force the employees at the Paso Robles Post Office to remove the displayed photos of our brave service members deployed to combat areas. It is because of those men and women and hundreds of thousands who have served before them that we continue to have this great country and all that comes with it. For you to buckle to the dislike of one person - or even several people - is a sad day for this nation.

I have done some research on the USPS site and it appears there are any number of "non postal" events for which the post office not only has displays but also sells items such as donation opportunities to a charity, stuffed animals, lapel pins, etc.

When I think of the MILLIONS of dollars those of us spend in order to ship packages via the USPS (since we have NO OTHER OPTION) it makes me sick to think that the post office would turn their back on our brave warriors as you have done.

There is no legal reason why those photos should have been taken down. I urge you to reconsider and allow them to be put back up immediately.

Respectfully,

Mr. Maher responded within 13 minutes with this email:

Postal Operations Manual (POM) 124.55 clearly states that only official postal or governmental notices or announcemnets may be posted or distributed on USPS property. The nature or subject of the materials in question played absolutely no part in them being removed.

The Postal Service proudly employs an unusually large percentage of military veterans. We also publicly honor veterans through the issuance of commemorative postage such as the WW I Veterans, WW II Veterans, Korean War Veterans, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Honoring Veterans stamps. Currently, the Purple Heart stamp is available and honoring those who have served and sacrificed for our nation.

I fully understand that Post Offices are a very important part of the commmunity, and that this is a very emotional issue. That is probably one of the reasons behind the rule that prevents us from posting political, religious, charitable or any material other than official USPS business items.

Richard Maher
Public Information Officer
United States Postal Service

There is a positive element to this story as evidenced by this part of the story:

Two signs posted at the postal counter Friday said “We are being forced to remove the pictures from out wall of our boys and girls in the military. Please ask for your pictures back.”

Clerks were constantly barraged with questions about why the display had gone down Friday, which most people expressing dismay that the photos had been removed.

And....

Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) weighed in on the removal after his office was besieged with dozens of phone calls from constituents upset about the removal.

“Supporting our local heroes’ bravery and sacrifice is common sense. That is why I am troubled with the Paso Robles Post Office’s removal of pictures honoring the sacrifice of our brave men and women serving in the Armed Services. I am in contact with the Postal Service to get a clear answer of why this happened and determine what actions can be taken,” the congressman said in a statement.

McCarthy is going to try to get the pictures put back up, said his spokesman Nick Bouknight, even if it requires changing the postal regulations to do it.

Kudos to those who object to this travesty and to Congressman McCarthy.

How much longer will we allow our military to be demoralized?  Remember - I received notice of this story from one of our Warriors IN IRAQ.  Every day he wakes up - if he even had the chance to sleep the night before - puts on that uniform - or wears it from the day before depending on the circumstances where he is at the moment - puts his life on the line, goes without many modern conveniences, bears brutal heat in heavy body armour and gear...and when he has a few minutes to connect with "home" - with the nation he loves and chooses to serve so valiantly - he finds a story like this.  It makes me sick at my stomach.

I am SICK and TIRED of our military personnel getting the short end of the stick in this nation.  They are our BRAVEST, some of our BRIGHTEST.  They deserve our TOTAL and UNADULTERED support from every possible angle.  The post office sure doesn't balk when we walk in the door with mountains of boxes to send to our deployed.  No, they see dollar signs.  And granted many of us who ship have an excellent relationship with the postal employees at our local post offices.  Yet the Post Office (at least in California), in effect, continues to spit in the faces of our military just as was done to the Vietnam Veterans by forcing the removal of the photos in Paso Robles.  Are we going to sit back and allow this to continue?  Lord I hope not.

I urge you to email Mr. Maher, your Congressperson, Senator and anyone else you can think of regarding this matter. 

On on that matter of "majority rules" in this nation - consider the poll results about this subject at www.sanluisobispo.com:

Yes, it's a show of support for our troops 6090

95%

No, such a display is inappropriate for a federal office 294

5%

Total Votes:  6384