Natalie DiBlasio

USA TODAY

USPS will unveil the Medal of Honor stamp on Veterans Day

81 million of the Medal of Honor stamps are being issued

464 received the Medal of Honor in World War II

He has wrinkles now, and his hair has thinned. But Charles Coolidge clearly remembers the day nearly 70 years ago that he earned a Medal of Honor in France for leading his outnumbered combat group through four days of continuous fighting.

"Just a 20-year-old boy. I live it every day. I can't forget it," the Chattanooga, Tenn., resident, now 92, says of that day in Belmont sur Buttant. "If you were there in combat and they were shooting at you every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You'd never be able to forget it."

To make sure the nation doesn't forget his sacrifice either, the U.S. Postal Service is unveiling its newest stamp on Monday, Veterans Day.

Coolidge's face and those of 11 other WWII Medal of Honor recipients will provide the backdrop for what the Postal Service is calling the most iconic stamp in history: the Medal of Honor stamp.

The postal service honored the eight living World War II recipients of the medal at a dedication Monday at the National World War II Memorial in Washington.

"This is the most prestigious stamp issuance that we will ever undertake," says Susan McGowan, who manages stamp services for Postal Service. "There is so much to tell and honor. How do we communicate it all on a 1-by-2-inch box?"

Originally, the Postal Service considered putting medal recipients' faces on the stamps, but it wanted to make sure the stamp package honored all 464 World War II recipients.

Each package consists of 20 stamps on a souvenir sheet. It lists the names of every recipient and includes two stamp designs depicting Medals of Honor for the Army and Navy, the only service branches that awarded the medal at the time.

The faces of Coolidge and the other 11 living recipients as of 2012 form a border around the stamps on the souvenir sheet.

Production had to be rushed. Since the approval process last year, four of the living recipients have passed away.

"It can take four years for a typical stamp, but we couldn't wait that long. We needed to get it done for the remaining recipients," McGowan says. "As long as it took to bring this stamp to fruition, we knew we were working against the possibility of losing some more of these men."

Typically, 30 million copies of a stamp are printed. About 81 million of the Medal of Honor stamps are being issued. "That's how popular it will be," Postal Service spokesman Mark Saunders predicts. "These recipients are revered by all Americans. There is no one in this nation that has sacrificed more than these individuals."

Medal of Honor recipient and retired postal employee George Sakato, 92, will be traveling from his home in Colorado to Washington, D.C., for the Veterans Day stamp dedication ceremony at the WWII Memorial.

He recalls the moment he was told his Distinguished Service Cross, which recognizes extreme gallantry and risk of life in combat, would be upgraded to a Medal of Honor. A member of a Japanese-American Army unit, he was cited for charging an enemy stronghold in northern France in 1944, then taking command of his platoon and leading it in defending its position.

"I thought someone was pulling my leg," he says. "But sure enough, I went to Washington (in 2000), and President Clinton gave me the Medal of Honor."