USA Airmail Stamps ?

Can you tell me if this stamp was just for the USA forces or was this a normal issue.

Many Thanks Braveheart

Those have always been very nice looking stamps, but their usage has been something of a oddity in US stamp collecting.

According to the Scott catalog, their usage was "to pay for airlift of parcels from and to US ports to servicemen overseas and in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Valid for all regular postage. On April 26, 1969, the Post Office Department rules that henceforth that stamp "may be used toward paying the postage or fees for special services on AIRMAIL articles."

Interestingly, they are not officially considered "Airmail" Stamps as they are given Scott Catalog #1341.

Given the postmark date and location shown, it seems the latter rule would have applied to your examples.

This is kind of a relic of the Viet Nam conflict. In 1969 the U.S. averaged 475,200 troops in Viet Nam and many thousands more in support operations in Guam, Thailand and the Philippine Islands. This stamp was popular with sending parcels to these servicemen.

Thanks very much wt1 and Russ for your replys, clears things up for me.