Local Medal of Honor recipient featured on new stamps

A local Vietnam War veteran is being honored for his service.

Sgt. Peter Lemon, a Medal of Honor recipient and former postal worker, visited his local post office to talk about the new Vietnam Medal of Honor stamps.

“I’m very proud of the fact that I’m representing all of the Medal of Honor recipients, all those who have served in the military,” said Lemon, one of 48 living Medal of Honor recipients featured on the stamps.

When Lemon returned from the Vietnam War, he got a job at his local post office.

“I ended up being a mail carrier for a short period of time, for about nine months, before I moved to Colorado,” he said. “I thought it’d be a great idea if I could come down and speak to the letter carriers and let them know what a terrific job that they have done through the years.”

Post office employees said they were honored to meet Lemon.

“He definitely is an inspiration for all the vets,” saidWilliam Cook, an Air Force veteran and mail carrier. “The Medal of Honor is the highest honor in the military. It’s great that the post office is getting a stamp out there so vets can be recognized.”

Lemon said he’s always had an appreciation for the U.S. Postal Service.

“When I was in Vietnam,the only way we could get mail and communicate back home to the United States was either by sending out letters or receiving letters,” he said.

Lemon graduated from Colorado State University and received a master’s degree from University of Northern Colorado.