Hommage to Kennedy

Since I haven't got a strong will to a thematic collection, other than a "I like-I don't like-Have I the room for it ?" policy, I usually take little time in front of stamp sellers' stands during philatelic exhibitions... with some exception such as this enveloppe :


During the 2004 Salon du timbre in Paris, I looked at a business specialized in covers. Stamp collectors asked for a topic or a country, and hop, from the wall full of boxes, appeared quickly an amount of covers waiting to be studied and sold.

At this time, I was looking for a first day cover of the first hommage to Kennedy US stamp, so I asked for covers about the assassinated president and finished to find this cover and its stamps and cancellations.


This commemorative enveloppe for the anniversary of JFK's death is ornated with two cancellations illustrated by the eternal flame that is burning at his tomb, as on the US stamp that quoted a sentence of his inaugural speech :

The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world... and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

The German stamp on the right is from West-Berlin, issued by the Deutsche Bundespost from the design of the Western German ones. But he is cancelled in Wiesbaden, Land of Hesse, in Western Germany. The american cancellation is a military one, from the Army and Air Force Postal Service and wear the code number APO 633. After a quick Google search, it corresponds at this time to a base in Wiesbaden.

A French collector is selling a similar cover on ebay (his announce), but you can see the careful placing of the stamps is not the same. Furthermore, the German stamp is clearly a Western one on this cover, not a Berliner one. These differences means many questions and I think I alone am far from the answer, but I don't regret this acquisition.