LESTER DE 1022

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Courtney Class Destroyer Escort Keel Laid September 2 1954 - Launched January 5 1956 USS LESTER DE-1022 Commissioned June 14 1957 - Decommissioned December 14 1973 Struck from Naval Register December 14 1973 Sold July 17 1974 for scrap

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1    (1957-71)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u)

1957-08-19

Note:

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS)

1967-10-20

Welcome to Norfolk, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type 9fty (USS,USPO)

1964-06-16

Note:

 

Locy Type 9fu

1957-08-19

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2(n)

1973-11-15

Last Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Other Information

LESTER earned the National Defense Service Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Hospital Apprentice First Class Fred Faulkner Lester, USN.
Born April 29 1926 in Downers Grove, Ill., Fred Faulkner Lester enlisted in the Navy November 1 1943 as a hospital corpsman. On June 8 1945, while serving with the U.S. Marines during the battle for Okinawa, Lester spotted a wounded Marine lying in an open field. The 19-year-old sailor unhesitatingly crawled to his aid under a concentrated enemy barrage. Although twice hit by hostile rifle fire, he succeeded in pulling the wounded man to cover. Too seriously wounded to administer aid, he instructed two members of his squad in the treatment of the rescued Marine. Realizing his wounds were fatal, he refused aid for himself and directed his men in the treatment of two other wounded Marines before he died.
Hospital Apprentice First Class Lester was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry.

 

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