By Eric Richard, Intern, National Postal Museum, Summer 2017

On May 15, 1918, the first official U.S. Airmail Service flight took off from Polo Field in Washington D.C. The same model planes took off from Bustleton, Pennsylvania and Belmont Park racetrack in New York. The new service was scheduled to operate between Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City once a day, Monday through Saturday. Before long the service grew to include a route from New York City over the Allegheny Mountains to Chicago, Illinois. Later a route was added from Chicago through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Nevada into San Francisco, California. During its existence, the Post Office-operated airmail service used several type of airplanes, from wooden biplanes to all metal monoplanes.

Current Belfast YAV Beth R. created a video for the recent YAV Discernment weekend.

By Air Mail Stallion

As I've shared before, Discernment (a.k.a. Placement) was the first time I met the volunteers I would serve with in Belfast, and felt welcomed into the YAV community that I love so much. Beth sent me the video a few weeks ago for a little trip down memory lane, and now that she's posted it on YouTube I'm happy to share this opportunity for you to see an updated glimpse into the life of a Belfast YAV:

' Air Mail is the record of an epistolary friendship forged in a time of political peril, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. These letters are pure outpourings of deep thought and daily life. All air mail items must bear the superscription “BY AIR MAIL”. You can get blue air mail labels for free at the post office. You should affix the label to the top left hand corner of the address side of the envelopes, or close to the address on parcels and packets (close to each address if it is shown in more than one place on the item).

Send By Air Mail

By Air Mail

And don't forget - if you are between the ages of 19-30, and you are interested in a career in non-profit work, humanitarian aid or church service, you can still apply to be a Young Adult Volunteer at one of our 15 National sites! See www.pcusa.org/yav for more details.