War and Philately

From a stamp collecting standpoint, modern warfare is boring. Beginning with the American Civil War, war has always brought us interesting postal issues, covers, rates, locals semiofficials. Today’s war is not only fought high tech but communications are far less often by the postal route. WW II was a philatelist’s delight. Tens of thousands of collectible stamp and cover varieties were created, nearly all for postal (that is communication) need and not philatelic whim. As armies marched back and forth across Europe and Asia, new stamps were needed and special usages of older issues abounded. It would be nice if the scarcity of modern military induced stamps indicated less war and not just the increasing takeover of electronic communication.