Soviet Aleksandr Pavlovich Burdin

[Ed_Haynes]

In 1967, Officer Candidate received a simple Medal for Military Merit (unnumbered).

[Ed_Haynes]

Interior:

[Ed_Haynes]

Him, closeup and personal.

[Ed_Haynes]

Award page:

[Ed_Haynes]

And researched. Award card:

[Ed_Haynes]

Reverse:

[Ed_Haynes]

And recommendation:

[Ed_Haynes]

And reverse:

[Ed_Haynes]

And translation:

[Guest Rick Research]

Ed-- did you get his service records too?

[Ed_Haynes]

Ed-- did you get his service records too?

Not "yet", boss. What I show here is what I received from the previous custodian. His Excellency the Research Master has been contacted.

If still living (born 1947?!) may not be centrally available.

Edited October 31, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Guest Rick Research]

Uh... we've got recent stuff out.

I'm just wondering, as an airborne officer,already an "overachiever" as an O-C, whether he ended up as a Colonel after the many interesting adventures of the last 4 decades of the previous century.

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Ed_Haynes]

Uh... we've got recent stuff out.

I'm just wondering, as an airborne officer,already an "overachiever" as an O-C, whether he ended up as a Colonel after the many interesting adventures of the last 4 decades of the previous century.

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

Yessssss!

Having "topped his (jump) class" in '67, where was he in Afghanistan??

Enquiring (and Inquiring) minds wanna know, NOW!

[NavyFCO]

I actually didn't request the personnel file for Burdin, though I did for the other awards. It probably should be interesting though... makes you wonder what happened to him down the road...

Dave

[Mondvor]

Just found this topic. I think that picture and the seal have nothing to do with the document. In my opinion they were added later, most likely by German dealer. First of all, military person would not appear on ID picture in a civil clothes. He should be in uniform. Secondly, it is a little chance that he was awarded with this medal in Kremlin. Also most of the documents during this time were issued without any pictures.

Finally, my good friend from Germany told me funny story. Some German beginner collectors refused to buy documents if they are without photograph. They said like "there is a special area for the picture, so it should be there". Well, Germans strictly follow the rules, but Russians do not

So German dealers just added fake pictures and seals to many original documents to satisfy unexperienced collectors. I have more examples of those things, if you want I can display them.

[Guest Rick Research]

I've got an Orders Book for two Orders of the Badge of Honor (1966 and 1967) with a civilian photo and Supreme Soviet stamp (just like the pre-WW2 ones in that it was issued at that level and not lower down).

There may have been a brief return to photos at that "50th anniversary of the revolution" period.

At least with a military personnel file, Ed should be able to MATCH the photo.

[Mondvor]

I've got an Orders Book for two Orders of the Badge of Honor (1966 and 1967) with a civilian photo and Supreme Soviet stamp (just like the pre-WW2 ones in that it was issued at that level and not lower down).

There may have been a brief return to photos at that "50th anniversary of the revolution" period.

At least with a military personnel file, Ed should be able to MATCH the photo.

Oh, sure it would be possible to match the photo from the book with the photo from personal file.

Also I think that the guy on the picture looks older than 20

[NavyFCO]

Not to be biased since I used to own it, but I think the photo is legit in the book. He looks to be about 20 years old, and with the "uptight" buttoned up shirt with no tie, I think he looks quite officer-candidate-ish. Besides, I got it from one of my best legit suppliers and for the price I paid for it, I don't think there was any monkey business going on.

My thought is this: Without knowing who Burdin was (since I did the research) what would the coincidence be in adding a photo of a uptight, healthy young-looking man to an award book with stamp when the vast majority of these award documents are for WW2 catch up awards? I think the chances are very, very unlikely.

I am (and will continue to be until proven otherwise) happy with the document.

Dave

[Mondvor]

Dave, I respect your opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. But still I do not understand why

1) cadet received his MM medal in Kremlin (it was outstanding event for such a small person on a bottom of the ladder).

2) he is not wearing uniform on the picture. For all military people in Soviet times it was mandatory to appear in a uniform on official ID pictures (except maybe secret KGB officers working undercover).

You mentioned "well known dealer" that you bought this medal from. But he might be not the first link in the chain of dealers this medal traveled through.

Anyway, please let me know if you find his picture in his personal file. I'm just curious

[Ed_Haynes]

Trust me, for this reason, among others, the request for more complete research has gone out.

Edited November 7, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Riley1965]

Dave, I respect your opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. But still I do not understand why

2) he is not wearing uniform on the picture. For all military people in Soviet times it was mandatory to appear in a uniform on official ID pictures (except maybe secret KGB officers working undercover).

Andrey,

Here is my researched Valetin Mikheev's Service record photo. He's NOT in uniform. He was Born, Raised, Fought and Died (1971) in Leningrad. He obtained the rank of Major (Artillery).

Doc

Edited November 7, 2006 by Riley1965

[NavyFCO]

You mentioned "well known dealer" that you bought this medal from. But he might be not the first link in the chain of dealers this medal traveled through.

Actually, I said one of my most legit suppliers, NOT a well known dealer.

I bought this from a fellow who worked for the US government (cannot say exactly what he did in this forum) and who travelled extensively in the former USSR during the period 1992-1994. He bought a considerable amount of Soviet uniforms, awards and the like during that time, much of which came directly through contacts that he established via his interpreters/Russian collegues which led to several beautiful groups that came directly from veterans as well as dozens of documented single and single awards. He stopped collecting right afterwards, and only recently pulled out what he had and offered what he had to me. His provenance is 100%, and considering what I saw in person at his house, I completely believe him.

If the photo was added, it was one of the very, very early bad documents. I still can't get past what the coincidence would be of a photo of someone the right age and the right category of person would be in a document that could have been to ANYONE.

Like I said above, until research proves me wrong, I am certain it's 100% legitimate.

Dave

[Mondvor]

To Riley 1965:

Do you know if this picture was taken during his active duty or after he was transferred into reserve?

[Riley1965]

All I know is that this is his official Service Record photo. The fact that he was wearing work out clothes instead of his uniform was noted by the researcher.

Doc

[Mondvor]

I decided to examine the great seal more carefully and found interesting thing. It has a snowflake instead of a star. I thought that only early (pre-war) orderbooks had a star. Then I checked my files to find post-war documents bearind a picture with a great seal of Supreme Soviet. I surprised that I found only few of them, mostly to well-known people. By most important finding was that they all had a star, not a snowflake. Please, take a look at the images below. They covered the time from 1954 (well-known military aircraft designer Lavochkin) to 1981 (nuclear submarine commander HSU Abbasov). Among them also famous piano player Richter and a legend of a coal-mine industry Stahanov.

Is that possible that for cadet Burdin Supreme Soviet of the USSR made an exception and used a seal with a snowflake?

Another explanation is possible. Picture is real, but seal is fake.