Dudeman

Yes, Rick?s contributions here are laudable. I too would like to think I have humbly assisted the hobby in general and have promoted this site in the past, now regrettably. In particular, I've also done favors off-line for many (most?) of the forum subscribers here - in particular, Ed Haynes and Christophe with other things, but not limited to free, professional translations. I?ve also offered my services to others here via PMs who did not choose to accept them. I don?t wear personal favors on my sleeve or use them as a subterfuge, however. Loyalty is nice, but still does not diminish my initial posting. I took issue with Rick?s orthodox insistence on his personal preference vis-?-vis a forum subscriber?s use of hobby standard (and yes, correct) terminology. I also demonstrated that in light of his abilities, Rick may not be in a position to criticize others? translations or others' use of them. Whether or not you perceive this as snide or insulting is up to you.

Rick, this is your forum and you can call insist on calling a Combat Service Medal a "spade" if you prefer, but you should not criticize forum members for using, dare I say, the hobby standard over your "preference." The medal's title "Za boevye zaslugi" is tricky to translate yes, but Combat Service Medal is a perfectly fine variant, as attested to by Igor and others. First, the medal was founded in 1938 to recognize COMBAT actions in Khalkhin Gol & Hasan - the actual very first recipients were Border Guards who apprehended violent criminals. The subsequent 1.2 or so MILLION decorations prior to late 1944 were awarded for COMBAT actions (of course with minor exceptions) and most of the subsequent recipients up 3.5+ million were also COMBAT veterans, whether they received the actual medal for their long SERVICE including combat or not. Second, "zaslugi" or merit, in Russian is in the plural: cumulative merit = service. "Service" as used in the Combat Service Medal also captures the ideal that the medal was awarded largely post-1944 for long service. Finally, Military Merit Medal works too, but by using that term you limit yourself to military and disregard Border Guard, NKVD, MVD, partisan, et al recipients. I would argue "martial" is actually a better word than "combat" or "military", but sounds pretty stupid in English. Before you insist on lingual purity and disparage others' "lazy" and "sloppy" translations, you may want to look a little closer to home. Your translations, like "machinegun-artillery brigade" for "cannon artillery brigade", "flamethrower reconnaissance officer" for "intelligence officer in a flamethrower battalion" (I can guarantee you the good major wasn't putting on face paint and doing a passage of lines into no-man's land), learn what a "orudiinii nomer" is and I could continue.

I never said the soldier didn't "assumed command". His commander, however, was "taken out of action" or "put out of action". This is a common, passive voice phrase and infers the commander was wounded, contused, or killed in action. To make the leap that the commander "panicked" is simply wrong.

This is NOT correct.

Yeah, seems kind of ironic when theft of intellectual property is being discussed...

Although this is generally correct, there is no mention of "heavy" or "machinegun" in this citation.

I believe row 8 #2 from left is the North Korean WWII victory medal

Although of little help, the top two words are "Here is buried..." You really must supply a better picture.

Your s/n is done with a rotating "Dremel" tool. The ones I saw were machine-engraved and the numbers were "blocked" as opposed to slanted, cursive.

At second glance, this may be for the middle east. The citation mentions the ZSU-23-4 which is a tracked vehicle AA gun. If it were a ZU 23-4 (without the "S" for "samokhodnaya" or self-propelled), it would be more likely to be in SE Asia manned by Russian advisors. Does anyone know if ZSU 23-4 (the "tank-looking" version, versus the 4-barrelled ground mount) was in SE Asia?

I've had two of these badges, 1767 and 2702. A document accompanying one of them was dated 1968, so maybe the 25th anniversary? Incidentally, the badge pictured here has the same overall design as my two, yet stylistic aspects are slightly different. As a result I think this particular one may have been a restrike or second factory's production.

Good morning Vietnam! And written up by a 3-star general...

Yes. It is for the Russian civil war and rare too.

If he's identified a particular person, than go with it. A cursive, cyrillic, lower-case "k" can frequently look like a cyrillic "n". It's so small I can't see.

This Hanko badge issue is the only veteran znachok I remember seeing with a s/n on it.