slava1stclass

Gents, In his book, "Patton: A Genius for War", Harper Collins Publishers, 1995, author Carlo D'Este offered the following on pg. 738 concerning the events of May 14th, 1945 at Lt Gen Zakhvatayev's HQs, "As he (Patton) had predicted, a number of ceremonies were held by the two armies, most of them rituals of one-upmanship. At one event hosted by the Russians in occupied Austria, Patton and his staff were entertained by a ballet troupe from Moscow and dined on stuffed pig, caviar, and seemingly endless rations of vodka. The Russians decorated an American female reporter as a symbol of American womanhood. Not to be outdone. Patton improvised a decoration on the spot for the prima ballerina, which was efficiently produced by a member of his staff." Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Guards Maj Gen D. T. Shepilov was among the 12 other 4th Guards Army officers GEN Patton decorated in addition to Lt Gen Zakhvatayev on May 12th, 1945 in Linz. Shepilov served as 4th Guards Army's political commissar/member of the military council. He would later serve as the Soviet Union's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956-57 under Khrushchev. Khrushchev removed him from that post after learning of Shepilov's role in the effort to oust Khrushchev during the Anti-Party Group affair. In the below image, Patton is seen pinning the LM (either Degree of Legionnaire or Officer) to Shepilov's uniform. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The Russian general officer seen in post #40 this thread whom GEN Patton decorated with the LM (Degree of Commander) was Guards Lt Gen N. D. Zakhvatayev. Zakhvatayev commanded 4th Guards Army. The presentation ceremony occurred on May 12th, 1945 at the airport/airfield in Linz, Austria. Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry Division provided the honor guard. GEN Patton presented Zakhvatayev's award as well as lower degree LMs to 12 other Red Army personnel. There is also a report he awarded some Bronze Star Medals to Red Army personnel that day. Two days later, on May 14th, 1945, Lt Gen Zakhvatayev reciprocated at his HQs located 30-40 miles to the southeast. It was on that day that MSU Tolbukhin (Commander, 3rd Ukrainian Front) awarded GEN Patton his Order of Kutuzov First Class. In the attached image, Lt Gen Zakhvatayev inspects one of the 65th ID's honor guard soldiers prior to receiving his Legion of Merit.. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Some insight into how the U.S. Army award quota system for Red Army personnel operated in at least one U.S. Army combat organization. The following excerpt is from the book, "Last Shots for Patton's Third Army" by Robert Paul Fuller, New England Transportation Research, 2003 - pp. 186-187: "As of 1500 hours, May 6th, V Corps issued a "Letter of Instructions" to its five divisions. (Among other things) It stated that: "The American regimental commander would obtain name, rank and serial number, as well as organization with duties of 12 persons within the Russian division to receive United States Army medals. Russian officer recipients would receive the Legion of Merit (Degree of Legionnaire). Six Russian enlisted men would get the Bronze Star Medal, at the divisional level. In addition, if possible, the American regimental commander would get the same information for six Russian officers and equal number of enlisted men on the corps level. One Russian officer would be awarded the Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander), another Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) and four Legion of Merit (Degree of Legionnaire). Six Soviet enlisted men would each receive the Bronze Star Medal." Regards, slava1stclass

NavyFCO, Here are two wartime photos of TSgt Bieder from his hometown newspaper. The first was used in an article announcing his first Silver Star award (June, 1944). The second was used in an article announcing his first Bronze Star Medal with "V" device awarded for action in Belgium in September, 1944. Returning to the possibility Bieder may be depicted in post #1 above, while Soviet field award presentations to U.S. soldiers may have involved mixed U.S. units, I think it more likely they were done with homogenous units. That said, the OGIII-decorated U.S. soldier furthest to the right appears to be wearing just a CIB - with a possible single service ribbon below it. At that point in time Bieder would have had two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star with "V", possibly an AGCM and a service ribbon to his credit. Regards, slava1stclass

NavyFCO, Are you referring to TSgt Bieder's picture (holding his awards case)? Sorry, I didn't mean to infer that TSgt Bieder is one of the GIs seen in post #1 this thread. As best I know, those OGIII-decorated GIs are all 2nd ID soldiers; TSgt Bieder was in the 1st ID. I simply wanted to add Bieder as another U.S. Army OGIII awardee. That said, since posting the image seen in post #1, I may now have an I.D. on the OGIII-decorated black soldier. I still need to run a few trap lines. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Although not awarded by the U.S. Army, this group to Petty Officer 1st Class Petr Korneevich Kochetkov deserves inclusion in this thread. He was among the 10 Soviet naval personnel to be awarded the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal at the June 22nd, 1943 presentation ceremony at AMEMBASSY Moscow. Kochetkov was a section crewmember on mine-sweeper 808, Order of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Although a DSM award to a petty officer in the U.S. Navy would be largely unheard of, Kochetkov's Soviet-awarded ORB (October 1942) served as the basis for his USN DSM. He would earn his Ushakov medal and OPWII thereafter. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Reenergizing this long-dormant thread. I just happened upon this image (it dates to November 10th, 2004) of WW II veteran Walter R. Bieder who was then 83. He passed away in July, 2008 at age 87. He finished the war with the rank of Technical Sergeant. He was a platoon sergeant in E Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division - the Big Red One. He was awarded two Silver Stars; two Bronze Stars with "V" device for valor; three Distinguished (later Presidential) Unit Citations; the Combat Infantryman's Badge; seven campaign credits (with credit for two assault landings - Sicily and Normandy); the French and Belgian fourragerres; and the Soviet Order of Glory Third Class - "a medal from the Russians apparently for not missing a day in combat from Sicily to the war's end." Here is TSgt Bieder's recollection of the circumstances surrounding his OGIII award: "When the fighting was over, I got decorated by the Russians. I didn’t even know it was coming. I didn’t know a thing about it. But one day I was told I was going to Pilsen (Czechoslovakia) to receive a decoration from the Russians. My Lt. heard that I was going to get a decoration and he couldn’t understand. He told the other sergeants, “What the hell did he do to deserve that? He don’t deserve it. I deserve it.” The guys told me all this when I come back from the decoration the next morning and at chowline for breakfast. He was standing up with the other officers and I had that medal on my shirt. I walked up to him and I took the medal, “I understand you deserve this medal more than me. Here, goddammit.” I stuck it on his shirt, and walked. Hutch was standing up there trying to keep from laughing. The Lt. took the medal and he was so mad he threw it on the ground. Him and I, we just didn’t get along. I wouldn’t have minded so much if the man knew what he was doing. I mean, you get some arrogant guys but they know what they’re doing. This guy didn’t know nothing." A really great story. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Although not awarded to Red Army personnel, I've come upon two LM certificates (each in the Degree of Officer) that bear President Truman's signature like the President Roosevelt example seen in post #284 this thread. The first was to a Royal Air Force Wing Commander and was dated August 4th, 1945. The second example attached herein was to the Surgeon General of the First French Army and is dated August 17th, 1945. These discoveries raise the likelihood that similarly-signed Truman LM certificates may have been issued to Red Army personnel - although we have yet to encounter any. Furthermore, we can also confirm the "first version" LM certificates bearing the Commander-in-Chief's signature were issued as late as August 17th, 1945. Regards, slava1stclass

GHB/GBH, Thank you for your kind words and thank you, too, for your outstanding contributions to this thread. The LM Chief Commander and Commander citations, as well as DFC certificate, are all first-seen examples for this thread. They are truly great additions. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Guards Airborne Major General D. Drubushef. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Another Roosevelt-executed LM citation (Degree of Officer) to Colonel N. K. Rogozin. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Another example of a Roosevelt-executed LM set (Degree of Officer) to Lt Col P. M. Sidorchuk. Like the Roosevelt-approved LM to Guards Major Burchik (post #284 this thread), this one was also signed on June 26th, 1944. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Major D. M. Kotliarsky. Note that his award appears to be a direct consequence of U.S. forces linking up with Soviet forces in Austria at war's end. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Guards Colonel A. M. Bondurenko. It sold for $976.00 (including premium) at a Bonham's auction on June 23rd, 2010. His citation reads, "Colonel of the Guards Alexander Dmitrovitch Bondurenko, 39th Guard Infantry Corps, Red Army, performed outstanding services with military efficiency, complete understanding and willing cooperation, contributing materially to the success of combined operations in Europe." Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Colonel M. M. Mescheriakov. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM certificate to Guards Colonel N. N. Gladkoff. The citation for his LM reads, "Colonel Nickolai Nickolovitch Gladkoff, 20th Budapest Guards Infantry Corps, Red Army, displayed exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services, contributing materially to the success of combined operations in Europe." Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM certificate to Colonel D. M. Vescikov. The citation for his LM reads, "Colonel Dimitri M. Vescikov, Red Army, displayed exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services as Commanding Officer, 928th Infantry Regiment. His personal courage and skillful tactical employment of his forces contributed to the defeat of the enemy in Europe in May 1945." Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM citation to Lt Col K. P. Makal. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Captain S. S. Nochnoy's LM certificate and citation. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Although we've seen a LM citation to a Red Army officer bearing President Roosevelt's signature (post #265 this thread), this is the first example I've come across of a LM certificate issued to a Red Army officer during his presidency. There are a couple of noteworthy points: 1) Unlike the bevy of 1946 post-war catch-up LM certificates seen in this thread, this Roosevelt wartime certificate is a different version. Note the signature blocks: Secretary of War to the lower left and Commander-in-Chief (Roosevelt) to the lower right. On the post-war LM certificates, the signature blocks are: Adjutant General to the lower left and Secretary of War to the lower right. 2) Unlike DSC, Silver Star and DFC certificates to Red Army personnel issued within two weeks of this LM certificate's date (see posts #37, #246 and #262 this thread), this LM certificate was typewritten in the font common to post-war LM certificates and was not executed in handwritten calligraphy. That said, a thought crossed my mind. It may be possible the handwritten calligraphy seen on the June 1944-dated DSC, Silver Star and DFC certificates was accomplished once the signed, but otherwise blank certificates, were received at U.S. Military Mission to Moscow. The three examples cited above were all presented at the August 22nd, 1944 ceremony at AMEMBASSY Moscow. Without further ado, the President Roosevelt-executed LM certificate (Degree of Officer) to Guards Major N. Z. Burchik. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Major N. Kiesntzoff. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Guards Major General G. F. Vorontzov. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The LM citation to Lt Col P. M. Bordekov (Degree of Officer) was offered at auction in June 2000. It did not sell at that time. The auction house's estimated value was $1,000.00 - $1,500.00. Lt Col Bordekov's Legion of Merit certificate dated April 9, 1946 signed by Robert P. Patterson, Truman's Secretary of War, was included. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This Category 1 Full Cavalier set to Ivan Tikhonovich Rubezhniy sold at auction in the U.S. on July 17th, 2014. Sale price was $7,000.00. What is especially cool about this set is the fact the OGIII and OGI serial numbers match - legitimately so. Go figure the odds on that! Regards, slava1stclass