slava1stclass

Gents, LM citations to Guards Major General V. P. Sokolowsky and Guards Junior Lieutenant I. M. Zhurva. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, An auction house is currently offering this LM set to Guards Colonel B. I. Mutovin for a $600.00 fixed price. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This LM certificate/citation set to Guards Airborne Major General V. Selianinin was offered at auction this June. Opening bid was $300.00. Although seven bids were placed, it went unsold. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, LM set to Guards Lt Col I. N. Smirnov. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This Legion of Merit citation alone (the accompanying LM award certificate was not included) to Captain N. V. Nikitin sold at auction for $1,740.00 in October 2007. I can only assume President Roosevelt's signature was the principal reason it sold for that price. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Thanks to the research contributions of fellow forum members Gunner 1 (DFC and AM data) and GHB (LM Chief Commander data), I can offer an update to the chart seen in post #1 this thread. I offer it here as I'm unable to edit the original post. The following U.S. Army decorations were awarded to Red Army personnel for heroism or meritorious service in World War II: Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) - 53 Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) - 20 Silver Star (SS) - 119 Legion of Merit (LM) - 323 By degree: - Chief Commander - 9* - Commander - 35 - Officer - 85 - Legionnaire - 194 Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) - 46 Bronze Star Medal (BSM) - 40** Air Medal (AM) – 8 Notes: *Awards of the LM in the degree of Chief Commander to MSUs Vasilevskiy and Zhukov; Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov and Army Generals Antonov and Bagramyan have been confirmed via documentary evidence. LM Chief Commander awards to MSUs Govorov, Meretskov and Rokossovskiy, as well as Army General Eremenko, are based on photographic evidence. Additionally, documentary evidence confirms award of the LM Chief Commander degree to Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov. As it wasn't awarded via the U.S. Army, Kuznetsov's LM Chief Commander degree is not included in the above sub-total. His award, however, represents the 10th total LM Chief Commander degree known to have been awarded to a Soviet general/flag officer during WWII. **Information available in an OMSA publication suggests the number of BSMs awarded to Red Army personnel was higher. This is likely true since many BSMs were awarded at the U.S. Army corps level and below. The number above reflects only those BSMs to Red Army personnel authorized by War Department General Orders. It is also very probable the number of LMs awarded to Red Army personnel may be higher for the same reason. The same OMSA publication suggested one Soldier's Medal was awarded to a Red Army servicemember. To date, no evidence - documentary or photographic - has arisen to confirm this. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, I finally got around to analyzing NavyFCO's earlier excellent primary research contributions. Here are the breakouts by award dates: June 22nd, 1943 U.S. Military Awards Presentation at AMEMBASSY Moscow: Distinguished Service Cross - 20 presented Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) - 20 presented Navy Cross - 10 presented Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Navy) - 10 presented August 22nd, 1944 U.S. Military Awards Presentation at AMEMBASSY Moscow: Distinguished Service Cross - 25 presented Distinguished Flying Cross - 25 presented Silver Star - 50 presented Legion of Merit (Commander) - 25 Legion of Merit (Officer) - 30 Legion of Merit (Legionnaire) - 40 A few observations. These two presentation ceremonies accounted for 45 of the 53 known DSC awards to Red Army personnel; all of the known U.S. Army DSM awards (20); roughly half (10) of the 22 known U.S. Navy DSM awards; and slightly under half (50) of the 119 known Silver Star awards. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The Silver Star certificate seen in Wild Card's post (post #37 this thread) finally has a friend - the Silver Star certificate awarded to Lt Col V. R. Orekhov. Although not noted on his certificate, Orekhov was a Guards officer. He commanded the 89th Guards Rifle Regiment, 28th Guards Kharkov Rifle Division. He was a double ORB and OAN winner. Again, note the outstanding calligraphy found on early WWII award certificates to Red Army personnel. P.S. After looking at Orekhov's Silver Star certificate more closely, something seemed odd about the wording. Sure enough. Compare his WWII-vintage certificate's wording with that of a Vietnam war-era certificate - "A Silver Star" versus "The Silver Star." Regards, slava1stclass

Christian, I'm happy to learn Sgt. Gnitienko remains in good hands! Unraveling the mystery behind his true OGI serial number was one of the more interesting research endeavors ever chronicled in GMIC's Russia: Soviet Orders, Medals & Decorations sub-forum. Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to comment on the authenticity of the HSU in question. That said, I'll offer one observation - the serial number stamp seems unusually deep. Regards, slava1stclass

Herr Zulus, Nice to hear from you again after so many years. I hope all is well with Gospodin Gnitienko. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, As I noted in post #251 above, the lag time between field presentation of the actual decoration and production of the associated award documents was often very extended. In this example, the officer's LM documents were not produced until April 9th, 1946 although his cited actions occurred in May 1945. While U.S. Army field commanders were delegated authority to award the LM to foreign allies on behalf of the President, the associated formal LM documentation (award certificate and citation) originated in Washington, D.C.. The only award citations prepared on White House stationery for Red Army personnel I've ever encountered have been those for various degrees of the Legion of Merit. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, As GHB notes, this is clearly a "thrown together" Full Cavalier "set." While OGI s/n 2174 is legit, it was never officially awarded and therefore has no associated OGII or OGIII. The "advertised" OGII is a doctored OGIII. The "advertised" OGIII appears legit. In offering OGI s/n 2174 as part of a "Full Cavalier set", the seller is simply trying to move the OGI at his original asking price for the OGI as a stand-alone piece. Steer clear. Regards, slava1stclass

GHB, Thank you for your recent excellent contributions to this thread. At the annual Gunzenhausen, Germany militaria show in October 1994, one dealer from the former Soyuz had a stack of original Legion of Merit award certificates as awarded to Red Army personnel. All told, there must have been 15-25 - each with its associated citation on White House letterhead stationery with President Truman's autopen signature. In reviewing the stack, I noted most were awarded to Red Army field grade officers as either Legionnaire or Officer degrees. As I worked my way through the stack, to my surprise, I came upon four to five Silver Star certificates and one Distinguished Service Cross certificate all of which were also awarded to Red Army personnel. Judging from their sheer number and generally excellent condition, it would appear all the certificates were purloined from an archive where they had been held - never having been presented to the original/intended recipients. In practice, the certificates and citations often lagged behind the medals which were presented in the field. The thing that makes these certificates so interesting and collectible is that they were not awarded to U.S. Army personnel. According to the late U.S. military awards historian, Colonel (Retired) Albert F. Gleim, during WWII the only award certificates routinely presented to U.S. Army personnel were those for the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Purple Heart. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, JapanX raises a good point. Something along the lines of Archival Records Retrieval Specialist (ARRS) would be more accurate. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Subject Full Cavalier set is no longer listed on the dealer's site. Whether it sold or was returned to its consignor is unknown. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, First time I've ever encountered this style. Full Cavalier Major General T. P. Kruglyakov elects to wear his four St. George crosses as miniatures on his right breast. Decidedly understated, but very cool. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, We're rolling now. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Now that's the spirit! Keep 'em rolling in. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, He was first seen in post #168 this thread. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Keep those images coming! Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Not the best image, but another Distinguished Service Cross to this HSU. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A nice example of the Silver Star. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, As NavyFCO notes, the badge denotes a member of the Air Force faculty at the ВПА - Military Political Academy. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Now that's the ticket. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, He may also be seen in post #67 this thread. Regards, slava1stclass