slava1stclass

Dave, 1) Concur 2) Concur 3) Generally concur with the exception I've previously noted that the majority of the Soviet DSC winners were also HSUs. This would tend to argue for the valor element associated with the DSC as the DSM is a service and not valor award. The point I earlier raised concerning the lack of more appropriate lower-range awards in the U.S. Army inventory also definitely plays a role here. 4) Generally concur, however, it is inaccurate to state that most LTCs receive a LOM at retirement. The award of a LOM in such instances is often tied to two factors: a) total years served e.g., is he/she an on- the-number 20-year retirement or does it involve more years of active federal service and b) the duty positions the LTC previously held e.g., was he/she a former battalion commander. Dave, Concur. Regards, slava1stclass

Wid Card, Thanks for the posting. In the above picture, the sharp-eyed observer will note that Guards Maj Gen Baklanov is wearing the American LOM in the degree of Commander. He's jury rigged it to a pinback configuration. This appears to have been common practice among Soviet marshals and general/flag officers who were awarded a foreign neck decoration. Another great example (from the same Victory Parade book) is the British CBE awarded to the admiral who commanded the Soviet naval contingent in the 24 June 1945 Victory Parade. Regards, slava1stclass

Wid Card, Thanks for the posting. In the above picture, the sharp-eyed observer will note that Guards Maj Gen Baklanov is wearing the American LOM in the degree of Commander. He's jury rigged it to a pinback configuration. This appears to have been common practice among Soviet officers who were awarded a foreign neck decoration. Another great example (from the same Victory Parade book) is the British CBE awarded to the admiral who commanded the Soviet naval contingent in the 24 June 1945 Victory Parade. Regards, slava1stclass

Dave, Colonels should by no means be considered junior. While uncommon, it's not unusual for a U.S. Army colonel to be awarded the DSM. Although usually reserved for general officers, colonels are generally the lowest rank to receive it with most of them receiving it in conjunction with retirement after 30 years commissioned service. I agree that it is indeed very odd the U.S. Army awarded Soviet personnel in the rank of lieutenant colonel and lower a DSM. Back in those days, however, the Army didn't have the plethora of lesser ranking awards it now has e.g., Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal etc. This may be the real explanation. Someone then likely realized the LOM (established in 1942) was a much better fit and later the Bronze Star Medal even more so (once authorized in 1944). This possibly explains the very low number of DSMs (20) awarded to Soviets. Regards, slava1stclass

Dave, Thank you. It would appear as if Rickenbacker made the trip to Moscow to present the decorations on the U.S. government's behalf. Arkhangelskiy would go on to become a HSU on 26.10.44 only to be later KIA on 14.01.45. It's interesting to see how decorations to foreigners were handled back then - a DSM to a junior lieutenant. I say this only because the DSM ranks as the third highest award among American military decorations. A DSM award to an American officer of similar rank would be unheard of. Part of the reason the American military's LOM was created with four degrees (for foreigners only) was to allow it to be awarded to a wider range of ranks. Regards, slava1stclass

Steen, Thank you for the LOM example. As stated in thread referenced above, I saw 15-20 of these in one batch back in the mid-90s. All of them were in exceptional condition. Note, however, that at some point between June 1944 and April 1946 they switched to using a typewriter-like machine to enter the information on the award certificate. In the case of my DSC certificate and Wild Card's Silver Star certificate (both dated in 1944) a wonderful handwritten calligraphy script was used. Regards, slava1stclass

Dave, Very nice picture. DSM winner to the left and DSC winner to the right. Who is the gentleman in the center? Do you know their names? I should be able to identify both the DSM and DSC winners. More to follow. Regards, slava1stclass

HSU A.P. Voloshin was one of the 119 Red Army personnel awarded the U.S. Army Silver Star during World War II/the Great Patriotic War. It is clearly visible in the below photo. For the majority of the war, Voloshin served as a Battery Commander in the 271st Rifle Regiment, 10th NKVD Rifle Division (later redesignated the 18th Stalingrad NKVD Rifle Division). He was wounded five times during the course of the war. Approved for award of the Silver Star on 12 July 1944, he was personally decorated by President Roosevelt's Special Advisor, Harry Hopkins, in the Sverdlovsk Room of the Kremlin in October 1944. Averill Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, the U.S. Defense Attache, Moscow as well as Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, Gorkin, were among those who attended the ceremony. Voloshin would later march in the 24 June 1945 Victory Parade in Moscow where he carried the unit colors of the Moscow Artillery Academy. Regards, slava1stclass

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 (LOM) - 321 By degree: - Chief Commander - 7* - Commander - 35 - Officer - 85 - Legionnaire - 194 Bronze Star Medal (BSM) - 40** Notes: *Documentation is available to verify the award to MSU Zhukov. Awards of the LOM in the degree of Chief Commander to MSUs Govorov, Meretskov, Rokossovskiy, Vasilevskiy as well as General of the Army Eremenko and Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov, however, are based solely on photographic evidence. **Information available in an OMSA publication suggests that 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. I came across no hard evidence to confirm that either the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) or Soldier's Medal (SM) was awarded to Red Army personnel. This same OMSA publication, however, indicates that three DFCs and one oak leaf cluster (OLC) to the DFC as well as one SM were awarded. As with awards of the BSM, it is also likely that the number of LOMs awarded to Red Army personnel may be higher for the reasons cited above. Should you wish to confirm the award of any one of the above U.S. Army decorations to a specific Red Army soldier, please contact me via private message. I will be happy to check my list and furnish specific information concerning the awarding authority. The U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal awarded to top Soviet ace Pokryshkin (Triple HSU) is clearly seen in the below photo. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Indeed. During World War II, American recipients of United States military decorations did not receive the award certificate that normally accompanies the decoration with a few notable exceptions - the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Purple Heart (for KIA awards). During World War II the certificates were much larger in size than the present day version. On the other hand, these award certificates normally accompanied the decoration when awarded to a foreigner. In the mid-90s I came across a dealer at a small show in Europe who must have had 15-20 Legion of Merit (LOM) certificates (in the class of Legionnaire or Officer) with the accompanying citations on separate White House stationery all of which bore President Truman's autopen signature. He also had two Silver Star certificates and, most importantly, a certificate for the Army Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) - America's second highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor and normally the highest U.S. military decoration that may be bestowed on a foreigner. All of the certificates/citations had been awarded to Soviet Red Army personnel. Suffice it to say that I walked away with the DSC certificate. Mine was awarded to a Soviet Guards Lieutenant and signed by U.S. Secretary of War Stimson on 6 June 1944. If Dave was recently confronted with a heady price for a LOM certificate and citation, I can only imagine what a DSC certificate would command - considering that only 53 U.S. Army DSCs were awarded to Soviet personnel in World War II. By the way, most of these Soviet DSC winners were also HSUs. There's a great color shot of one such HSU/DSC winner - Guards Maj Gen Baklanov - in the Russian book about the 24 June 1945 Victory Parade in Moscow. He's also wearing a U.S. LOM. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: I have examined his Kutusov 1st Class. Very nice example indeed. Regards, slava1stclass

The photo was solo. Regards, slava1stclass

It should read "fahnenfl?chtigen." Good grammar, especially German grammar, is everything. Admittedly, scribbles make deciphering it even tougher. Regards, slava1stclass

Correct. Photo taken in 1941. Blow-up of u/i badge is below. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Although Soviet civil awards are not my forte, this picture caught my eye. In it the recipient is seen wearing the Medal for Valiant Labor with the first variant "triangle" hangar. Regards, slava1stclass

Rick, Don't disagree. I would venture to guess, however, that the thousands of photographs to which you refer were likely run-of-the-mill officer photos and not necessarily those of Full Cavaliers and HSUs. The Full Cavalier archive photos to which I referred earlier weren't coming out of the same local military commissariat - the stamps on the back of the photos attested to that. Judging from the remaining traces of paper on the back of these photos, they were pulled directly off the original copy of the Special Awards Record Card for HSUs and Full Cavaliers. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: File photo yanking/stripping was all the rage in the mid to late 90s. Back then certain inside dealers had them by the dozens - literally. Archival Full Cavalier vet photos dated from the late 70s (when the Soyuz began first issuing Full Cavalier booklets to the surviving vets) as well as HSU photos were in abundance. Such instances are virtualy unheard of now. It appears that tighter internal control mechanisms were implemented within the archives and no amount of dyengi will pry the remaining ones loose. Regards, slava1stclass

Not necessarily. Only Junior Lieutenants of the Air Force were eligible to receive the Order of Glory. Once promoted to Lieutenant, however, they could no longer be recommended for a higher class of the Order of Glory (if they hadn't already earned it as a Junior Lieutenant in the Air Force). The regulation also stipulated that serving Starshini who became Full Cavaliers would be concurrently promoted to the rank of Junior Lieutenant. Hope this helps. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Absolutely. What's even more unusual is the very rarely seen Slava/Khmelnitskiy 3rd Class winner. I have an original period photo of one such Slava/K3 winner - a battle of Koenigsberg vet - in my collection. Although the Soviet regulation provided for award of the K3 to enlisted personnel, it's rare to see period photographs of these recipients. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Very nice grouping. It's unfortunate the original documents weren't included, but rather photo copies thereof. This was common in the early days following the collapse of the USSR when the vet/his relatives often unloaded the orders/medals, but retained the Full Cavalier Booklet/Ordenskaya Knizhka to verify the entitlements accorded a Full Cavalier. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: This is Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory Kovalyov. His Imya and Otechestvo escape me at the moment although I believe the initials are A. S. I need to confirm. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Concur. A HSU/Double Slava winner grouping is a great score. It epitomizes the in-your-face combat valor that makes collecting Order of Glory Full Cavalier sets (and other unique Slava groupings such as this one) all the more appealing. Very nice. Thank you for sharing. Regards, slava1stclass

Ed, Precisely. She (it's the female of the species in the very first photo) can be thankful it was a fly boy manning that sniper rifle - and not a ground pounder. It might have been a different matter, however, if the encounter was while he was piloting his Yak-3. The Great Bustard is like a Ju-52 - large and slow flying. Regards, slava1stclass

To all: We have a winner!!!! Regards, slava1stclass

To all: Let's see now, albatross, seagull and strange looking eagle - unfortunately all incorrect. Hint: This is one of the world?s heaviest flying birds ? if not the heaviest. Its principal range is located throughout southern Eurasia. As you know, the former USSR is in Eurasia. C'mon, I thought you guys prided yourselves in your research skills. Regards, slava1stclass