Ralph A

That was worth the wait.

Really.

Feliz Navidad de Espa?a!!

Is that a Memel ribbon?

Le Card derri?re

Le Card

They are not Komsomol badges, they are Young Pioneer membership badges. Komosomol was open to youths from about the age of 14 onwards whereas the Young Pioneers were the organisation that younger children joined (I think from about 6 but may need to stand corrected). The badge on the left is the standard membership badge. The motto says "Always prepared".

Regards,

Paul

ps. These are attractive, but very common, badges.

Thanks! Yes they are common as dirt. I have several dozen and I'm sending them to my son's history class; one for each student therein. They are now studying the Cold War.

And what are they? Thanks, gents.

In that case, I won't waste Dave's time.

Nice sentiment, but anyone who has ever visited a federal penitentiary would not joke about it.

The spirit of the law is to punish the unscrupulous and not honest collectors. I read the underlying position papers (its nice to have friends on Capitol Hill) and they clearly state that honest collectors and historians are not the target, in spite of the double-talk. "It's OK to have it, but you can't make it, wear it in public, or sell it to someone who might misuse it..."

Sort of like the old marijuana laws... it is OK to have it, as long as you have a government tax stamp for it, which the government never printed, and in order to get the stamp you have to have the marijuana..." Double-talk.

But in this instance, I think collectors are still OK. Just don't wear it in public, and don't sell it to someone who might... if they do, you're liable. Just like The Citadel's honor code, "a cadel will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.

I'll tell you what, I'll get one of my lawyers to do a little work on this. The one I have in mind was (or perhaps still is) the chief counsel for the Panama Canal Commission, and he hasn't got much to do... (update: apparently Dave is now an advisor to the secretary for Congressional affairs.)

So relax. Give me some time and I'll get you an official position on all this.

thanks,

-the management.

Imperial guard?

Still life.

Here's a few more:

In post 3 he appears to be wearing a Chinese order on his medal bar after the Rising Sun. Can we have a close-up of it ?

The loveliest order of them all.

I don't have one yet. Thanks for showing.

See:

http://www.medalnet.net/The_Pour_le_Merite.htm

Here is my miniature:

Here are the rest of the napkin rings. They make for some interesting conversation at dinner parties.

Have any of the Gentlemen ever visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth?

Didn't have to. It came to me.

That is a great watch, Mike. I picked up this "kriegsblinde" model recently:

First non-comb doc I've seen. Thanks, Tom.

I have forgotten the name of this people. If I remember correctly, they represent the original inhabitants of the Japanese islands and they got sort of a raw deal much like Native Americans. I think.

All for now. Thanks for looking.

Too much fun. I think I went to school with the guy in the middle...

One of my favorites.

The usual array of Sacred Treasures, Golden Kite, Rising Sun, China Incident, Enthronement and Red Cross Danglers.

After.

Before.