hunyadi

The photo is post #6 is titles 'Two-time [winnters of the] Excelent Platoon.' All of the members in the photo are from the Signals branch and the three men in the center are those that have won the ultra rare 'Excelent Platoon Leaders Badge'. Those flanking them have only one of the awards on thier chest (square badge). The one on the right with a circular badge is the 'Excelent Machine Gunner' (or it may be the light machine gunner - hard to tell) From what I can see I would think that the loops on Gordons tunic is probably for one of the 'Excelent' round badges from the pre 1956 era. Could also perhaps be the Haditorna Badge (?) Here is the 1957 version of the Excelent Platoon Badge (same as the 1954 type - only the center crest was changed)

According to the Badge Book published in 1971 this is the "Eminent Soldier" first class badge. There were several variants. This looks to be a post 1970's version.

Ed told me to make you suffer - so I did - interestingly the photo only comes up in Hungarian references, so I knew that would be hard as I could not find the photo on the web, but once you typed in 'boys' and 'leather' in Wikipedia you got the hits, not quickly, but they were there. Once I threw in the Lenin link, I knew it was only a matter of hours... I have more to keep you all guessing, but probably the best thing is to not 'give' the questions to me... make me pay for them...

Yep - the winnner is Dan!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Soviet_Republic As Szamuely told then where to go, it was Cserny who did the actual leading and 'dirty work' of the 200 boys in leather... Back to you Dan!!

Even closer - yes the man with Lenin is Tibor Szamuely, but that is not the man in the photo I posted for the question! Szamuely was always clean shaven. The Lenin Boys that ran around terrorizing the populace in Leather Jackets is the exact link you need to make for who he is but Szamuely is not him. The other photo that I added to 'help' is that of Matyas Rakosi uppon his graduation from the Lenin Agitation School in 1918. Rakosi was also one of the Lenin Boys, so the man in the back of the car is not him either. Who else could it be - remember the imortant folks, those that led rode in the back of the cars...

Elvtars Christian! You are sooo close...you have all the keywords to find the comrade in the back of the car....

perhaps this will make it a little more clear? More photos of the boys....in leather....

Now - I think I will hand this to you on a silver platter with these - but here are a few photos of the boys... Sorry if the quality on this is so poor -

ROFL All interesting answers and guesses - but the only reason he is related to anything Soviet is becasue he was a POW...

OK - keywords to help - Boys and Leather (notice the jackets of everyone else in the car?)

Peter! Yes you are absolutely correct - welcome to the forum!!! Magyar vagy?

So - are you ready for another clue?

I would find it hard to plop down a sum of money for these either as more than just curios. There could be several explinations, but it could be that Ungarn and Horvath got their dies from whoever produced these EKs. either in 1941 or 1957? Still for $15, not a bad little piece to throw in the dispaly cabinet, even if its not 'wartime'...

Bulgarian - see http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13644

Bulgarian...see this thread for Hungarian tunics http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13644

Here is my observation - The fake EK's that started showing up in Hungary and supposedly made by Ungarn and Horvath have frames exactly like these! They were interesting curiosities with the rounded inner conrenrs and the die flaws on the beads. The frame shown in the article clearly has sharp innner corners. Regardless these are interesting pieces, but knowing how it all goes - if someone can make a buck off of making anything - human nature dictates that they should and they do...

First one was the worst with schrapnel up and down one side - kept him out of action for about a month, then four months later the schrapnel wound to the hand (for which he still cant feel his thumb - another reason he didnt want to report it, probably out of fear of being declared unfit for combat...) Then the last through n through. Talking with my father the Army didnt have any official mehtods; for trying to keep the veterans alive as its a tricky thing to balance. If you say you have a policy of three wounds and you go home - there are alot of folks getting superficial wounds and going home early, but you also dont want to waste those with combat experience either, so apparently the commanders are given the choice for who gets sent home when and why. During Vietnam the JCS ran it as a 'ground' operation so the Army and Airforce fell under the main Amry set of rules, ideas, etc... the Navy was considered as secondary to the operation and as such when it came to awards, (in particular) the Navy was on their own to give them out and determine who got to go home, (a situation of 'oh you fired the six inch guns at the shore line - give that gunner a bronze star!) but this also came at a local unit level. Apparently the unit of the Senator made a nice policy of three PH's and you go home - it was an easy way to get him out of their hair....accoriding to my fahters sources - he worked for the JCS.

I threw the wings as in decorations as she had to earn them and in some respects are just chest salad. She was young and using the Natl Guard to pay for school and a new Jeep with big wheels... Now as a mother of two, its hard to imagine her jumping out of perfectly good ariplanes, unloading the belt on an M60 or gutting a training dummy with a bayonet. She got the jump and rigger wings from the AA unit as she was chosen to be the chute packer for the target drone. But by the time that she got back they switched to the blast it appart and glue it back together syrofoam drones - no need for a chute on that one. She served from 1989 to 1993 then went inactive and discharged in 1997. For her it was the sense of adventure at the time - doing something 'real' as one had been training for the moment. Everyone in her old AA unit survived and came home just fine, but it was a little sour as they kicked her out for the deployment of desert shield as she was a woman and they didnt want women in a front line unit. So she got the next best thing in water purifucation. But the war ended before she could deply. But for what she missed her brothers made up for - all three have deplyed in Iraq, two of them twice, one heavily decorated for combat (IMHO)

My information comes from my brohter-in-law serving in Iraq whose unit NCOs were told that if they get wounded three times they are sent homeside. He's an NCO, so the other ranks may or may not know. But for that particular division / regiment (???) it seems to be a policy. So I will backstep a bit on a total picutre. He got hit three times, the second one was a slight shrapnel wound that the medic was able to fix up for him, but he didnt get it reported further than that as he was afraid that he would get hit soon and then sent back while his men needed him. He did get hit a third time with a through and through gunshot wound. But he was able to stay in country and finish up his term.

Its interesting to see the various points about a new medal that 'commemorates' an event. My wife who served in the North Dakota National Guard first in an AA unit and then in a water purification unit (how elese can you get to Iraq as a woman? - but Desert Shield / Storm ended befroe her unit deployed, but her AA unit did - but she was a girl...long story) Anyhow - for her time in service on the weekends and two weeks a year she got. Jump Wings Rigger Wings ARCOM AAM National Defense Medal Basic Ribbon and Sgt Stripes... She does 'qualiy' for the Cold War medal - but she thinks that she got enough chest metal already

Gordon - here is the post from the 'top secret book'. My regulations for the Munkasor from 1979. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=23083 Can you add your rank tab information (the book is devoid of it!)

From what I understand - today you cant get more than two oak leaf clusters in a conflict beofre you get sent home...

Frightening - isnt it? Keep trying - there are some clues besides the mans face, look at the details...a picture is worth 1000 (Google search) words...at least...

Sorry - nope...

Parade kit