ehrentitle

Gordon, What great luck. I spend 6 months in the late 90's in Kaposvar, Hungary and scoured all of the local flea markets and found nothing NVA related. There was however a fair bit of Soviet stuff, but almost all modern and common. Kevin

Ok, Good find. It must have been listed under something other than East German, Stasi perhaps lol Kevin

Dan, Congrats. If you got this badge from one of Torsten's .99 Cent auctions you got it from a very reputable dealer. There are dozens of different types of these Stasi ID pins out there. Kevin

Ed - Very nice indeed! Has anyone looked into establishing a dedicated forum for DDR insignia, medals and uniforms? Something like the recently created Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria of Japan forum? I've seen increased interest here in recent months on DDR collecting. It could be either under the Germany: Imperial Germany & Austria-Hungary, Weimar Republic, Third Reich, Post 1945, Militaria & History category or the Imperial Russian, Soviet & Eastern Block Country's Militaria & Awards forum. I can't imagine that there is more interest in Awards of Socialist Albania than DDR. Kevin

Ed great medals. I'm still digging thru the garage looking for the Kukris, but found this today -

After seeing Paul Murphy's post on Nepalese buttons I thought it might be fun to start a thread on Nepalese insignia an Khukuri's. To kick things off here is a pair of Major insignia given to me by our Nepalese Transportation Officer on the UN HQ staff in Haiti -

Kevin - Too funny, I suspect it was somewhere farther east, perhaps the steppes of Ukraine. Look how malnurished the guy on the right looks. This was one of those random Berlin flea market finds back in the 80s. One guy hand hundred of boxes of books, photos, letters etc that you would rummage thru and offer him a price. Kevin

Thanks Paul - I always though this might be an air defense unit being used in a ground defense role because of what appears to be an 88 in the shed behind them and the binos on the field table. Kevin

Thanks Gordon, got the most important items installed, TV and Computer. I'm working on staining bookcases as we speak. One done and one to go. Budapest is one of the coolest cities in Europe, I went there several times when I was stationed in Hungary supporting operations in Bosnia. Kevin

"Down Time" somewhere in Russia -

When I served in Haiti with the UN the Nepal contingent was making kukris out of automobile leaf springs. I have two somewhere that were presented to me by the contingent commander. No marking whatsoever. So this is very much a cottage industry and cultural tradition. Kevin

Cloth Colored CIB 2nd award.

Here is a Vietnam era cloth color CIB on a uniform of a Quartermaster 1st Lieutenant, w/ 1st Cavalry Division combat patch and 3rd Army patch.

Steve - Great website. I have a standard clutchback WWII CIB as well as all of the "modern" color and subdued full size badges up to the 3rd Award. I do however have an interesting color cloth CIB on wool that my aunt in AZ found and sent me a couple of years ago. Here it is - Kevin

Technically it is the Naval Parachutist Badge but it is most commonly associated with Marine Recon units. Kevin

Paul - Did you ever get my e-mail with my EG Shoulderboard spreadsheet? Kevin

I think you are right on the foreign friends. See this press release from the Spanish Army: http://www.ejercito.mde.es/ingles/decet/noticias/014.htm On Base ?General Morillo? in Figueirido, Pontevedra RELATIVES OF THE 12 SOLDIERS FROM THE LIGHT INFANTRY AIRBORNE BRIGADE KILLED IN THE "COUGAR" ACCIDENT RECEIVE MEDALS FROM THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT. The ceremony will take place during the commemorative events for the 37th anniversary of the first air transport by the 7th Light Infantry Airborne Brigade ?Galicia? which will be presided over by General Virgilio Sa?udo, commander of the Rapid Response Force The commander of the Rapid Response Force, General Virgilio Sa?udo Alonso de Celis, tomorrow on Base "General Morillo" in Figueirido, will preside over the military parade that brings to an end the commemorative events for the 37th anniversary of the first air transport by the 7th Light Infantry Airborne Brigade ?Galicia?, based in Pontevedra and Siero, Asturias. During the military ceremony, relatives of the 12 soldiers from the Light Infantry Airborne Brigade who were killed on 16th August last, in Afghanistan in an accident involving a "Cougar" helicopter from the Army Helicopter Forces will receive the extraordinary medal of the Order of Ghaz? Mir Masyedi Khan, awarded by the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (a Ghaz? is, in the terminology of this country, a warrior hero). The award Decree -based on section 19 of article 64 of the Afghan Constitution, textually states: "To the end of commemorating and recognising the outstanding services of 17 Spanish servicemen from the International Security Assistance Force, in consideration of their outstanding participation in the peace and stabilisation process in this country and for their participation in the fight against national enemies, having been killed in an aviation accident while undertaking a valuable mission, this extraordinary governmental medal of Ghaz? Mir Masyedi Khan is awarded...? The Decree, signed by president Hamid Karzai, concludes with the names of the 17 deceased. In addition to the military parade, the Light Infantry Airborne Brigade has celebrated various events in Pontevedra, and among those outstanding are a passacaglia (music parade) by the Brigade War Band, a photography exhibition and a concert by bands from the Naval School in Mar?n, the Army Sub-inspection General in Valladolid and the Light Infantry Airborne Brigade itself. On 30th May, a journey by patrols along the Portuguese Way of Saint James (Tuy-Santiago) began with the presence of various participants from other armies.

Airforce -

Dan - Here is a Bund chart for ranks and collar insignia. The collar insignia provides a good guide to branch color. Kevin

Dan - Interesting thread. I often get these Bundeswehr shoulderboards when I buy East German boards. I've got bags of them I don't know what to do with since very few people appear to be collecting them. Most all of mine are sown together and are in unused condition without rank pips or devices. They frequently show up on E-bay, sometimes with claims that they are WWII vintage. I have an old Bundeswehr guide somewhere that tells what the branch colors are, I'll have to dig it out. Kevin

LOL I noticed it and was revising my post when you mentioned it. He must have been a real Airborne-Ranger stud about 25 or 30 years ago.

Wardak is also wearing the US blue Infantry cord and the US Infantry School Instuctor's pocket fob on his left breast. Looks like he also has a Ranger tab on the left shoulder, and on the right breast is wearing US Airborne wings and the international student badge for the Infantry School. So it appears that he spent some Hoah time at Ft Benning. Kevin

Thanks much! Kevin

Anyone?