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And here is the Pershing Rifles Regimental Commander's Award -

And here is the ROTC Cadet Heroism awards, I don't remember Pershing Rifles having a lifesaving award, but it's possible.

Lukasz - Here is a quick scan of the ribbon bar I wore while in Pershing Rifles National Headquarters in the late from 1978-81. The red white ribbon on the lower right side is the National Headquarters staff ribbon, the one next to it is the Pershing Rifles longevity ribbon, the ribbon itself represents one year of service and each pip one additional year. I was unable to find a Regimental Staff Ribbon but as I recall it was a metal R on a blue and white or purple and white ribbon similar to the National Headquarters Ribbon. Kevin

Lukasz - I'll try to find them and scan them. There are several other Pershing Rifles ribbons/medals including those for the rifle tournament, longevity, achievement and Regimental Commanders award. There is also a National Commanders award which is not actually a ribbon but a silver metal bar. Kevin

I was on the P/R National Staff in the late 70s/early 80s and have both the National and Regimental Staff Ribbons, but unfortunately I don't be believe I have spare ones. I don't remember a Life Saving Award for P/R, but there was one for ROTC which I also have an example of in my collection. I can provide photos if you like. Kevin

Sivart - Are you talking about the cord or the oval plate with the German eagle attached to it? I have a set of Bronze, Silver, Gold West German Schutzenschnur from when I was stationed in Germany in the 80s. The oval pate is metal on all of them and the cord appears to be made of a silver metalized thread that is cold to the touch. Both are non-magnetic and the whole thing light weight so I'm thinking that maybe aluminum or another non ferris metal was used. Kevin

I just checked, it's the same VOPO ribbon combination as in Rick's first post. Kevin

I don't know if it's been mentioned on this forum before but renowned Stasi collector Ralph Pickard published a book at the end of 2007 called Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia; A Collector's Guide. What an outstanding book, I got it in December and am still going though it, there is just to much rich detail to absorb at once. Here is the text from his ad in the February 2008 Military Trader for those who might not be familar with the book: New book now available about the DDR Ministry for State Security (MfS) awards and documents. This book is essential to East German collectors, researchers, historians or anyone interested in the first book that describes the awards and other unique items worn and carried by members of the STASI organization. This book illustrates in detail some of the DDRs most interesting medals and in particular the award documents presented ot the STASI members during the mid 1950s through the end of the 1980s. This hard cover 260 page book with dust jacket, has over 400 color photographs including time-line charts relating to the DDR award documents. To order go to: Frontline Historical Reviews __________________ Kevin

I have a VOPO one piece cloth ribbon bar with two ribbons. I'll try to dig it out tonight. Kevin

It's a great book in which Ralph has focused on the certificates for each of the awards given to the Stasi and the periods they were issued rather than the medals. This is because most Stasi awards were identical to what was given to the NVA or Grenztruppen, the only thing that identifies them as Stasi are the certificates. Kevin

Per Gordon's note, Chapter 14 of Ralph Pickard's new book discusses Stasi Anniversary Badges and Documents. According to Ralph's book these badges were established in Feb 1970 on the 20th Anniv of the official founding of the MfS and were given every 5 years thru 1990. The Stasi was disbanded before the 40th Anniv badges could be issued. He also states that these badges were not only issued to staff members but some foreign officers and family members of Stasi staff as well. This section of the book has a number of photos of these badges and award documents in color. Ralph's excellent book Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia; A Collector's Guide is available at: http://frontlinehistorical.com/index.html Kevin

Most of the DDR Passports I've seen are for retirees. I believe after retirement they were authorized an annual trip to West Germany. I have such a hardback passport for a woman born in 1910 who made annual trips to West Berlin of between 14 and 30 days from 1974 to 1982. I've also heard that the reason why the DDR encouraged these visits was the desire for a percentage of these retirees to say in the West, thus reducing their requirement to pay retirement benefits. Kevin

Gordon, I just picked up a crest today for the 127th Infantry Regiment. Are you still interested? Kevin

From my experience the ARCOM (without V device) was and is generally awarded for periods of service or achievement. I received several over the years as an award for service in different units as a company grade officer, as this was generally considered the standard award for Captains and senior Lieutenants. I also received one early in my career for achievement during an emergency deployment exercise as the Bn S-1. Standards vary widely based on the unit, but I recall they were much harder to get in the early 80s than later in my career. Again, my experience was that the number of awards of the ARCOM and AAM were generally higher and standards more liberal in a deployed environment than in garrison. When I served in Haiti in the mid-90s I had a Bangladeshi Captain work for me and I put him in for an ARCOM at the end of his tour. Kevin

Long story short...the case came for the Supply and Services Division of the Berlin Brigade and along with hundreds of others that were used for decades for storage and shipping within the Brigade and S&S Div. I worked for this organization at the time I left Berlin and asked my German workers if they could bring me a strong box which I could use to ship professional books. The next day this crate appeared. I asked about it's origin and was told that these crates were used to ship Nazi party and SS records to the Berlin Document Center. From Jul 45 until Oct 53, captured Nazi Party records were consolidated at the BDC. After they were no longer of use to the Center they were shipped to the S&S Div. This particular crate has a cryptic marking "SS Group" which I assume means that it contained SS records shipped to the center. I had a tour of the Berlin Document Center when I was stationed in Berlin. It's housed on an underground installation that was used by the Gestapo to monitor all calls in and out of Berlin. For a bit more on the BDC see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Document_Center

Inside of crate. Inside looks fresh, like it was made yesterday.

The other end of the case with a close up of the somewhat cryptic SS records group label:

Photo of Lid. I believe Pol Div is Political Division:

Had the day off so I was cleaning up the "bunker" (garage) this AM. In the process I ran across this German Ammo box that I used to ship professional books back from Berlin when I was stationed with the Berlin Brigade almost 20 years ago. I had almost forgotten about it. I looked up the markings today on the internet and it appears to be a shipping crate for 20 Sprengriegel/R.Mi. 43 or Riegel mine 43 which was a particularly nasty German steel cased anti-tank bar mine used in WWII. Here are a couple of photos of the crate. This crate was used to ship SS records to the Berlin Documents Center after the war and ended up the the Supply and Services Division of the Berlin Brigade with several hundred others for use is shipping and storage. I'm not familiar with WWII crates, so if anyone has an idea as to value and rarity I'd be most appreciative. Kevin

Thanks Paul & John for the positive comments . Kevin

Got a package out of the blue from my Aunt today for my birthday. These were bring backs by my Uncle who served as an Infantryman in the 30th Infantry Division during WWII. She says he got them off of a German "soldier". They are interesting because they are Luftwaffe (they appear a bit orange here by are indeed yellow) and the collar tabs are Hauptman, the shoulder boards are Leutnant with no indication of rank pips. All have evidence of hand stitching to the uniform. Kevin

Mike - Your info was helpful to me. I picked up a 1915 dated Prussian Pickelhaube on a wim at an estate in Iowa nearly 20 years Ever since watching Hogan's Hero's as a child and seeing one on Colonel Klink's desk I've wanted one. Kevin

Grant - Interesting, they were all over e-bay a couple of years ago and inexpensive as were Banner der Arbeit II and III. I got mine in April 05 for around $10. But they should still show up on E-bay.de Just goes to show that you got to grab this stuff when it's available because you never know when you will see it again. Kevin

Some of the WAF DDR Forum posts relating to Jahn: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ead.php?t=99497 http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ead.php?t=74084 http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ead.php?t=88961 http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ad.php?t=126031 Kevin

It's the Verdienter Militarflieger der DDR Medal. Which is something like Outstanding or Meritorious Military Flyer of the DDR. Kevin