NavyFCO

It's quite odd...why would they go through all the effort to create it with the maker mark and serial number? The Germans had access to thousands of originals...

Pesh, publishers don't read through books, they just look at the pictures (joke ) hehehehe I am hopping there are many photos ! hehehe

There are many, many, many photos..... I tried to make the book something people like me (who would rather look at photos than read) could enjoy...

Dave,

Apropos. Currently on the well-known auction site. Per the item description: "ORIGINAL RARE WWII RIBBON BAR RACK TO USN PILOT WITH BRITISH DFC/RUSSIAN ORDER OF GLORY. Bought from local veteran's estate. Very rare custom embroidered rack to a WWII/Korea Naval Aviator who earned US & British DFC, Russian Order of Glory 3rd Class etc. He was one of very few Naval Aviators with this medal combination. Both were awarded for his part in destroying a German U-boat. A copy of his military bio will be included. Guaranteed original!"

Good luck.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Incidentally, this officer's medals are included in the book (they are BEAUTIFUL...)

I cannot wait. When do you start taking pre-orders?

Ahhh...let's get to the "it's now a real book!" stage first. There are a lot of steps in the publishing process before due dates can officially be set. Of course, I will post that all on the forum so that way people will know when to expect it. At this point, I don't even know if anyone at the publisher has been able to read through it...it's 140,000 words, so it's a pretty long-reading book.

Nice job! When do you expect the book to be out?

Probably mid-2015 or so. I keep looking at my photos for the book and still get a rush out of how cool they are...

Forgot to mention...I was able to photograph 100 of the 217 awarded Soviet medals. I was pretty happy with the final results.

Great news to hear congradulations on completing the book and here is to many more to come

HA....not for a long, long time...someone else can spend all their time and money writing one. I'll try to hold onto mine for a while...

Just to announce...my book specifically on Soviet medals to the US Navy, Merchant Marine, and Coast Guard has been completed and turned over to the publisher. Hopefully it will be out sometime in 2015 or so...

My thoughts:

1. I'm not an expert on fakes (my caveat)

2. Before I dumped the amount of money these are worth, I would make sure they had authentications from a reputable source, or a money-back return policy

3. With that said, I don't like them...too crude in my opinion. But I'm not perfect (see #1).

Dave

Just thinking...I may have had Moskalenko's award card when I owned part of his group as well. I'll have to check my archives.....

It appears it has been some time since anyone has posted to this topic. I tried a while back to get information about how to obtain a Soviet award card and have had no luck. I am trying to locate the award card for Soviet Marshall Kirill Moskalenko. If anyone can help me, or knows of someone I can contact for help I would be truly grateful.

Thank you!

I think all of his award numbers and Ukaz dates are listed in the book "Marshals and Admirals of the USSR", if I remember correctly. Might save you a dollar (or euro) or two...

Looks like a mix of railroad personnel, conscripts, and regular army officers....interesting.

Interesting that all american medals were called "orders"

Yeah, I thought that was interesting too. It was a bit confusing trying to translate them at first!

As of this morning, I put together a list of recipients of Soviet medals awarded to the Royal Navy and the Merchant Marine. Has anyone ever seen one of these before? I spent several months trying to track down information regarding Soviet awards to British subjects in the RN/MM and kept getting told "no, it didn't happen..." Finally, this morning I gained information to the contrary. I'd love to see anything anyone might have regarding these medals (and no, I'm not talking about the 1985, 1995, or 2005 commemorative medals either...these are actual orders and medals...)

Thanks!

Dave

Part 2 of the same list...

Next list...this is one from August 1944.

Here's one list, this one dates from June 22, 1943...

slava1stclass wrote:

I have copies of General Orders giving the citations for 46 Distinguished Flying Crosses and eight Air Medals that were awarded to Soviet officers in 1944 and 1945. I do not know if that is the total number or just a part of those awarded.

Gunner 1

I just ran across a list from August 1944 of 25 recipients of the DFC. These were all presented by Harriman to Molotov in Moscow on 22 August 1944. There's probably 300 names in the list...

The AFEM on the left is exactly like my father in law's AFEM that he received in the 1960s. Really poor quality, almost looks like it's made of some coated pot metal. However, I was the first one to take it out of it's blue box of issue, so I do know where it came from. The one I was issued in 2000 was much higher quality than the older one, though I still wear the older one for posterity sake...

Is this available only in the Czech Republic? I had an incredible collection of Czech Legion photos and memoribilia at one point...very fascinating group of fighters! It was too bad I couldn't read Czech though...

I was not aware of this - thanks for the infromation. What did you get your NEM for in 2009? Thanks

It was for a combined operation we did with the Royal Navy.

We applied for the Armed Forces Service Medal, as the criteria was more fitting for what we did, but the final approval came back for the Navy Expeditionary Medal.

Dave

The best site for the Navy Expeditionary Medal is: http://www.history.navy.mil/medals/nem.htm altho it seems to be missing campaigns after Wake. The rest are from another site:

• Thailand: May 16 - August 10, 1962
• Cuba: January 3, 1961 - October 23, 1962
• Iran, Yemen, & Indian Ocean: December 8, 1978 - June 6, 1979
• Iran, Yemen, & Indian Ocean: November 21, 1979 - October 1, 1981
• Lebanon: August 20, 1982 - May 31, 1983
• Lebanon: June 1, 1983 to March 4, 1984*
• Libya: January 20 - June 27, 1986
• Persian Gulf: February 1 - July 23, 1987
• Monrovia, Liberia (Sharp Edge): August 5, 1990 - February 21, 1991
• Rwanda (Distant Runner): April 7-18, 1994
• USS Cole Operations (Determined Response): October 12 2000 to December 15, 2002

* For service in Lebanon between June 1, 1983 and March 4, 1984, the service member may choose either the Navy Expeditionary Medal (or Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, depending on Service component) or the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Unfortunately, there are still others missing from the list...I earned mine in 2009, for example, and its not on there at all... I doubt a comprehensive list will ever exist, sadly...

Incidentally, this is one of the few awards I cannot wait to publish in my book. I got chills holding it...an absolutely amazing medal. I had never held one before, only seen them in museums. This one included the fitted presentation box and the order booklet as well.

There's a pretty comprehensive list online on the wiki page about the actions that were awarded the AFEM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_Expeditionary_Medal

There are a ton of actions that could result in the Navy Expeditionary...I have yet to find a comprehensive list.

Slightly off topic, I found this interesting .pdf while searching around about combat insignias: http://afehri.maxwell.af.mil/Documents/pdf/HISTORY%20OF%20COMBAT%20SERVICE%20INSIGNIAS.pdf

As an side, I was also awarded both of these medals.

Dave

Thank you! I had one in my hand yesterday, and it appears that he's not listed on here. Interesting.