Chuck In Oregon

I met these gentlemen one Victory Day in Tbilisi's Vake Park. They have seen the elephant and come home.

Orphans in the Caucasus are lost, scared, alone and hopeless. We were able to change a little bit of that. This little boy always hung back from us and from most of the other children. One day we brought some packages of colored chalk with us. No paper, no chalkboards, just chalk. This is what happened that day. Miracles happen.

This charming toy Persian war chariot was excavated during the digging of the BTC oil pipeline in Georgia. For me, this little toy is one of the most compelling exhibits in the national history museum in Signagi, Georgia.

Two documents from my collection. The 1918 constitution is, of course, fundamental to the new state and the proclamation honors heroic participation in the revolution. Old Soviet constitutions are a little hard to find. Every time there was a new one it was some kind of offense to possess an old one, or so I'm told. I've picked up a lot of documents over the years but these are two of my finest.

On the left is what was then the Continental Hotel on Chavchavadze Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1992. On the right is as it appears today as the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel. The tank picture was taken during the civil war in which the Ghamsakhurdia government was overthrown and which eventually brought former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze to the presidency. When this photo was taken was taken, my good friend and collecting mentor Boria was fighting room-to-room upstairs. He says the tank turned the corner and its main gun failed. It carried on a few feet using its machine gun to sweep the park down the street until it was hit with an anti-tank round. He says the crew miraculously escaped.

This is a second diorama from the Barcelona Museum of the Civil War.

I came across this life-size diorama in the Barcelona Museum of the Civil War.

I took this picture about five minutes after deposed president Eduard Shevardnadze escaped right past me in a Spetsnaz-guarded limo. It was, quite literally, the end of the Rose Revolution. If you look closely enough you can see thousands of rose petals pouring out of the Huey.

This is the sole memorial in a cemetery in a small town along the Volga River. It speaks to me.

This veteran is wearing an OPW-2 and a Glory-3 among her decorations. I have met, in person, only a few women with valor awards. She is wearing them with pride.

I have chatted with this gentleman on a couple of occasions over the years and he has always impressed me. He's telling me a little bit of his story on Victory Day (I don't remember which year) in Tbilisi.

Soldiers stationed in Georgia were always eager to help "our" orphans. One of the most generous units was The Rifle Volunteers from south-west England. I've written a story about them that, I'm told, still hangs in their headquarters. All of them were experienced combat veterans who were in Georgia on a training mission. They came with us to Dzegvi Children's Home outside of the ancient capitol of Mtskheta with two army truckloads (note: not pick-up trucks) of food, blankets, clothes that they had purchased with their own money and lots of goodies for the children. I didn't know what treacle was. No one who was there did except these guys. This is their commanding officer introducing a very scared little girl to treacle. I love this picture. Soldiers are such easy touches for kids. An aside: On the way to the orphanage the guys decided they hadn't brought enough stuff. They had us pull over at a roadside store, a small convenience store. The guys were a little rowdy and maybe a little bawdy as they toured the little store, laughing and pointing. Finally one of them said to the store owner "We'll take it." "What, exactly, would you like?" he asked. "EVERYTHING!" they shouted. So away we went with the entire store inventory, except for things like cigarettes and beer, stuffed into the back of the trucks and inside our cars. It's one of my best memories. How can you not love guys who will do things like that? There were generous female Rifle Volunteers, too, but not with us that day. Thank you, Rifle Volunteers.