Greg Collins

And the back:

Next, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars (MOS&B) War Service Cross:

And the back:

The War Service Crosses of the United Daughters of the Confederacy have already been discussed on the forum, so I thought I'd share some awards and badges from the XY side of the aisle. These are mine, as I was quite active in these organizations for a period of time. They are not political- both organizations enjoy a 501c3 status (tax exempt, historical) and, as such, have no political agenda. The requirement for SCV membership is proven relationship to a member of the Confederate Armed Forces. The requirement for membership in the MOS&B is proven relationship to a Confederate Officer or Government Official (Elected or Cabinet). The two organizations used to go hand-in-hand- even sharing the same national headquarters at Elm Springs, Tennessee- but have, recently, parted ways over several issues I won't go into here. To start, the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) War Service Cross. Later issues would have a bar/bars indicating the war/wars in which the awardee participated. This medal was given before that change:

Well, there goes my theory. I guess it was either someone at the factory playing around or there were plans in the works to provide gold shields for some of the higher ranks. Only conjecture at this point.

Great stuff, Kevin. With regard to the Militia shields... could it just be that the silver plating has been removed and we're seeing the brass? A couple sessions with Brasso could remove the silver-plating leaving a very shinny brass surface, which would dull down over time. Lately, I've been noticing "cleaned-up" items coming out of Romania- not fakes- just tidied up originals. Buffed medal mounts, replaced ribbons- that sort of thing. Wish they wouldn't do that... Nice Militia collar insignia, too, even if it is only one.

They're for a multi-sports event, the "Republic Spartakadia". The '74 (4th) event was held in Sofia; the '76 (5th) was held in Pleven.

And a detail of the front...

A plain, dished back...

This arrived today; a ministerial award and probably more correctly identified as a badge rather than medal, The Honoured Employee of PMR Industry. Nice, heavy construction with a screw back. No mint identification marks.

And a detail of the reverse. It reads, "Loyalty, Honor, Courage".

A detail of the front. Note that "KGB" has become "MGB" (ministry instead of committee). I have seen two versions of this medal; the other has no enamel and an untextured (smooth) background. I'm told this is the earlier variant.

A nice badge, Tsarenko! Note how the colours in the flag co-ordinate with the stripes on the medal's ribbon. Managed to add another award to the collection; a medal to commemorate 10 Years of the Ministry of State Security, 1992-2002. Here's the medal:

Rick, I have no idea how many were awarded... I do know that this was also given to foreigners. Also, there's every chance that this is "NOS" (new old stock) as it did not come with a document. I would say that about 90% of my Bulgarian collection falls under this category. I wouldn't say this award is particularly rare, either, since there are several on the auction site now- I got this for about $40, but they usually run about $60. As for a reason this is the first that has been posted, I would imagine most folks collect Bulgarian military awards rather than civil awards and, therefore, haven't sought to own one of these.

Thanks, Uwe. Yeah, the DDR had lots of versions. Take those two silver soldatenfestspiele badges... fronts are exactly alike, fasteners are exactly alike BUT one has a smooth back and one has a kind of texture more or less like crosshatching. So, I guess these are two different versions of the same version??? Also, since the DDR "jobbed-out" their awards to different shops (no State Mint as in the USSR) there were bound to be differences. On the two badges you've shown, and aside from the difference you've pointed out, I can also see a difference in the green paint used.

Thanks anyway, Gordon. At least we can safely say it was between 1960 and 1989.

Thanks for filling the gap, Gordon. It's always better to actually see an item than to depend on a description. By the way, do you have an idea of the date range on these?

All badges had fasteners of the type used during the period. As far as the large medals go, the neck ribbons I've seen were either tri-coloured (black, red and gold) or solid red.

The"odd man out" in all of this is my one Kampfsport badge. These are from the same period but were not associated with the soldatenfestspiele. The kampfsport was a separate contest of "war sports"; physical, battle-type competitions- no other activities. All kampfsport badges were bronze; the roman numeral at the bottom indicated the level of the award. This is for second place. This version of the badge is the MfS (Stasi) version, and has the State seal below "Kampfsport". The police had a similar badge, but theirs had the police "star" below "Kampfsport".

The tunic badges, two silver and one bronze, are all variant 3's.

The inscription on the reverse of all the medals is shown in this image. It reads, "Our love, our faith and our strength the socialist fatherland of the German Democratic Republic! Art is weapon!"

The medals in a group; one bronze 2nd variant along with a gold, silver and bronze 3rd variant:

There were three distinct variants of these medals/badges given from the '60's through 1989. I have been unable to pinpoint cut-off dates for these variants, but I can tell you what the three looked like, and I can show you two. In variant one, which I don't have, the soldier's tunic is closed at the collar, and the type reads "Wachregiment Berlin Des MfS Feliks Dzierzynski". The attachment at the top of the medal is a "U" shaped hanger. The second variant, shown at the top of this image, keeps all the properties of the first variant but the type has been changed to read "Wachregiment Berlin Feliks Dzierzynski Des MfS". The third, and final, variant (shown at the bottom of this image) features the same type, but the tunic collar is now open and there is a hole at the top for mounting.

A "soldatenfestspiele" could be described as an NVA soldiers' festival, complete with athletic contests, music, plays, sketches, poetry, etc. put on by the soldiers themselves. The Stasi's military unit, the Feliks Dzierzynski Wachregiment, conducted these festivals as well, and produced badges and medals (gold, silver and bronze) to award for prowess in a chosen field. I have a few of these I thought I'd share. At the bottom is the unit's cuff title.

And a detail of the reverse... the inscription reads, "Sofia 100 Years Capital of Bulgaria 1879-1979".