Greg Collins

Great stuff, Nick! Now, what happened to the pearls?

Yep, you're absolutely right- star is gold instead of silver. Eyes shot and brain slowing... :wacky:

Nice ribbon bars, Kevin! I especially like the 4th Class Star- haven't managed to snag a ribbon bar with that ribbon aboard- yet. :cool:

Excellent job on a fascinating subject, Nick!

Hauptmann, Thanks for posting this; takes me back to when I recommissioned and sailed aboard the USS New Jersey (BB-62). We were the first to be recommissioned back in '82; I believe the Iowa was the second. As it turned out, all four Iowa class Battleships were recommissioned and, with the release of this information, all four are now museums BUT are being kept in some state of readiness (just in case). The New Jersey is in Camden Ship Yard, the Missouri is in Pearl Harbor and the Wisconsin is in Norfolk. Some miscellaneous information from one who served aboard this class of ship: The Iowa class Battleship is a "doomsday" vessel. As proved by the incident in '89, she can take her own firepower- something that was always assumed since '43. Prior classes of Battleship were built tough, but not as tough as these (interesting tidbit: the famous photo of the Bikini Bomb test, shortly after the war, in which you can see a ship being pulled "up the pipe" of the mushroom- that's the USS Pennsylvania. Well, that was the only ship that was outright sunk by the blast. The others were sunk by sailors who travelled ship to ship and openned up the discharge valves allowing the sea to enter the engineering spaces. One of those sailors was Leroy Collins, my cousin- also searved as a coxswain during the Normandy landing- he told me that the outside of the older battleships was quite charred, but the inside looked untouched). These ships were built to withstand whatever was thrown at them... the hull is a tri-laminate of steel coming in at a thickness of 18" in most areas. 33 knots is a low-end estimate (the speed of a ship is not only dependant on the machinery but on the ocean current as well). We had the New Jersey up to 40 knots while I was on her and that, with only 2 screws (normal operation)! Oh yeah, it's 887 feet and 4 inches- didn't want to leave that out, and the displacement (weight) is 49,000 tons- I still have trouble imagining that figure as I was often under her when she was on blocks in Long Beach Ship Yard. The Iowa class Battleships are absolutely magnificent examples of what ships should be: gorgeous lines, they sit in the water beautifully and ride the waves like no other type of ship. It was a priviledge to searve aboard one. The '89 incident was caused by bad powder (this powder had been in storage since WW2); the other "crap" was created by the Dept. of the Navy as a cover-up (this info is based on conversation with a very good friend who was my Master Chief aboard New Jersey and who transferred to recommission the Iowa and was on hand at the time of the incident and knew all involved). Apparently, the Navy paid it's way out of that and we haven't heard anymore about it.

In about 20 minutes it will be May 9th in Moscow and Victory Day will be underway. The annual parade should step-off at 1000. A change from last year's attempt at the utility uniform will be the return to the dress uniform (why they changed that last year I will never know). Hopefully the parade, in it's entirety, will be broadcast (perhaps by RT) and, again hopefully, someone will make a dvd of it that will be available for purchase by those of us who live in the more remote areas (hint). Aside from the pagentry and splendor associated with the military parade, it will be a time to remember ALL those- the allied nations military forces, the partisans, the civilains whose villages and towns were set upon and who chose to fight back, and yes, those who were selected for "special treatment" because they were, for one reason or another, deemed unfit for the "one thousand year reich"- who sacrificed so much and, often enough, all to bring about the defeat of Hilter and his allies. I had many family members fight in that war; one did not return (Battle of the Bulge- Douglas Kirby, 3rd Armoured Division "Spearhead") and many of you have similar stories- some of you, I dare say, were there... to those who were, thank you so very, very much. I will never forget, nor will I let those around me forget, the magnificent thing you did for all of us. Greg Collins

Simply the luck of the draw...

Brian, I will resort to all sorts of underhanded methods and celebrities to further my point... Popeye, the Roadrunner, Daffy Duck, the Freak Brothers and, upon occassion, Cheech Wizard... whatever works ;-) Friends absolutely! And always with respect for different points of view that are well argued.

Without getting too steeped in politics (this is the wrong place for that), I would simply answer, "I am what I am (thanks to Popeye for that phrase), and we're still here in spite of McCarthy and Reagan- and they aren't". I don't believe the Occupy movement is any one thing (yet), although there is a strong social element to it. Kev, sorry about the St. Pat's parades. I've not been as active with the IRSP as I had been in the past. We'll work on that...

Thanks, Dave! Sorry to say it, but the ring looks a hell of a lot better than I do these days :-(

And, finally, the maker's mark and gold content. As you can see, the camera chose not to focus on this information, but you can still make it out easily...

The right side shows a portion of the Academy's emblem of that time (it may have changed since)...

The left side showing the class year...

As far as company reps, I believe this is handled on a case by case basis. At FUMA, the choices were, at the time I went, red or blue setting- hence the order could be taken by an employee of the Saber Shop (cadet store on campus). May not be the same for all cases. We bought ours sometime in the middle of our junior (11th grade) year; 1971 for me. Costs me $52 back then and I thought that was highway robbery; man, have times changed! Here's a few images of the beast, dings and all. Sorry for the soft focus on the maker's mark- I and the camera disagreed; the camera won.

ostprussenman, Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytchnic Institute and State University when I was there) has a huge number of styles, stones and even gold (and other metal) types that it can cause sensory overload trying to pick one- this is definitely NOT an overstatement. The type usually chosen by "manly men" is very large with a square-cut setting; slightly larger than my FUMA ring. In thinking back and remembering viewing the display, I never knew gold could have so many varieties as what I saw offered. By the way, the Cadet Corps at Tech does not comprise the majority of the University. When I was there (early '70's) there were only about 800 cadets, and about four times that in civilian students.

Happy May Day to all! Not a big holiday here in the US (although it did start here) except for the "faithful" (hard core Reds). Did catch the Moscow goings-on via RT earlier today- they covered events all over the world. Good to see the Moscow parades, although I wish they still went through Red Square. Noticed that even the oligarchs participated in the parade (Medvedev)- hmmmmm. Also good to see the general strike called by the Occupy movement- still strong. All together much more going on this year than last... could be indicative of something- we'll see. Anyway, rather than blather on ad nauseum, thought I'd leave a few colourful images that look better if you hum a chorus of The Internationale while viewing (no kidding). The first is a rather meager collection of May Day badges from the USSR and DDR along with a badge of our founder, followed by two images of some USSR postcards from the '70's and '80's (just like Mom used to send). Enjoy! Workers of All Nations Unite! You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Chains! Greg

I never purchased a college ring... don't know why; just didn't. Perhaps it is because (at least in my mind) my high school, Fork Union Military Academy, was a hard act to follow. Very tough school (I was there from January 1968 until May 1972) and quite rewarding knowing that you got through it. I did get a class ring there which I do wear upon occassion; cost me $52 back in 1971 and it was made by Balfour, I believe. 10 karat with a tall shank and smooth red setting. Very heavy; someone told me it was 17 penny weight (whatever that means). I guess getting through FUMA matters more to me than what I did in college; it certainly prepared me for the Navy and college, that's for sure. A ring was produced for the recommissioning of the USS New Jersey BB-62 by Jostens, but I never had the opportunity to get one; I put it off, as it was somewhat expensive, thinking I had all the time in the world. Well, that time "stopped" in Beirut in 1983 as I was MEDEVACed out of the area and off the ship. I have always wanted one of those rings; maybe I'll find one someday before it's all over.

Great find, Kevin!

Beautiful set, Frank!

OK, ok, I'll rephrase... does anyone, other than Nick and me, know what the "PMR" is? By the way, very nice Nick... you wrote it in all 3 languages designated on the State seal- Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian. For those who are unsure of what the Moldovan language is, it is essentially Romanian written in Cyrillic.

Hmmmm... Spring has, apparently, "sprung" here in beautiful metropolitan Ferncliff, Virginia where our one traffic light continues to blink red one way and yellow in the other direction. The horses are snorting (probably because of all the pollen), the cows are lowing and the "little birdies machen melodies"- much to the amusement of my cats. The possum (or possums- not sure I'm always looking at the same one) has come out of that weird partial hibernation and has joined the cats for meals. My stone-deaf Border Collie, Roger, takes it all in stride and has taken to staying outside longer and eating his food leisurely- one morsel at a time- and just surveying his turf. I'm back to mowing... changed the blades, oil, oil filter and fuel filter on the 48" Husqvarna and have had her out for the initial cut... whew. Using the mower as a "bush hog"- rough going but got it done. Am going to take a friend's advice this year and cut at 3 1/2" instead of 2 1/2"- hoping that the grass will, eventually, choke out the weeds. I'll have to cut more often but the cutting should go quickly. Barreling toward May, when I'll have some meaningful vacation EXCEPT I'm having to work the 4th, 5th and 6th which, as luck would have it, is my 40th Class Reunion at Fork Union Military Academy. Damn, damn, damn... I would like to go to that- at least for the parade on the 6th. In the letter they sent, 12 of my classmates have died, which is why they opted for a 40th reunion instead of the more traditional 50th- in case the rest of us dropped dead. Oh well, "no one expects the Spanish Inquisition". I'm going to continue to try to get that day off. Have added a book to the library, "Checka- Soviet Secret Police Awards 1917-1995" by Cdr. Robert Pandis. A very informative work- especially about the various "egg" badges associated with the Soviet Internal Ministry. I recommend it to all. Have also added a few items to my ever growing PMR collection... a 20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces medal and a couple of Bendery UVD badges. Also managed to find a Romanian "For Militia Merit" badge from the RPR (1947-1965) period. These have been added to my galleries here- have a look. Oh, by the way, does anyone, other than me, know what the "PMR" is? This may be a good topic for a future blog entry. I guess that's all for now as I have to prepare for work tomorrow. Take Care, Greg