Hauptmann

A shame the link no longer works, I wanted to read that article.

Shame as well that documentary is not available at Netflix.

My luck's out today it seems.

Found this though http://www.balticsworldwide.com/napoleon_graves.htm

Off to the store to buy lottery tix!

Hi Eric,

I looked through my Wordpad docs as I generally save interesting things like this just in case links go bad, etc. No luck. But I did a google search and here is the result... plenty of articles and info on the subject:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=h...G=Google+Search

Although I'm not "positive" that second set of links may be the same article as they're also from Vilnius where the original was from.

Dan

Is the first man Jonas Ple?kys the Lithuanian Submarine defector?

Hi Belaruski,

Sorry to say but on this part of the question... you didn't get it. The first man is "not" Jonas Ple?kys.

Another hint:

He did serve in a seagoing capacity... but not in the Soviet navy.

Dan

The second guy is VIktor Belenko, the pilot who flew to Japan, then went to the USA mentioned earlier in this thread. Business card "Victor Belenko. Mig-25 Pilot. World's Greatest Anti-Communist Fighter Pilot. Unconventional Emigrant. Landed in Japan on 9/6/76 with 30 seconds of fuel remaining. No passport. No visa. had a gun and used it. Spent time in Japanese jail. U.S. Citizen by unanimous vote of US Congress."

Hi Belaruski,

You're absolutely correct on this part of the question. Well done. Sorry about it being mentioned earlier in the thread... I simply didn't have time to go all the way through it before posting but had hoped I'd have come up with something new. But seems it was still a bit of a challenge so hoping it worked out okay after all.

Dan

Hi Charles,

WOW! When you say "instant' collection"... you're not kidding! Fantastic! Congratulations on yet another terrific find! Must be all those waves of good luck I've been sending your way for so long. Glad to see they're paying off!

Dan

Do I get the sense we are very VERY puizzled here . . . ??

These are "Soviet & Eastern Block" (however defined?)?

Hi Ed,

Yes, definitely "Soviet & Eastern Block".

Dan

A variation on Mike's:

Hi Richie,

An awesome buckle... as is Mikes!

Dan

Hi Uwe,

Many thanks for all the info. To be honest I didn't jump in and cross check it in the book... guess I was just too excited to pair them up. But now that I've switched those two out I've got it right and we're back on track.

Many thanks!!!!

Dan

Dan,

You have some very nice items there. How large is that badge, in diameter(Order of Labor, 3rd class)?

Hi Paul,

Okay, the circular part is right about what our old U.S. silver dollars were. Then each of the "star points?" coming off of that are 1/8th of an inch long at it's longest part.

So it's a pretty good size. It compares very nicely with a Soviet OGPW.

Dan

Dan,

I have to tell you an incredible story having to do with our current conversation. Today, at work I met a Gentleman by the name of Werner Tanner who actually was a Cabinetmaker by trade. He was telling me of his experiences of growing up in Munich during the War.

As Germany had surrendered he remember being around the age of nine and a friend of his found a fully loaded Luger still in it's holster that was thrown onto a garage roof. (Interesting to note is, that He stated that there were alot of items tossed up and onto roofs as the retreat and surrender had been conducted.) Being inquisitive and immature, he and his friends tried to unload the gun and a round was jammed. To all of there luck they pointed it away from themselves and pulled the trigger, a loud "Pop" was heard and fortunately the only casualty was a tree limb.

The interesting thing was that he still dabble's with wordworking and he offered his services to building me a medal case or gun box. Truly coincidental and what a nice guy to share his life's experiences. I'll keep you posted.

I also know what it means to prioritize and put the things that we want aside and take care of the essentials. I am looking at buying my first house and my Wife has stated that the Militaria purchases will have to cease for a while. I just told her that I'd work harder and she can Govern the entire house with the exception of my War Room. Yeah Right! LOL!

Regards,

Joel

Hi Joel,

Very cool! Too bad he doesn't still have the luger, holster, etc. But do hope you get some nice cases... and they'll definitely mean a great deal coming from him.

On the "budget restrictions"... simply become a bottom feeder. I've had to do that throughout much of my time collecting and it's truly amazing the great things one can find on an extremely limited budget. And of course trades are terrific too. But if you're anything like me, going through a long dry spell and not being able to get any new goodies will drive you bonkers!

Dan

Hi all,

Here's another pic of the first one... a bit younger:

And here's another pic for the second one.

Dan

When I was searching for a previous answer I'm sure I came accross the second man. either a pilot or KGB defector..

Hi Belaruski,

The second man is a pilot... and was a defector, so you are right on those... but he was definitely not KGB.

So you're getting really close.

Dan

Dear Dan,

thanks for your question .

These are two different persons and two different questions with no connex to each other ?

Is it right, that the two persons are US-citizens ?

Best regards

Christian

Hi Christian,

You are correct... they have no connection to each other.

You are also correct... they are and have for some time been U.S. citizens.

Dan

Dan,

Well done on the design of your presentation case! Seeing your case has actually given me a thought of calling a family friend who is a high-end cabinet maker who originally hails from Germany. I'm thinking of giving him a call and commissioning him on building an awards case and after seeing your's, a gun case too.

Dan , you have a very nice gun collection by the way. Someday, I'll have a broom handle as well and certainly no gun collection should go without the dateless style of a Walther PPK. I'll give you a range repoty once the weather gets a little better up here in the Northeast. Thanks again my friend for your interest.

Regards,

Joel

Hi Joel,

Many thanks my friend! And again... keep your eye out. I believe Walmart still carries those same jewelry cases... even at full price they're only about $20 some odd if I remember correctly. The self adhesive felt is something they also carry back in the crafts section... only about .60 some odd cents a sheet which is not bad at all... and they have about any color you'd want. If you want dividers within the case you can get some good wood in about the size you'd need, cut out the lengths to fit and then cover in the same felt to match. I used green because I left the edges in their original green flocking and it was a close match. Saved me a ton of extra work. After measuring, cutting out the size pieces I needed it was a cinch and didn't take long at all. You end up with a very nice, heavy case for little investment, time or effort.

Looking forward to seeing what you get from your friend. I've always wanted custom and the sad thing is my dad could do all that. But he's been gone for some time now. I do have a neighbor across the street who "lives" for woodwork so hoping perhaps someday of hiring him to do some custom pieces for me. But I need to get my basement floor repoured first. After that and some expansion work from the basement up, I'm planning to redo the bunker and make it into my den, display area for my various collections and our home theater. But that's still a ways down the road. So not much point in getting special stuff built till then.

Dan

Hi all,

On the DDR ribbons (two on right... second to last row) I believe the first of the two is the NVA Verdienstmedaille in Silver:

And the second of the two is the Verdienstmedaille der DDR (1959) (military version):

The one I've pictured is my civilian version... the military version has the same ribbon and medal but on the standard DDR pentagonal mount.

On the three Waffenbruderschaft medals (three bottom ribbons) I can't swear to it but I do believe they could all be worn at the same time. I have seen two examples of Generals ribbon bars in my copy of Auszeichnungen der Nationalen Volksarmee der Deutschen Democratischen Republik by Feder & Feder, where only one of them... the Gold class (three stripes) is being worn.

Whereas in my copy of Uniformen der Nationalen Volksarmee der DDR 1956-1986, in the color plates showing the various uniforms being worn, I see several examples worn by various General Officers where all three grades of this medal are worn on the ribbon bar at the same time.

Anyhow hope this helps.

Dan

Now for a closeup of the one I'd original posted... actually it's not wear but you can see where the barrel catch originally was. I've seen these types of catches on U.S. awards when they've come off over time and wear and this is what this looks like to me. But of course I'm open to other opinions:

But just to be safe the center example with the barrel catch is now the one with the urkunde. The other has been placed in with other display items with my cased Makarov. The third example (on the right in the above photos) came cased as part of a set and is back in it's case safe and sound.

Anyhow hope this help and am very intro'd to learn which is which and if the center one is indeed the proper one... and if perhaps you agree re: the missing barrel catch on the first one I'd posted and that perhaps it is the correct on after all.

Keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them is correct.

Many thanks!

Dan

Closeups of the pins:

The one on the left in all of these shots is the one I originally posted, the one in the center has the barrel catch and the one on the right has the later type simplified catch:

Hi all,

Okay, just finished the new scans. I just realized that I actually have four of this medal... one being on the new medal bar I just got. Here they are for comparison:

I'd love to have more but I seldom see them and when I do they generally go for big bucks. But I'm always keeping my eye out for a good deal on any of the others.

Anyhow I'm off to do those scans. Will post in just a bit.

Thanks,

Dan

Dan,

Sorry but I must agree with Uwe. Do you have a copy of Bartel's book? A necessary tool to collect DDR medals. Another way to tell your medal does not match an early Urtkunde is to look at the pin. Yours has the simplified pin catch and not the early barrel pin catch as posted by Uwe. Not really a problem though. All you need to do is get a medal to match the Urkunde.

Cheers,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

As I just replied to Uwe, I'm heading down to the bunker to crank up my desktop and scanner and do up scans of my extras of this medal. Hoping the one I pulled out of the Makarov case is the correct one.

As far as Bartel's book, No, I don't have a copy I'm sorry to say. The "only" DDR references I have are:

Hi Dan,

Post 125: "I now have the Urkunde to go with this medal:"

I'm sorry, that is not correct.

The Urkunde is from 1962, the medal is from 1977 -1986 (34,7mm 1977-1983, 35mm from 1984 -1986)

Looking at "Bartel, DDR-Spezialkatalog 1949-1990 Band I, Staatliche Auszeichnungen", you can find for "Treue Dienste NVA in Bronze" 6 different versions of the medal.

That is a medal from 1962:

Regards

Uwe

Hi Uwe,

Is that the only difference... the pin type? Actually on mine it looks to me as if it had the barrel catch but that it came off at some point. On the sides you can see the wear marks of the barrel moving in it's circular movement when grasping and releasing the pin.

However, not to worry... I happened to have more. I pulled one out of a case I keep my Makarov in, switching it with the other one I'd posted. I'm getting ready to go down in the basement and scan the replacement... and actually I may scan all that I have so we can compare them. I think I have three total of this particular medal.

Thanks for the heads up!

Dan

Hi Charles,

That would be neat if the theory turned out to be true. At the very least it's a nice variation (I wonder if there are more? ) to collect on these.

Dan

Nice order of merit for the fatherland and VVO , i got to get me some of those !

And i,ve got to get me a medal bar they are great Dan !

Hi Grant,

Many thanks my friend! And yes... run, don't walk as they are great!!!!

On the medal bars I've been looking for years. Generally I'd find them with four medals and they'd always end up going for more than I could afford at that time. I think I lucked out on these. There's another set I know of with three Police medals but it's going for $75! Didn't make much sense to me... as the police medals are so common (except the earlier ones) and I just couldn't see it being that much more just because they're on a medal bar! I mean, you know what we got the set of six complete cased medals for... so think you'll agree.

My understanding is they turn up a good bit on Ebay.de so keep your eyes peeled and hopefully you'll have some soon. Hope Vic has some luck too as they are very nice to have.

Dan

Wow Dan, your collection is realy growing

Keep up the good work

Vic

Hi Vic,

Many thanks my friend! And your's and Grant's collections are growing in leaps and bounds as well. Thank goodness most of this stuff is still cheap!

Dan