Soviet Captain Vladimir Vasilievich Kulishenko

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His medals. A good capsule history of the Great Patriotic War?

Edited August 17, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

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Based on material assembled by the previous custodian (see http://www.forvalor.com/s46.htm), quite a tale can be pieced together.

Captain Vladimir Vasilievich Kulishenko was a True Hero of the Patriotic War. He joined the Red Army on his 18th birthday in September 1940. After training as an artillery officer, he was sent to the 173rd Rifle Division, 979th Artillery Regiment, as commander of Number 2 Battery.

His award record card, obverse.

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Reverse.

There is no translation, so all observations are welcomed.

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And the order book, name spread.

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And the awards.

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Shortly after his arrival to the division, the Germans attacked in June 1941. His unit fought valiantly, but suffered massive losses. Fighting from their initial position near the Border, all the way back to Moscow left his Regiment with killed in action ratio of nearly eighty percent! Even he had been severely wounded on 14 February 1942. Starting with over 500 men, only 109 survivors were left in the Regiment upon its arrival in Moscow, less than one year from the start of hostilities.

They were placed in Reserve, and were reformed. Lieutenant Kulishenko remained as the commander of Number 2 Battery. In August 1942, they were transferred to the Don front, just in time for the epic battle of Stalingrad.

While at Stalingrad, the Division displayed bravery and valor. Here, Lieutenant Kulishenko was earned his first award, the Order of the Red Star, with the following citation:

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Part 2.

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Part 3, the reverse.

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And the translation:

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His certificate for Moscow . . .

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. . . and Stalingrad.

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And his belated award for the defence of Kiev.

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For their valiant showing, the elite title of ?Guards? was bestowed upon the division and they became the ?77th Guards Rifle Division?, and his regiment, having been additionally awarded the title of ?Order of the Red Banner?, became the ?156th Guards Order of the Red Banner Artillery Regiment.?

Their fight did not end at Stalingrad, however. As one of the combat-hardened Guards divisions, they pursued the German forces in their withdrawal through the Ukraine.

For the entire next year, the Division maintained a constant pressure on the German forces, continually maintaining their position on the Front. In September 1943, he earned his second award, the Order of the Red Banner:

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Part 2.

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Part 3, the upper half of the fairly chaotic reverse.

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And, part 4, the bottom lines.

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And the translation. (Hope it is legible.)

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His Division pursued the German forces, recapturing lost ground in bloody fighting through Kiev, crossing the Dnepr River (where the Commander of the division was awarded the title of ?Hero of the Soviet Union?) through to the Oder River in February 1945. He was wounded severely on 12 December 1943, and received minor wounds on both 28 August 1944 and on 29 November 1944.

By this time, he had been on the Front for three years, eight months; been wounded FOUR TIMES- and he had not yet turned twenty-three!

Here on the Oder, he earned his third award, his second Order of the Red Banner:

Edited August 17, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

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Part 2.

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The cluttered reverse, part 4.

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And part 5.

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And the (lengthy) translation which, again, I hope is legible (enough).

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And I may as well add his Warsaw along in here.

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The 77th Guards Rifle Division was on the ?tip of the spear?, forcing the Germans all the way back to Berlin. On the edge of Berlin, now Captain Kulishenko earned his fourth award- the Order of Aleksandr Nevsky:

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Part 2.