Republic of Cuba Awards of Communist Cuba

[Guest Rick Research]

The only source of information--at all-- that I have found is Lukasz Gaszewski's world ribbons website

http://www.medals.lava.pl/index.htm

That gives the NAMES of Fidelista awards, and their precedence, but nothing else.

Here is a Medal (and ribbon bar) for Victory In Angola, a Medal for Internationalist Combatants 2nd Class, and the 1996 jubilee medal for the Revolutionary Armed Forces (R.A.F.)

[attachmentid=43216]

The 1st Class Medal for International Combatants is gold colored, with the red-white-blue stripe on the right side unbordered by the 2nd Class's white stripe. The 1st Class is worn in front of the African campaign medals, so perhaps a 2nd Class indicates a noncombatant? (There is also a medal for Internationalist Workers.)

[Guest Rick Research]

reverses, showing the pointed bent over prongs which secure the pin construction:

[attachmentid=43217]

The medals are quite thick (3mm), but made out of some lightweight alloy. The Angola Victory and 1996 Jubilee are 32mm wide, the 2nd Class Combat Internationalist 29mm.

[Guest Rick Research]

And here are three ribbon bars to the same Soviet General with a variety of Cuban awards following Mongolia's 1981 Armed Forces Jubilee Medal and an unguessable solid red ribbon:

[attachmentid=43218]

Notice the Medal for Distinction in Guarding the State Borders of the USSR after the 1970 Lenin Centennial Medal-- which I hope may absolutely identify the wearer of these ribbon bars-- a recipient of the Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR 2nd Class (OSH2 for MUCH shorter). Whether he was, in fact, a Border Guards (KGB) officer or this was an "honorary" type award....

[Guest Rick Research]

A number of interesting points:

The last ribbon in the 4th row is apparently an unknown Cuban ORDER, and is made out of ribbons of the Soviet Order of the Red Banner with blue stripes separately applied.

If I am correct with "situational identification" the first ribbon in the last row is the Order of Ernesto Che Guevara 3rd Class.

The second ribbon in the last row, from the FIRST group, is definitely the Cuban 1986 R.A.F. Jubilee medal, followed by what must be an UNKNOWN (2nd class? It seems "normal" Cuban class procedure to add a white stripe to make a 2nd class out of red from a 1st) Medal for Combat Fraternity, and finally the Cuban R.A.F. Distinguished Service Decoration:

[attachmentid=43220]

Note that on all three ribbon bars, the 16th ribbon is a composite made out of individual pieces. That is the ONLY "make do" ribbon in the first set. The second set adds a composite 1986 Jubilee, and on the final set, the Distinguished Service Decoration ribbon is also made out of several pieces to represent apparently unobtainable foreign ribbon stock.

From the world ribbons website

[attachmentid=43235]

http://www.medals.lava.pl/index.htm

? Lukasz Gaszewski

[Gerd Becker]

Very nice Ribbon bars, Rick.

[Riley1965]

I have to agree with Gerd!!! I love them

I hope to learn more...

Doc

[Guest Rick Research]

How could I resist?

I wonder who has the 1986 R.A.F. Jubilee Medal ribbon upside down?

Here are closeups of the three medals:

[attachmentid=43236]

[Chuck In Oregon]

I don't recall (as if I might) coming across any Cuban awards in Georgia. I did hear some stories about Georgians in the Red Army fighting alongside Cubans in Africa, but the stories were always 3rd and 4th hand.

I know I have a "Soviet Volunteer Sugar Cane Harvester" badge (or something like that) around here, but I can't seem to find it right now. Meanwhile, here are three pins I did find: A Victory badge, a USSR-Cuba friendship pin and an Anniversary of the Revolution badge.

[Guest Rick Research]

Sooo... nobody can identify the Mystery Ribbons and I am definitely out in front of the curve here in the NON-clamor for Fidelista awards, huh?

Ooooooohkay. Just wait until the Bearded One goes toes up.

[Ulsterman]

Have you tried the US State Departments' handbook on Cuba: A Country Study?

Sometimes they have stuff.

[Dave Danner]

Second on your bottom row is the Medalla "Por la Defensa de Cuito Cuanevale". Note the blue is to the right. The 30th Anniversary medal is the reverse - blue to the left. Also note the order of precedence - 30th Anniversary comes after the International Combatants Medal.

BTW, it's not RAF, but FAR. This is one of those acronyms generally left untranslated in English. Otherwise too easily confused with that other RAF. You know, the Rote Armee Fraktion. No wait, that other RAF, India's Rapid Action Force. No wait, that's not the one I'm thinking of... it's "Rien ? Foutre" (basically "F___ it!").

Of course, FAR is also Forces Armees Rwandaises, Forces Armees Royales (Morocco), Fuerzas de Accion Rapida (Spain), Forces pour l'Action Republicaine (Comoros) and Florida Association of Realtors.

[Guest Rick Research]

I had thought from the seller's initial scan of the second composite ribbon bar that the 30th Anniversary was the Defense of Cuito Cuanavale Medal, but then-- at least from Lukasz Gaszewski's ribbons website, the C.C. Medal has BLACK edges. Couldn't tell from the initial sales scan if the edges were black or the spacing between Soviet ribbons these turned out to be.

Per his website, precedence does indeed agree with my first impression and what you say BUT wouldn't a Soviet in R.A.F. costume then also have gotten International Combatant etc etc? WERE there, indeed, full time Soviet "minders" theoretically internally assigned as "Cuban" officers inside the Cuban armed forces?

I have to use R.A.F. for Revolutionary Armed Forces, making myself use the periods... to my set in concrete brain the Spanish FAR = "Feldartillerie Regiment." Too many years spent in German Rank Lists.

IF this guy was a Soviet advisor in "Cuban" clothing, and the Soviets were OUT of there before the "Victory In Angola" Medal was ever created...

could the Mystery Ribbons be...

Angolan rebel awards ???

The solid red ribbon is a dead loss for identifying (indeed, if it was ahead of the Mongolian Jubilee I'd take it for the SOVIET "Warrior Internationalist" badge of 1989...

but the last ribbon in 4th row and 1st ribbon in 5th row have eluded all my attempts to identify them. The Order of Che is sorta kinda close enough, assuming drawn illustrations do not match actual reality... but the modified "Red Banner" one has pride of place...

and can't find it anywhere.

Of course, the ribbons website ALSO does not show what is clearly a "second class" Fraternidad Combativa Medal (or a different model than the one shown, and which I also have on other Soviet ribbon bars without the white edge stripe--3rd from last below),

[attachmentid=44429]

but was obviously in enough demand to be readily available from Soviet military tailors-- unlike the OTHER Cuban ribbons.

(Where else is it possible to have so much cheap fun? )

[Dave Danner]

IF this guy was a Soviet advisor in "Cuban" clothing, and the Soviets were OUT of there before the "Victory In Angola" Medal was ever created...

could the Mystery Ribbons be...

Angolan rebel awards ???

The Angolan fraternal combatant medal ("A Medalha Fraternidad Combativa") has a ribbon of equal red, yellow and red stripes, separated by narrower black stripes. Medals mostly have pan-African colors - green (the wealth of the African soil), yellow/gold (the wealth under the soil), black (the wealth that works the soil) and red (the blood shed in the struggles against colonialism).

Among Communist states, blue, white and red are more fitting for Cuba, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

BTW, it is actually mildly surprising that Soviet tailors would have difficulty with getting Cuban ribbons, as the medals were mainly made in the DDR.

Edited June 22, 2006 by Dave Danner

[Guest Rick Research]

?Dentro de poco!

[Guest Rick Research]

Here's a new one on the eve of collapse--

and as usual I have absolutely no clue what this was for.

[attachmentid=48705]

I suspect from its lowly precedence that it was for kids "volunteering" for the harvest, or minimal duty in the rural militia or some such.

[Dolf]

Here's a new one on the eve of collapse--

and as usual I have absolutely no clue what this was for.

I suspect from its lowly precedence that it was for kids "volunteering" for the harvest, or minimal duty in the rural militia or some such.

Rick,

I saw it somewhere where it was called "Defense of the Revolution" Medal, or something of the kind.

But on Yuri Yashnev's site he calls it "Medal of 28th September", just don't know the meaning of the date.

Dolf

Edited August 4, 2006 by Dolf

[Guest Rick Research]

Well, dentro de poco and All Shall Be Revealed, no doubt.

There were also medals "for 19th of April" and "for 13th of August." THAT, of course, would be the birthday of the Maximum Leader if he was not already rooming with Walt Disney while Raul arranges his own Swiss bank accounts and gets the sheets aired at his new Maracaibo beachfront property.

These medals-- and wouldn't all that blank reverse space have been better with SOMETHING on it?-- are way down at the bottom around sports medals and some sort of teaching award, just ahead of the Lowest Of The Low-- medals for long service in the nuclear power industry.

[Dolf]

Anyway, according to my research, September 28 apparently has nothing to do with the Cuban Revolution, or nothing to do with "Bahia de los Cochinos", or nothing to do with Fidel or Guevara's birthdays ... honestely I just don't know, can't find nothing related to that date and Cuba! At least not on Wikipedia!

Dolf

Edited August 4, 2006 by Dolf

[Ulsterman]

see here:

http://www.geocities.com/athens/4795/Cuba.htm

It is issued by the CDR-for defense of the revolution. It seems to be awarded quite frequently to foreign allies, but also to a number of Cubans for civil defense, propoganda and international efforts.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Ulsterman