Order "Sun Of Freedom".

[Dat Nguyen]

A late follow up

If there was a "Hero of the Revolution" awarded, it would have been awarded to Abdul Ahad Mohmand. He was the Afghan cosmonaut that went into space in 1988.

I tried to contact him, but the guy doesn't like Americans very much. An Afghan friend of mine made contact with him; living in Stuttgart, Germany. Abdul told him that he was only awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, but not the "Hero of the Revolution" ... He left his awards behind in Afghanistan so they are long gone .... so ends my search for the "Hero of the Revolution" ... well, it just started again.

Screen shot from a BBC story on Abdul Ahad Mohmand. These are the awards that he was awarded. Could this be the "Hero of the Revolution" ?

Dat

[Adam H]

Hello All,

During my time in Afghanistan, I managed to pick up a number of DRoA awards. Most are the common types often encountered but I did find a few nicer ones, eventually. Among them is this decoration in the attached photos. I am wondering if this is an example of the Hero of the Revolution?

It appears to be 2 piece solid silver construction. It is numbered on the reverse. Sadly, I am unable to read the script. Obviously the ribbon is incorrect but this seems to often happen with Afghan awards. The photos are rather small but seem to be the maximum size I'm able to upload here.

Happy to hear any thoughts or comments...

Cheers,

Adam

[Bill Garvy]

Can't speak to the authenticity of the order/medal, but it appears the suspension is a more contemporary example of a Veteran of Labor medal.

[Adam H]

Bill,

Yes the suspension has definitely been swapped out as I mentioned. This is very common practice over there for reasons unknown to me. It seems more often than not the ribbon/suspension are removed and spurious ones attached...

Everything else I obtained from my contacts seems to be original, so I suspect that this is as well...just unsure what it is exactly. It does seem to resemble the photo of the award Dat posted.

Hopefully some others will chime in.

Cheers,

Adam

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by Adam H

Happy to hear any thoughts or comments...

Thanks for posting. I have a Russian-language reference but am on the road until the end of the week. PM me for a reminder and I'll get back to you.

According to the reference, the decoration is an order called "Sun of Freedom" established 16 OCT 81 as the highest award granted to "citizens of the DRA, establishments, organizations, and military organizations of the DRA, higher academic centers, provinces, cities, and dedicated foreigners.

I'll add that the example there has a serial number engraved in the center.

[Dat Nguyen]

Oh that is just great ... now I gotta go look for one for my collection

Dat

[desantnik]

I should have added the source - Государственные награды Афганистана (The State Awards of Afghanistan). Tisov, G.G. and Shirshov, V.N. Moscow: ZelO, 1998. Pages 26-29.

Also, the "Sun of the Revolution" was the highest award, superseding the earlier order "Saur (April) Revolution" established 24 DEC 80. The Sun of the Revolution was apparently awarded together with the Hero of Afghanistan gold medal in a practice imitating the Soviet awarding of the Hero Star with the Order of Lenin. Both the Lenin and the Sun of the Revolution could be awarded without their corresponding Hero award.

[Adam H]

Thanks for the replies! Yes, I found out a bit more about it since my original post. Seems a better English translation is: Order of the Sun of Liberty

There were 2 types, and this is the earlier example...numbered 068 on the reverse (hard to make out in my small photo) Apparently quite a rare thing, I feel fortunate to have found it.

Cheers,

Adam

[desantnik]

Yes, I was originally correct - Order of the "Sun of Freedom," or its synonym "Liberty." Sun of the Revolution was wrong and influenced by my reading about its predecessor the Order of the Saur Revolution. To nitpick, I believe "liberty" refers to individual freedom which is not really emphasized in a socialist, collective society. "Freedom" would be a better word choice. Congratulations on your find!